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When the four Marines urinated on the corpses of Taliban
insurgents they might as well have been emptying their bladders on the honor of
the U.S. military.
As occurred in the Roman Empire, and was predicted here,
replacing the draft with mercenaries has been followed with one case after
another of America’s proud tradition being stained.
Now, at virtually the same time the Marines were caught on
YouTube. Bradley Manning has been recommended for a court martial.
Eighteen months after he was arrested, flouting his right to
a speedy trial, a military judge has recommended he be court-martialed for his
alleged role in leaking classified documents.
His denial of habeaus corpus alone is more than enough to
dismiss the charges. Word is, no definitive answer is available, that because
Manning wanted to meet with his lawyer before going to trial he was deemed to
have given up his right to a speedy trial.
At the kangaroo court, definition "a mock court in
which the principles of law and justice are disregarded or perverted".
The vast majority of his defense witnesses were blocked from
appearing: only two were allowed.
What purpose does this serve. Primarily it obfuscates
accountability.
The only thing proved in the Article 32 was that Manning
gave more than enough warning that he should never have been near classified
documents or in a war zone.
Just like the officers who escaped punishment for a crime
spree outside Fort Carson in 2009 when at one point officers returning from the
wars were charged in at least 11 murders, the guilty are allowed to fade into
obscurity.
Many were suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If
ever the Army suffered a split personality this was it. While generals asked
reporters to help them deal with it, lower-ranking officers whispered in their
ears that the PTSD victims were just cowards trying to get out of fighting.
Even an Army psychiatrist was able to kill 11 and wound 31
at Fort Hood.
Does it take a Sherlock Holmes to identify these tsunamis as
they approached?
Witnessing the Army not holding officers responsible at Fort
Carson, I asked the army surgeon general why. He said something like this is
not the time. “If not now, when,” I said in reply quoting Holocaust writer
Primo Levi.
As an Air Force brat I grew up in the lower middle class. My
late mother was stunned to see bonuses of $10,000 and more enabling soldiers to
drive BMVs. She also wondered if the civilian guards at Ft. Leavenworth would
take a bullet for their country. We both knew they would deliver one.
Most of the socalled war crimes trials have ended with slaps
on the wrist, with the exception of a handful that were just to big to hide.
But Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld didn’t dare call for a draft
for a phony war meant to assuage the President’s ego and enrich Cheney’s
business partners.
The story of Rome’s fall is attributed by some historians to
the decision to use their wealth to employ mercenaries. Their draft had been
much harder than America’s, which often relied on lower incrome troops. In
Rome, only landowners could be in the Army. And they had to come when called,
bring their own weapons, and stay until victory.
If the mercenary Army was such a good job why so many
suicides. Why so much PTSD. Most never expected to be doing revolving tours
deploying against guerrillas who followed no rules.
Manning reported things, by leaking them, that in some cases
he had an obligation to report because they were violations of the rules of
engagement, even war crimes.
What has been forgotten here is that, to quote from the film "The Debt," we must remember who we are and who we are not.
What has been forgotten here is that, to quote from the film "The Debt," we must remember who we are and who we are not.
