Enemy Combatant
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Some Of Those Who Are Forces / Will Be Those Who Burn Crosses
In the midst of a long, far-ranging post today on his blog, Informed Comment, Juan Cole discusses some testimony by
former Marine staff sergeant Jimmy Massey, who testified in favor of Army Pfc. Jeremy Hinzman, 26, who deserted just before the war and is seeking asylum in Canada. AP's Beth Duff-Brown reports that
"Massey . . . said his 7th Marines weapons company killed more than 30 civilians during a 48-hour period in April while stationed at a checkpoint in the southern Baghdad district of Rashid. The victims included unarmed demonstrators and a man who drove up in a car and raised his hands above his head in the universal symbol of surrender. "I know in my heart that these vehicles that came up, that they were civilians,'' he said. ''But I had to act on my orders. It's a struggle within my heart.'' The orders, he said, were to shoot at anyone who drove into what is known as the ''red zone'' surrounding the checkpoint because they could be suicide bombers. . . . I saw plenty of Marines become psychopaths. They enjoyed the killing.''
A Marine spokesman said that he did not want to suggest that Massey was lying, but insisted that Massey's interpretation of the situation was different from that of the corps.
Massey is being a little unfair. If you are in a guerrilla war zone and a car comes speeding at you and doesn't stop when so ordered, if you don't shoot the driver then you risk it being a car bomber who will kill you and your men. Of course civilians got killed that way, but it isn't clear that that is criminal as opposed to regrettable. But that some of the troops had a sadistic streak or thought all Arabs responsible for 9/11, etc., is also quite plausible. Those sadists aren't typical of the troops, but we know they exist. Timothy McVeigh took delight in blowing Iraqis away, during the Gulf War.
So, one more side effect of this war that we're bound to see in the future is many more hardened psychokiller Timothy McVeighs returning home to a shitty economy, a sleepwalking media and an indifferent public. Great. Thanks again, Dubya. Cheney. Rumsfeld.
What was that about "fighting them over there, so they don't attack us here," again?
