So the US Military is trying to railroad some soldiers because they posed for pictures with a few dead Afgans. From the article:
Troops allegedly shared the photos by e-mail and thumb drive like electronic trading cards. Now 60 to 70 of them are being kept tightly shielded from the public and even defense attorneys because of fears they could wind up in the news media and provoke anti-American violence.
“We’re in a powder-keg situation here,” said Eugene R. Fidell, president of the National Institute for Military Justice and a military law professor at Yale University.
There are so many things wrong with this. First of all, they are denying defense attorneys access to the evidence, because of “National Security.” I thought Obama said we wouldn’t do that anymore. These guys have a right to a fair trial. Period. If National Security issues are so important that you cannot release the evidence to afford the accused a fair trial, then you let them go. I agree that sometimes National Security concerns require that we not release certain facts. However, I also feel that when such secrets cannot be released, then that means that you cannot throw people in jail by saying, “National Security, we can’t let you see it, but trust us, this evidence proves his guilt.”
Next, they are worried about anti-American violence? Have we really turned into a nation of pussies? We are constantly deluged with pictures and films of Jihadis killing and torturing our soldiers, but “OMG!!! Someone just found out that we killed a few people! I hope we didn’t make anyone angry.”
Look, I think that we have no business over there, but if we are going to be there, then you fight to win. This is exactly how Vietnam turned into the mess that it did, because we weren’t serious about winning. You win a war, any war, by destroying the enemy’s ability to fight back. How do you do that? Well, you destroy their ability to support the war effort when you blow up power plants, factories and bridges. You bomb railways, dams, and anything else that can be used to build war materiel. That also includes blowing up the people who will work in , and rebuild, the factories, bridges, and power plants.
There is also the psychological effect: The people are so afraid of what you will do to them, that they lose the will to fight. We need to stop pussyfooting around, and get this over with. The United States won a World War by bombing the crap out of the enemy. We leveled entire cities.
This is the reason why I did everything in my power to keep my kids out of the military. I have been watching as we prosecute and micromanage our military forces, placing them at a disadvantage. Somehow the American public has gotten the idea that you can fight a war without anyone getting hurt, and I believe that this is the reason why we are so quick to go to war and use our military.
Guess what? War is a dirty, nasty business, where you win by attrition. It is not to be entered into on a whim, and once you enter into war, you need to be prepared to do whatever it takes to win. Destroy the enemy. If you aren’t ready and willing to do that, then war is not the answer.
