Monday, January 23, 2012

An Unwanted Presence: U.S. Troops in the Middle East

A recent article on Aljazeera.com reported on the outcome of the trial of U.S. marine Frank Wuterich, in which Wuterich has been accused of leading a massacre of 24 Iraqi civilians. The massacre occurred back in 2005, but Wuterich's final sentence has only been issued this year. According to the story, Wuterich ordered his men to "shoot first [and] ask questions later," a method which ultimately led to the deaths of innocent civilians, most of whom were women and children. [1]

What surprised me the most about this story was the fact that Wuterich faces only a maximum sentence of three months in prison (in addition to other penalizations regarding pay and rank). Additionally, I was surprised to read that the other seven marines involved have been absolved of this war crime.

The slaughter that was committed back in 2005 is a serious war crime and a tragedy that resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians. Yet, many of the offenders have simply been pardoned or, in the case of Wuterich, offered a tame sentence.

However, what is even more upsetting about this story is the fact that it is only one of many horrific stories that have come out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Everyone must remember the atrocities that occurred at Abu Ghraib in 2004. [2] Under Saddam Hussein's regime, Abu Ghraib was infamous for being a place of torture and murder. However, when the reports about the American soldiers at Abu Ghraib came in, it seemed as though these soldiers were carrying on the terrifying legacy of the dictator.

Even more recently, reports have come in from Afghanistan of other such perversions occurring. Only a couple weeks ago, it was reported that U.S. soldiers had been videotaped urinating on the corpses of alleged Taliban members. [3] And last spring, there were widespread reports of the horrific "trophy killings" committed by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. [4]

In each instance, it seems that a spokesperson for the military or the government has claimed that the occurrence was an isolated incident. If this is true, then why do these horrible scenarios seem to keep happening, albeit in different ways? Could this perhaps have to do with confusion over the proclaimed purpose of U.S. presence in both Iraq and Afghanistan?

Back in 2001, when the U.S. first invaded Afghanistan, most Americans supported this move as they did the subsequent invasion of Iraq in 2003. However, now about 10 years down the road U.S. troops are still stationed in Iraq and mainly Afghanistan and many Americans wonder why.

This also raises the issue if the purpose of both invasions was ever clear to the soldiers, even in the beginning. As we learned from Vietnam, when the mission is unclear, soldiers are more inclined towards bizarre and reprehensible behavior.

It has always been my opinion that U.S. troops should never have invaded Iraq nor Afghanistan, and with these massacres and atrocities continuing to occur it seems that the entire mission has only brought more suffering and corruption to two already suffering nations.

Many will claim that the U.S. has still achieved some semblance of a victory by killing both Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. However, when one looks at all the monstrosities and massacres that have been committed to reach this point, these "victories" certainly seem Pyrrhic if not pointless.

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