US Soldiers Charge With Murder

CNN is reporting that 8 US troops are being charged with murder, in addition to other charges, for the killing of Iraqi civilian Hasham Ibrahim Awad in the town of Hamdaniya, Iraq. While this story has been available off and on in the US media, we can imagine how much more closely the Iraqi population has been following the story. The same is true of the alleged massacre in Hadditha (in which 24 civilians died), which still has an open investigation taking place.

The people of Iraq are following these stories, no doubt, and having their opinions of the US and its troops influenced by what is undoubtedly less than favorable news treatment. The straight story is bad enough, but it must be much worse as "spun" by Al-Jazeera.

For this reason the US needs to hold itself to the highest standards. In reading commentary on the tragic deaths of two US soldiers discussed in an earlier post, some, such as myself have been critical of the US for allowing refusing to confirm the application of the Geneva Conventions to the US holding of so-called "enemy combatants" and the mistreatment detainees receive at Guantanamo Bay and the abuse that took place at Abu Ghraib. At times, the reaction to that has been to say that because we are fighting such an evil enemy, we may need to use methods similar to their methods.

An example of such a reaction was posted by Andrew Sullivan on his blog from an email he received:

"Until you can show me evidence that a U.S. Government interrogator has taken a dull knife, cut into the throat of another man or woman, and sawn through skin, muscle, tendon, and bone until the head of that persons detaches from their neck, please don't make such an intellectually dishonest comparison between these barbarians and our own government. Our enemies are fundamentalist nihilists. We may have to fight a harder, dirtier war against such a disgraceful enemy. But we still must do what is necessary to win."

I am with Sullivan in believing that this is misguided thinking. Torture is not morally acceptable. If we take the low road, we encourage others to go there as well- and there are too many in the world who need no encouragement. We must maintain our moral authority to demand humane treatment of all people in war and peace by demonstrating such behavior ourselves at all times. We must bring the perpetrators of terrorism to justice, but we must not subject them to torture or any inhumane treatment. If we do so, we put our citizens and soldiers at risk. "If the US does it, why shouldn't we?"

In my earlier post, I did not mean to say that President Bush is directly responsible for the torture, killing, and mutilation of the two soldiers who had been missing in Iraq. The people who took the malicious steps are responsible for that. However, President Bush, and others in his administration, with their statements questioning and dismissing Geneva conventions, permitting endless detentions, failing to take quick action when allegations of abuse have arisen, have helped to create a climate where such events are more rather than less likely. Those individuals who have taken part in the abuse and torture and killings of civilians, have no doubt taken their cue, to some degree, from the administration's statements, and the actions of these individuals have provided a justification in the minds of others for such murderous actions as suffered by these two unfortunate men.

In 2000, as he campaigned for President, George W. Bush said that Jesus was the most influential person from history in his life. Why? "Because he changed my heart." I hope the President will be open to having his heart further changed in the direction that the Prince of Peace may lead him, and will see the error of being anything other than absolute in his statements about what constitutes humane treatment of those individuals against whom he has declared war.

GP