A few weeks ago, a video surfaced with four American soldiers urinating on the bodies of two Taliban soldiers in Afghanistan. One of the soldiers jokes, “Golden, like a shower” and another look down at the bodies and wishes them a “good day.” All of this was captured on video and, as with almost everything captured on video these days, uploaded to YouTube.
The response from the powers that be was swift and damning. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called the act deplorable—the White House agreed—and Arizona Senator John McCain, a former POW in Vietnam, said that it tarnished the image and reputation of the Marine Corps.
Nancy Sherman, a professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University and the first distinguished chair in ethics at the U.S. Naval Academy, stated that “the act is a violation of professional military conduct and the fundamental moral requirement in war of showing dignity and respect to the dead.”
Furthermore, the act of urinating on a corpse is not sadistic or driven by anger—feelings that would be understandable, though acting on them still unacceptable—it is an act of degradation and shame. Particularly in an environment of religious tension between the Middle East and the West, an act such as this is pure stupidity and has both strategic and philosophical implications.
Earlier this week, a member of the Afghan National Army (our allies) killed four French soldiers. The soldier stated that he did it because of the video of the American soldiers degrading the body of his countryman. Reports have also surfaced that the Taliban and Al Qaeda have begun using this video as a recruitment tool. These are the real implications of the stupidity shown in the video. Lives have been lost, will continue to be lost and the enemy will become stronger because of it.
But there is a greater issue at stake: the moral standing of the American Republic and its example to the world. Some have come out in recent weeks to criticize the Obama Administration’s response to the conflict. Florida Congressman Allen West, a former Army Lieutenant Colonel, said “the Marines were wrong…As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.” Texas Governor Rick Perry said the desecration was a “stupid mistake,” called the criticism “over the top,” and claimed it reflected the Obama Administration’s “disdain for the military.”
California Congressman Duncan Hunter also urged that the marines “not be used for the purpose of making a statement to our partners in the region” meaning the soldiers shouldn’t be punished harshly simply to mend relationships with Afghan President Hamid Karsai or the Taliban during efforts at peace talks. The most stunning of defenses I’ve heard came from a woman on talk radio who defended the marines by saying “they’re just kids.”
This incident is not simply a mistake, a moment of unsound judgment. Marines are some of the most highly trained soldiers in the world, but more importantly all U.S. soldiers understand that they are not simply “killing machines” but are rather the most numerous and visible representatives of the ideals of America in the world.
Congressman West is right. War is hell. He went on to compare the incident to the American soldiers dragged through the streets of Mogadishu (made famous by the movie Black Hawk Down), and those tortured, beheaded and hanged in Iraq and Afghanistan. War is hell, but what sets the United States apart is the way that it carries itself in the world, represented by the very soldiers who have been trained to kill – an interesting paradox.
Whether in China, Burma, Syria or Rwanda, the United States has always opposed human rights violations and fought tirelessly — using diplomatic and military means — to defeat these abuses. That is what we represent. Those marines were not only degrading the bodies of their enemies, they were degrading the very ideals they are fighting to protect and defend.
Alexis de Tocqueville once said “Two things in America are astonishing: the changeableness of most human behavior and the strange stability of certain principles. Men are constantly on the move, but the spirit of humanity seems almost unmoved.” On that day, the spirit of our humanity was moved, and for that moment we shrunk in our stature and example.
No comments:
Post a Comment