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Analyst's note:  Absolutely must read.  Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, of Haditha fame, is found guilty with a sentence of 90-days and reduction to Private. It is most interesting that of the eight Marines involved, seven were previously exonerated.  This Islamist jihadist enemy has been telling us for decades who he is and what his intent is. He has shown us over, and over again that he is committed to defeating us and has used every means at his disposal to that end.  In a land where acts of treachery are commonplace and even seen as signs of reverence for your deity, to hesitate for even a moment in combat will often lead to the death of our young warriors, imprisonment, or indictment at the hands of American lawyers.  It is good to remember that our youth are NOT playing in some video game here.... this is a real life and violent death situation in which they must fight in a foreign land and foreign culture for our liberty. 

This verdict is entirely unacceptable! There is zero justification for the guilty verdict based on the exoneration of the others - at the least!!  Apparently, the standard now being followed is that someone must be sacrificed 'for the greater good'. We don't think he will do time (maybe part of the deal. We still have compassion or hope left for this country.  We have truly sold our national soul for that which is known as the idea of counterinsurgency as we place our warriors in situations of "Unreasonable Risk and Ill-Conceived Combat Missions!"  Some of the key points are:

[....] men are free to determine for themselves who that "creator" is and whether he has indeed established that standard for literally all men or if he has decreed that unbelievers should be brutalized, and killed.

While I do recognize and agree with the Founding Fathers on the rights of all men, I do not see the world as flat. I recognize that there are indeed men who have given themselves to ideologies that run counter to our unique understanding of that vision and that some men in fact hold ill in their hearts for any who do not believe (hold the same religious beliefs ... added by RC Anderson) as they do. Such are they who hold to the doctrines of Islam and the entire population in Afghanistan stands in excess of 98% compliant with that religion.

[....] Neither the Taliban nor Al Qaeda represents a Sovereign government or a people if we are to believe the ISAF and United States narrative. I have argued that at least the Taliban are as much an Afghan phenomenon in Afghanistan as their brothers in Pakistan are, Pakistani. Because of that distinction, separating them from the civilian population is not only daunting, but fruitless because they are, essentially, the same.

[....] Afghan civilian/non-combatant situational awareness to the presence of Taliban and Al Qaeda members in their midst, it is extremely difficult to make the case that the 'non-combatant' element of Afghan society is not also complicit on some level. And if they are complicit, there is one question that has not been adequately answered by the Colonel and that is whether anyone, with a straight face, can declare any portion of the population as non-combatants. And if we can't, then the apparent ethical problem plaguing our Sovereign government and our upper echelon military leaders is a self-inflicted wound that has neutralized their ability to consider force protection as primary during combat operations in an ideologically monolithic society like Afghanistan.

As a consequence of that misplaced ethical concern for an inappropriately identified non-combatant population, they have unnecessarily endangered our forces and reduced their combat effectiveness by forcing them to consider the lives of these 'non-combatants' as superior to their own. This is the very definition of 'unreasonable risk'. 

Colonel Tony Pfaff, USA wrote an article entitled, 'RISK, MILITARY ETHICS AND IRREGULAR WARFARE'.  As John Bernard points out in a review of the Colonel's article:  "In this piece the Colonel details the problems encountered in asymmetrical combat, the unwieldy and artificially established parameters thrust upon not only unit field leaders but upon individual combatants as well.Colonel Pfaff also quoted Israeli Asa Kasher and then Major General Amos Yadlin who refuted Waltzer's earlier claim that the state should always place the life of the combatant as a last concern remarking:

“…the duty to minimize casualties among combatants during combat is last on the list of priorities … we reject such a conception because it is immoral.” [14] The authors argued that the state’s obligation to protect its citizens from harm—which justifies the use of force in the first place—extends also to soldiers. While recognizing that soldiers do assume risks friendly civilians do not, they argue that soldiers still retain their rights to life. The state may be justified in putting his life at risk because of its obligation to defend all citizens, but the obligation to protect the soldier to the extent commensurate with his duties does not go away." 

"Political correctness" currently operating here in our United States and misguided priorities will continue to cost the lives of our warriors who fight for our freedom.  Semper Fidelis!

 

"[....] Wuterich read a statement apologizing to the victims' families and said he never fired on or intended to harm innocent women and children. But he said his plea shouldn't be seen as a statement that he believes his squad dishonored their country.

"When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat, and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive," he said. "So when I told my team to shoot first and ask questions later, the intent wasn't that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy."

"The truth is I never fired my weapon at any women or children that day," Wuterich later told Jones.

[....]Military prosecutors worked for more than six years to bring Wuterich to trial on manslaughter charges that could have sent him away to prison for life. But only weeks after the long-awaited trial started, they offered Wuterich the deal.

[....] Brian Rooney, an attorney who represented a former defendant, said cases like Haditha are difficult to prosecute because a military jury is unlikely to question decisions made in combat unless wrongdoing is clear-cut and egregious, like rape.

"If it's a gray area, fog-of-war, you can't put yourself in a Marine's situation where he's legitimately trying to do the best he can," said Rooney, who represented Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking Marine charged in the case.

Many of his squad mates testified that they do not believe to this day that they did anything wrong because they feared insurgents were inside hiding. [....]

 

Related articles:

Haditha Was Exploited

One Officer Shown the Door after Investigation of Ganjgal Travesty!

The most Recent Incident of U.S. Warrior Murders; A Peek at Pragmatism, Piety and Patience in Islamic Afghan culture.

Our 'Allies' and Enemies are More Forthright than Our Leadership!

Legitimizing Cold Blooded Murderers; The New Rave!

House Amdt #318, Passes! Congress says it is 'OK' to defend yourself In Combat?!

The Taliban and the 'Innocent Civilians' Continue to Express Their Gratitude for COIN in Afghanistan!

The Unabashed Literary Fondling of Petraeus; Architect of American Graves!

The Specter of Success in COIN. But for Whom?

LtCol Chessanis Board of Inquiry Begins ─ Battle-Hardened Marine Veterans View Proceedings With Dismay

Haditha judge to rule on motion to dismiss

How we remember Haditha

Networks That Hyped Haditha 'Massacre' Now Ignore Acquittal

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