CNN Military Analyst Maj. Gen. Don Shepperd
Posted on 08/11/2006 3:53:15 PM PDT by MizSterious
By Don Shepperd
CNN
News articles explain that the soldiers involved used whiskey and painkillers to cope with duty in Iraq.
Make no mistake, combat, especially the kind we see in Iraq and southern Lebanon --walking patrols along bomb-laden streets, waiting for the sniper's bullet, the ambush around the next corner, the buried mine, the next rocket-propelled grenade or Katyusha rocket -- is stressful, super stressful.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Mahmoudiya pinglist--if you want on or off, let me know via freepmail.
On a similar front, Lou Dobbs has been doing a series on the two border patrol agents the government is persecuting for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler in the butt.
For years I've heard strange defenses of civilian murder cases in inner-city LA --the poor, misled lad suffered from "urban combat syndrome" etc...
If they were common criminals, stress probably be a legitimate part of their defense.
It really riles me to see our government much more vigorously prosecute the military and border patrol agents than they do common criminals.
The lesson we're sending young people is, "Go out and gang-bang and you'll get pity and subsidies, but serve your country, and you're a total SCHMUCK!"
Even if they commited rape and murder?
No, the message we're sending is "If you use your time in service to your country as an occasion to rape and murder, you'll hang."
It probably has to do with the fact the Military conducts it won trials under it's own code of justice while the local trials are local affairs by city or country prosecutors and judges.. Maybe if our local Courts were closer to the Military Standards you would seem the same level of vigor. The solution is to bring the Civilian Courts UP to the standards.
Yep. IF guilty, their actions are a stain on everyone wearing the uniform and should be treated as such. The solution is not to tear down the military standards, it is to force up the civilian standards.
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