Friday, January 13, 2012

The "pissing scandal"


I'm sure readers are aware of the scandal that's erupted over the behavior of four US Marines who were filmed peeing on the bodies of what were alleged to be dead Taliban guerrillas in Afghanistan. They've apparently all been identified, and I've no doubt they'll face military justice Real Soon Now.




I agree that this incident should never have happened, and that it was deplorable. However, I think that in their rush to judgment, too many people are ignoring the reality of combat. Consider these truths.

  • In war, when an enemy behaves brutally, ruthlessly and in a terroristic fashion, he earns contempt and vilification from his opponents, rather than respect. Consider how Americans reacted to such conduct from Japanese troops during World War II. If you've read Eugene Sledge's magnificent "With The Old Breed" (and if you haven't, you should!), you'll see he describes Marines pulling gold teeth from the jaws of dead Japanese soldiers, casually mutilating their remains to obtain skulls or other 'trophies', and so on. This was considered unacceptable by many at the time, but it was nevertheless widespread. In Vietnam the enemy were described as 'gooks' (among other, less savory terms) and treated with contempt by many US servicemen. The way in which these dead Taliban were treated is merely another chapter in the same, ongoing story. Indeed, war is dehumanizing to everyone who takes part in it. (Consider the story of the tortured village and the patrol that avenged it - scroll down at the link to find it.)
  • These young Marines were pitchforked into a war that, like Vietnam, appears to have no end in sight, and is not being fought with the full resources and national will of the United States behind it. Indeed, their own President has begun to withdraw US troops, so they know that they're being forced to risk their lives in a war that they're ultimately guaranteed to lose. In their shoes, I'd be pissed off at the enemy too - not to mention at the entire US military and political establishment as a whole!


Yes, this incident should never have happened: but I'm not surprised that it has. I'm afraid these four young men are going to be legally crucified by the Marines, because their fate must send a message to the rest of the US armed forces about what is, and is not, acceptable behavior. If they were allowed to get away with it, such incidents would probably increase in frequency, bringing further shame and disrepute to the USA: so they'll be used as an example. Nevertheless, I feel for them. If I'd been in their shoes, I'd like to think I'd have maintained the higher standards I'd been taught from my birth, and wouldn't have behaved that way . . . but on the basis of my own operational experience, I just don't know.

I can't put it any better than that. I just don't know. To paraphrase John Bradford: "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

Peter

8 comments:

DanG said...

Amen! Very true and very well stated, Peter.

Anonymous said...

I did some dumb things when I was 18,19,20. We all did.

The ONLY mistake they made was they used the cam-corder. Without photographic evidence; what happens in Afghanistan stays in Afghanistan.


If they empty their bladders and feel their job isn't complete, I'll buy 'em a case of beer.

Anonymous said...

Punch the SOB who took the video in the mouth. He's probably the kind of guy who brings a camera to a bachelor party.

This was stupid not criminal IMHO.

Yes With the Old Breed had much worse things done by officers.

Gerry

Anonymous said...

Point 1: War is not sport. It is conducted by rough and tuff men who have seen the worst that humans do to each other. Most will never understand what overcomes a person after seeing what the Taliban does to its own people. The press gives them a pass on their atrocities as they did the Viet Cong.

Point 2: Yes the act was dehumanizing. But to kill strangers that you don’t know for nefarious reasons takes dehumanization for most men.

Point 3: War is not a just thing that only kills the enemy with no non-combats harmed. We kill so few non-combats because we are a rich nation that can afford discriminating weapons. Better to be peed upon.

Grow up America! If you don’t have the stomach for this, then keep our Warriors home.

MGUNS
Old Warrior

Shell said...

Peter, read this article from the Daily Standard with Colonel Allen West's take on the incident. I think he's got the straight of how it should be handled and given your attitude I think you'll agree with me and him.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/allen-west-marines-incident-shut-your-mouth-war-hell_616699.html

Anonymous said...

I say they you should prosecute the photographer.

trailbee said...

Toejam is correct, there should have been no camcorder. I realize that it does not make things better, but as stated before, war is hell, and lots and lots of stuff goes down most men will not recount. This happens on both sides, but in our society we place a higher value on human life and expect soldiers to adhere to those precepts.
Ask any soldier of the atrocities performed against one another and I'm certain urinating on a corpse is mild. But, to our military this is saying a lot - the defilement of another human.
In our wild moments, unfortunately, we forget that the world is not partaking of our present wildness, and will definitely not understand those "what I did in the war" movies. Thus, the punishment is for the film, not the event.

Cargosquid said...

What the hell are they teaching Marines in BOOT now? Their gunny needs to get on their asses!

Everyone knows that you BURY your waste after using a field latrine and they apparently did not.