Our
View: Death of POW raises questions
The
few, the proud. Anytime a movie plays we
seem to see the grandiose portrayal of the
U.S. Marines, the normal man rising above
to become a part of one of the most proud
organizations in the nation.
This
is not the impression we have gotten from
recent reports that eight Marine reservists
are being held at Camp Pendleton in connection
with the death of a prisoner of war at a
camp in Iraq. These men were responsible
for a number of indiscretions pertaining
to treatment and care of prisoners and in
one case led to the death of a 52-year-old
man.
Perhaps
this is an interesting case of not being
able to turn their stellar Marine training
off. The Marines teach you how to kill,
even if they are in other nations as "peacekeepers,"
but how do they equip the soldiers when
the enemy is no longer a target. And in
what situations should higher level officers
be in a monitoring position in places like
POW camps.
We
all know what happens when our boys die.
Public outcry, horror and disbelief that
the enemy could commit such a heinous act.
Especially in a prison camp when there is
no level playing field. But what happens
when our boys kill one of the enemies. A
short story emphasizing the legal aspect
of the crime. No horror, no public outcry,
nothing.
This
double standard for the value of a human
life could be one of the factors leading
up to this incident. If the soldiers are
taught that the enemy is to be killed, that
their life is worth so little how can you
deprogram them, when the enemy is in a setting
where they is necessary to take care of
them?
We
will see how much is made to stick to these
part-time Marines, and whether or not the
public outrages and the horror will surface.
The worth of a life should not be a double
standard. If the Marines can teach their
men how to kill and that's all, maybe the
Red Cross should run the POW camps, and
leave the killing on the battlefield.
If
the Marines punish these soldiers accordingly
in comparison to the punishment we expect
of foreign nations, then it will be a new
area in the U.S. military. Instead, the
incident will likely be recorded as just
that, an incident. A slap on the wrist,
and then its okay to kill those people again,
but only on the battlefield.
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