It's a story that shocks a civilian frame of mind and raises so many questions about the effect of war on mankind: Three US Army soldiers
murdered four Iraqi prisoners by firing shots to the backs of their heads, execution-style, in the spring of 2007.
The story has
surfaced from a source close to one of the soldiers who says after they committed these murders, the US Army officers then dumped the corpses into a Baghdad canal. The killings were meant to avenge the deaths of two of their army comrades, and to this point, all members of Company D, First Battalion, Second Infantry, 172nd Infantry Brigade have not been charged with a crime.
Lawyers representing other members of the platoon who witnessed the slayings, believe the Army officers involved will probably be charged with murder.
I don't know why I'd never thought about the military as a progressive force for change until I read
this, but it makes sense: racial integration and that miracle we call the internet both marched out of the military. Now, one more modern change is coming — the
military is going greener than fatigues!
The Department of Defense is responsible for over 1.5 percent of all US energy consumption, and it's now looking (prepare for the most overused phrase in "eco" . .
McCain on Bringing Back Draft: "I Don't Disagree" Today at a townhall meeting, an audience member praised Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for his vow to "follow bin Laden to the gates of hell." After a lengthy question, he was asked, "if we don't reenact the draft, I don't think we'll have anyone to chase Bin Laden to the gates of hell." McCain answered, "ma'am, let me say that I don't disagree with anything you said."
57 comments
As we saw in last weekend's
Saddleback Forum, being able to compare and contrast what the candidates are saying is not only infinitely useful, it's pretty compelling. The occasion to whip out the measuring stick hit us again this week with McCain and Obama both addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention.
Appropriate to the audience, Obama and McCain hit on Iraq and their plans as commander in chief.
Pundits have gone nuts parsing and analyzing the fact that Obama
mentioned Biden (Veeeepstaaakes) in his address while hammering that McCain is focusing on the wrong fight — and that McCain
leveled firm charges against Obama's national security credentials, pointing out his shifting positions on the surge and calling him out for voting against funding for the troops.
Despite all this, I can't help but be a rhetorical purist.
Iraqi Shi'ite assassination teams are being readied in four locations in Iran, with the mission to return to Iraq and
kill specific Iraqi officials before targeting US and Iraqi troops. The info comes from captured militia fighters and sources within Iraq. A senior US military intelligence officer confirmed the story under the condition of anonymity, acknowledging that disclosing the info is an attempt to pressure Iran to suspend the training and prevent militia fighters from returning to Iraq.
