For one thing,
The Excuse "I was under orders" does not fly in the United States Army. For over 10 years the US Army has required both legal and humanitarian training for it's soldiers.
Each ACTIVE DUTY soldier recieves a minimun of 4 hours instruction every 6 months in the Laws of Land Warfare. Each mission we undertake also has a legal brief AND their is a jag lawyer in every Battallion Staff. Additionally each soldier is required to take "humanitarian" training on how to report human rights violations every 6 months. We are lawyered to death!
A prisoner is in a protected status (non-combatant) and has surrendered their means to resist. It is not only murder to kill a prisoner but it is illegal to physically harm them. The only time we are allowed to use force is if a prisoner physically resist's instructions. We are under the same force continium as police officers.
If you are captured and attempt to escape. In the process kill a guard, IT IS MURDER. You will be charged upon your repatriation in the US Army. Whenever a former POW is debriefed the first thing that occurs is he read his miranda rights just to cover such an incident so an arrest can be made.
An order to kill/harm prisoners is an illegal one. Any US soldier should see his clear duty to not obey it AND have the issuer brought to justice.
Again let's wait for the trials and see the other side of the story before we hang every individual involved. The Reservist at the heart of this scandal do not recieve the training active duty does on the Legal/hunitartian issues. In order for the man on the ground to have the latitude to accomplish his mission only broad guidence is issued. Without a basis in fact, only in Hollywood movies, these ignorant part-timers seem to have went out on their own Field Training Exercise. Most of them have already pled guilty and are heading to the BIG HOUSE.
They damaged the whole war effort and stained the other 99.9 percent of the soldiers both active and reserve who are doing the right thing. Their is a HUGE difference both legally and morally between their violations and torturing/killing civilians like we see AQ doing. I for one am bewildered that their are folks who do not see that.
Of course, condemnations offered from a position of tranquility and safety with no alternative plan of action are not worth listening too.
Crumpp
