Prisoner handling may well be the most universally identical subject among our armed services. No one has an excuse for mistreating a prisoner.
If you don't want to handle prisoners properly, don't take them, there are multitudes of ways to conduct a legal military operation against enemies that will almost certainly result in their deaths.
I tried to skim through this without commenting because I knew I'd get worked up . . . but your "legalese" arguments for the hell that is war-time just wouldn't let me pass.
You said in an earlier post that you wanted someone to prove to you that West's actions "Saved American lives." Or something similar to that. I'll get to that in a minute . . . let me set the table first.
My nephew's on the front lines over there . . . in the middle of a vicious, violent, indescribable inferno that us debaters sitting safely and cozily on our tushes over here call simply WAR . . . where telling friend from foe is often-times only certain when they raise an AK-47 from under a hidden jacket or milliseconds before they push the button or pull the pin on an explosive charge.
Hidden bombs and car bombs and suicide bombs and thrown bombs and rocketed bombs can kill and maim at any time . . . and you want us to play nice?
Young children, geriatric, toothless grandmothers, and white-robed Mullah-wannabes have been known to kill and maim GI's without batting an eye . . . and you say we have no "excuse for mistreating ANY prisoner?"
What if I caught Saddam with an AK-47 in his hands, two pounds of C-4 in his back pockets, and wearing a string of GI dogtags as a necklace WHILE he was reading a map in ARABIC that even dumb 'ol me could tell was obviously an impending trap where my brother soldiers would be killed? Would you want me to offer him a cup of tea? Or a doughnut? Or call Johnny Cochran to come on over before I interrogated him to keep me from hurting his feelings?
I know, I know. We're better than they are. We have to set a standard. Bullshit! The ones who say that have nothing to lose. Let your son or daughter be exposed to those nasty sonsabitches, knowing your child has to play by Marquis of Queensbury Rules while they can and will behead you with a pocketknife and drag your lifeless body through the streets like it was a trophy awarded in Little League. You put something at risk . . . then come back here and if you still want to debate the finer points about tactics during peacetime and war, we can do it.
Do I think our soldiers should just slaughter every prisoner we capture? Of course not. But they're there, I'm not. I'm guessing them and I have the same belief system -- within reason anyway. Most Americans know it's not okey-doke to go out and slaughter people, okay? Whether they're innocent or not. Anyway, since they're there with access to current information and actions, since the American people have entrusted them to do a job -- to protect our asses, and since most Americans inherently know right from wrong . . . I don't have the right to second guess their tactics. And neither do you. Not in the heat of battle. Not from over here. Not filtering facts and suppositions through my safe-as-a-bug-in-a-rug filters while they're facing the harsh realities of warfare.
I'm old enough to remember how we lost the Vietnam War. I don't doubt your sincerity for a minute. But this is just how our defeat started then. We started second-guessing every move made by our soldiers. Then the media picked up the call. Then the politicians joined the band. Then the tree-huggers and Puff the Magic Dragon-ers and Free Lovers started toking and protesting and chanting Peace! Not War! when they could spell neither.
What's the hurry? West didn't kill anyone. West didn't hurt anyone. Why can't we win this war, then prosecute the boogie men? There are so many of us who choose to believe our enemies before we believe our soldiers. I just don't understand that MO.
Wars aren't won by Marquis of Queensbury Rules. Legalese has never saved one soldier's life.
Can anyone prove that West's actions "Saved American Lives?" Maybe not. But can I prove that West's actions "POTENTIALLY Saved American Lives?" Yes! Absolutely! How? I'll ask Colonel West. He's a colonel in my Army. He's fighting and willing to die so that I might rest my head in tranquil peace tonight. I trust Colonel West. I believe in Colonel West.
And if he lies to me, there'll be hell to pay when the war is over. But not in the heat of battle. Not in the fog of war. He's there, I'm not. Go get 'em guys! Kick ass and take the names later!