Via David Kramer at the LRC Blog I found this article at the Rolling Stone about a group of U.S. soldiers who killed civilians and took pictures of their mutilated corpses as trophies (warning-the photos are very graphic). The Pentagon issued an apology today for the photos:
The photos published by Rolling Stone are disturbing and in striking contrast to the standards and values of the United States Army. Like those published by Der Spiegel, the Army apologizes for the distress these latest photos cause. Accountability remains the Army’s paramount concern in these alleged crimes. Accordingly, we are in the midst of courts-martial, and we continue to investigate leads. We must allow the judicial process to continue to unfold and be mindful that the government has distinct obligations to the victims and to the accused, which include compliance with the court's protective order to ensure a fair trial. That said, the Army will relentlessly pursue the truth, no matter where it leads, both in and out of court, no matter how unpleasant it may be, no matter how long it takes. As an Army, we are troubled that any soldier would lose his ‘moral compass’ as one soldier said during his trial. We will continue to do whatever we need to as an institution to understand how it happened, why it happened and what we need to do to prevent it from happening again.
Notice that the Pentagon apologized for the photos. There is no apology for killing civilians. In fact, the Pentagon is quick to assert that its soldiers are innocent until proven guilty:
We must allow the judicial process to continue to unfold and be mindful that the government has distinct obligations to the victims and to the accused, which include compliance with the court's protective order to ensure a fair trial.
No surprise there. Moreover, if there were no photos, there would be no court martial nor investigation into any crimes. There would just be "collateral damage". Nothing for the American public to concern themselves with.
However, what I have found interesting is there are still people in this country who are shocked, disappointed, and saddened that American soldiers would act this way. Unbelievable! After Abu Ghraib where American soldiers took degrading pictures of prisoners? After Guantanamo Bay where prisoners were tortured by CIA officials? After the Apache helicopter attacks in Baghdad where American soldiers gunned down several civilians and even joked about the murders? After all of these public war crimes there are American peole who are stunned that American soldiers would take pictures of dead civilians? What world are these people living in? Soldiers are trained to kill people. That is their job. Our government spends millions of dollars removing the natural inhibition many humans naturally possess that prohibits them from killing other humans who have posed no threat to them so that they will be efficient killers. Do these Americans think that all soldiers hate their jobs? That they just tolerate murder as part of the job description? What nonsense on stilts!
Of course there are soldiers who enjoy their jobs, i.e., killing people. Some people are attracted to the military because they know that they can kill people and get away with it. Thus, we should not be surprised that some soldiers take trophies of their kills. I suspect that there are more trophies out there that we simply do not know about yet.