The marines urination video doesn't show the real war crime

[marmar]

The marines urination video doesn't show the real war crime
The urination video does not shock me so much as the public's tolerance of these immoral wars that make criminals of marines

Ross Caputi
guardian.co.uk, Friday 13 January 2012


The video of US marines urinating on Afghan corpses does not shock me. Though their behavior is disgusting and unacceptable, I find the public's reaction to this video far more troubling. People are not outraged that there are dead Afghans; they are outraged at the manner in which the dead are treated. This is indicative of our culture's tolerance for war and war crimes – as long as they are done in a gentlemanly fashion.

During the second siege of Fallujah, blatant war crimes were committed, yet the corporate media reported them with indifference. The siege itself was a war crime, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross Summary of International Law, because indiscriminate tactics were used, constant care was not taken to protect the civilian population, proper distinction between civilians and combatants was not made, medical personnel and medical units were not protected, indiscriminate weapons were used, and recent research about the current health crisis in Fallujah suggests that poisonous weapons may have been used as well.

Many of these war crimes were reported by the corporate media, though they were not described as such. For example, the New York Times reported on 8 November 2004 that American forces "seized" the Fallujah general hospital. An incident that I witnessed, as did Paul Wood and Robbie Wright from the BBC, was when my unit fired grenades into a house until it collapsed – with full knowledge that there were two resistance fighters and a young boy (roughly 10 years old) inside. Paul Wood interviewed the lieutenant at the scene, and he acknowledged that they had killed the young boy. In both of these reports, war crimes and Geneva Conventions were never mentioned, and the façade of honorable conduct was preserved.

What did not make it into the news was my behavior in Fallujah and the behavior of others in my unit, which I am certain would have elicited outrage equal to that elicited by this video of the urinating marines. I believe that the second siege of Fallujah can correctly be characterised as an "atrocity-producing situation". Our false beliefs about who we were fighting, our dehumanisation of Fallujans, our desire to "see combat" (a cute euphemism) and to get a confirmed kill, and our longing for revenge for lost comrades against a faceless enemy all conspired to create a bloodthirsty and lawless atmosphere. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/13/us-marines-video-urination-war-crime

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[RC]

2. The OP is of the caliber posts DU needs more of.

All to often hard core and/or important stories, such as this one, sink like rocks, few rec'd or responses, buried by fluffy, feel good, empty posts with hundreds of responses.

[think]

4. +1 K&R

I would encourage others to read the entire article.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

3. Unfortunately, "The public's tolerance" does not possess the intensity required to generate a shock.

Their state of unconsciousness has been incomprehensible to me for so long, that I have begun to think that they will never awaken from their comatose state.

The media’s obsession with this urination video irritates the hell out of me. Obviously, the behavior displayed by these Marines is disgusting. And I understand that military and state officials must publicly condemn it.

However, the comments and statements by sanctimonious, no-nothing media types and politicians, is far more disgusting to me. These people are so far beyond unqualified to render judgment, that it will be difficult for me to ever take them seriously again.

[zeemike]

5. We have been slowly conditioned to accept things like the war crimes you mention.

And I have seen it happen over my lifetime...I was in the military before Viet Nam and seen the slow corruption of the morals starting with the Mi Lie Massacre...where the military commandeers decided that war is hell so why not do hellish things to win.
And it has been a slow creep toward lawlessness and moral decay.
When I was in the military in the early 60s they showed us propaganda films in which the depicted the Communist as evil people because they believed in the principle of the end justifying the means....now they have convinced us all that it really is justified by the end...and the end is fighting and winning terrorism....something that can never be done.

[proverbialwisdom]

6. Bookmarking.

[JohnyCanuck]

7. K&R n/t

[Charlemagne]

8. I have a friend who was in the Battle of Fallujah

He isnt some love-it-or-leave-it sort of guy so he normally would be cool if I asked him about it. The thing is, he came back totally fucked up (PTSD and full of shrapnel). So im uneasy about asking him unless he wants to tell me. The VA has him on all sorts of pain meds which just him sick instead of stopping the pain. He says pot is the only thing that can give him a normal life. That is a war crime too. Stealing this guys life when he was just 19. And once he did the dirty work they say its criminal for him to feel normal because he does it through Marijuana.

[cbrer]

9. My regards

To your friend, Charlemagne. As I sit here in Kabul, I cannot adequately express my condolences and outrage at the true enemies and destroyers.
This OP claims to be in some way outraged at the lack of outrage. This is the type of 2 faced, self serving, duplicitous, illogical writing (refering to writing, not the individual) that obscures and obfuscates, rather than uncovering the facts of the horror of war. At least half of which is internal, and permanently scars those it rapes. The outrage must occur BEFORE we as a society, condone these types of actions, or their perpetuation. The facts of war are well known, and widely realized. To wrap this depravity in the flag for the purposes of profit, or oil, or any of the other "reasons" that governments manipulate their weak minded, morally bankrupt, or acquiescent, is the horror that leads to these crimes. ANY other reasoning process leads to this "outrage".
Pissing on a corpse? Please read up on stress reactions and the human psyche. These guys were emulating, and being a shining example, of the training we provided them, in an action that we condone.
I am a victim of 2 wars, and winner of none. And this latest one, perpetuated by the Nobel PEACE prize winner. Vote for whomever you want. I wish I could smoke a joint with your friend, and shake his hand, His price was too high.

[Charlemagne]

11. Thank you

for your service. be safe.

[Solly Mack]

10. K&R