WASHINGTON, May 4 (Reuters) - Only 40 percent of Marines and 55 percent of U.S. Army soldiers deployed in Iraq say they would report a fellow serviceman for killing or injuring an innocent Iraqi, a Pentagon report released on Friday shows.
That’s a whole lot of people with guns who have a greater loyalty to themselves than they have to the law - don’t ya think?
The Army survey, which showed increasing rates of mental health problems for troops on extended or multiple deployments, also said well over one-third of soldiers and Marines believe torture should be allowed to elicit information that could save the lives of American troops or gain knowledge about Iraqi insurgents.
To put that in real numbers “well over one-third”, based on the US troop levels noted in the article, equals somewhere in the neighbourhood of 50,000 armed people who believe torture is a legitimate practice.
Overall, about 10 percent of the 1,320 soldiers and 447 Marines covered in the survey said they had mistreated civilians, either through physical violence or damage to their personal property. The survey was conducted by U.S. Army medical experts between Aug. 28 and Oct. 3, 2006.
10% of 145,000 equals 14,500 people with guns who have already mistreated innocent civilians.
“Soldiers with high levels of anger, who had experienced high levels of combat or who screened positive for mental health symptoms were nearly twice as likely to mistreat noncombatants,” acting Army Surgeon General Gale Pollock told reporters.
(emphasis mine)
WTF are people who have high levels of anger or who have screened positive for mental health symptoms doing with guns?
The findings, which included the first survey of ethics among U.S. troops in combat, were released Friday in an 89-page report posted on the Web site www.armymedicine.army.mil. It was delivered to senior military officials in November.
Ethics? The American government, the Bush administration, and the military machine they command, embarked upon a very deliberate program of Arab/Muslim demonization and now they ask about ethics?
– it’s too damned late for that now. The process has been successful, the people have been desensitized to the deaths and massacres of innocents (remember cao and “I don’t cry for them, I want them all dead”), the torture and abuse of Muslims by US military forces results in an outpouring of support, justifications, and rationale, the US president endorsing torture to obtain information results in the same, and the pogroms have started, who the hell can take any discussion of ethics seriously under those circumstances?
Whooee!
“That’s a whole lot of people with guns who have a greater loyalty to themselves than they have to the law - don’t ya think?”
I hear tell there’s another bunch with that same flout-the-law attitude. Since they over, the HarpoonTossers ain’t been enforcin’ the gun registry law.
I reckon that sends a signal to gun owners that they don’t hafta obey any law they disagree with. Good message from our leadership.
Back on topic, the thin blue line (or whatever colour) seems pervasive. Watch TV an’ it ain’t only acknowledged, it’s made into a noble attribute. Cops an’ soldiers an’ doctors an’ anybody else is either excused or praised for holdin’ their own ilk above the law. Vengeance an’ ass-coverin’ by uniformed and ununiformed gummint officials are storyline staples in Hollywood and on the idiotbox.
There’s some serious health troublems fer EyeRack vets an’ some o’ them is mental health troublems. The Bushmen ain’t showed a single bit o’ compassion fer their young cannon fodder. The selfsame Veteran’s Administration screw-ups who had rats runnin’ ’round their hospitals just got bigass bonuses fer good performance.
The deranged EyeRack vet syndrome’ll be mostly a problem for the next few administrations an’ they’ll blame the anti-war sentiment just like with the poor bastads who came back from Vietnam.
JB