The Realities of War

by James Glaser
February 5, 2004

Marine Lance Corporal William S. Roy, testified that he and two other Marines once beat a sheik that had resisted being taken into US custody. The man had a bag over his head and his hands were tied behind his back. A trial is going on at Camp Pendleton, a Marine base in California, to see if a Court-martial should be set up for the killing of an Iraqi prisoner in Marine custody.

Roy, a Marine Guard at an American military prison in Iraq testified that it was common practice in Iraq to kick and punch prisoners who didn't cooperate—and even some who did.

In an article in the San Diego Union Tribune, written by Rick Rogers it is said that an Iraqi named Nagem Sadoon Hatab died from injuries after Lance Corporal Christian Hernandez dragged him by the neck from one holding area to another on the orders of Major Clarke Paulus. Corporal Roy has been given immunity for his testimony.

The trial of these Marines goes on and a recommendation will be made to Major General James N. Mattis, the commander of the 1st Marine Division, who will decide how the cases will be handled,

On the face of it, it sounds just horrible that Marines would be kicking and punching men with bags over their head and hands tied behind their backs. This sounds more like what would happen in one of Saddam Hussein Prisons.

Well America, welcome to the real world of Warfare. American Soldiers and Marines can and do get every bit as vicious as any Iraqi that ever lived. Maybe it hasn't reached the point of total insanity in Iraq yet, but it will.

Sad to say, I saw us torture and kill women and children and a memory like that sticks with you. There are many reasons that former Marines do not want to see another war, mine is because it destroys so many of our troops lives. It isn't just the dying or the losing of limbs; it is the horror that is stuck in your mind...every day, for the rest of your life.

Here is a real easy research project for you. Go to GOOGLE and type in "Winter Soldier Investigation." The first page that comes up is about this same 1st Marine Division and the first man to testify, talks about the mistreatment of prisoners. These testimonies were taken in Detroit, in 1971, by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.

The second man, a Marine Captain tells about throwing suspected Viet Cong prisoners our of aircraft after they had been bound and gagged. The third Marine talks about killing wounded prisoners, raping women, cutting off heads and ears, and leveling villages for no reason. One Marine talks about the crucifixion of suspects. The testimony goes on and on. The 1st Marines are not the only unit to testify and the horrors of war touched every unit. in every branch of the service to some degree

Now I am not saying all of these things are going on in Iraq, but I will tell you that none of them would surprise me. Also, I have no doubt that many of them have happened. The American public has no idea of what war is and we can be thankful for that, but on the down side, our people have no idea of what our troops do when we do attack another country or the hate that our troops garner for our country by their actions.

When President Bush talks about the horror of Saddam's prisons, he doesn't realize that America has had prisons every bit as horrible as Saddam's, many times and in many countries.

I don't care what anyone says, the American fighting man will turn into a vicious animal when he has to. If you are in a war zone, you can turn into an animal, even if you don't want to. That is why I want to get our troops home now. The longer they are in Iraq, the closer to hell they will get. George Bush and those that wave the flag and cheer on the troops here at home, have no idea of what they are asking of our troops, because they were never in a war zone.

The reality of war is that anything goes and officers as well as enlisted men will fall into the insanity of the moment. American women are now reporting that they are getting raped by our fine young soldiers in Iraq, Marine Guards at our Iraqi prisons are reporting that it is common practice to beat prisoners that are bound, with bags over their heads, and innocent civilians are getting killed in cross fires. No one knows how many Iraqi women are getting raped or how many Iraqis are getting shot by our troops for no reason, but there is no doubt that it is happening.

These are the first reports of crimes in Iraq by our troops. Let me tell you it is very hard to come out in the open and talk about crimes while in the service. First off, your career is over and you just might go to prison. Those "Winter Soldiers" that testified about crimes in Vietnam had seen too much and had to tell some one or blow their brains out and some of them did that later on. It is horrible that we are still sending people off to war.


BACK to the Politics Columns.