Monday, March 28, 2011

Modern Day Safari "Hunters"

It is hard if you love your gun and want to go after the really "collectible" specimens, you know, elephant, lion, tiger, grizzly, Afghani civilian, rhino, big horn sheep, ... Wait a second. Afghan civilians?

If you read this Rolling Stone article you will see how some rogue US soldiers decided to play the role of "Great White Hunters" and go after innocent, unarmed civilians:
Early last year, after six hard months soldiering in Afghanistan, a group of American infantrymen reached a momentous decision: It was finally time to kill a haji.

Among the men of Bravo Company, the notion of killing an Afghan civilian had been the subject of countless conversations, during lunchtime chats and late-night bull sessions. For weeks, they had weighed the ethics of bagging "savages" and debated the probability of getting caught. Some of them agonized over the idea; others were gung-ho from the start. But not long after the New Year, as winter descended on the arid plains of Kandahar Province, they agreed to stop talking and actually pull the trigger.
What is especially sickening about this story is two-fold:
  1. Just like Abu Gharaib, no officers are charged, just "grunts". Funny how you can have rogue soldiers but the "officers" never notice. Must be the wonderful new organization skills of the military that let the little guys come up with their own policies, their own strategies, and fight their own self-defined wars without bothering the big brass. Wonderful concept!

  2. There were a number of attempts to tell higher-ups about these rogue soldiers, but the officers ignored this information. Again, it shows the excellence of the "new & modern US military" that is so confident about the quality of their troops that they really don't need officers. I suggest they simply furlough the whole bunch since they seem to be doing no oversight, no management, no strategy & tactics. Other than wearing gold braid, it isn't clear what their "role" is in the "new" military.
Funny how the US military has learned nothing from Abu Gharaib.

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