It seems the new Iraqi Prime Minister feels we’re killing his people needlessly:
As outrage over reports that American marines killed 24 Iraqis in the town of Haditha last year continued to shake the new government, the country’s senior leaders said that they would demand that American officials turn over their investigative files on the killings and that the Iraqi government would conduct its own inquiry.
In his comments, Mr. Maliki said violence against civilians had become a “daily phenomenon” by many troops in the American-led coalition who “do not respect the Iraqi people.”
“They crush them with their vehicles and kill them just on suspicion,” he said. “This is completely unacceptable.” Attacks on civilians will play a role in future decisions on how long to ask American forces to remain in Iraq, the prime minister added.
For the longest time I agreed with the idea that, although we shouldn’t have gone into Iraq in the first place, it wouldn’t be right to walk away from it after making such a mess of the whole thing, but my opinion in that regard is starting to change drastically. It’s not just this latest scandal about Marines going nuts in Haditha either. There’s the 11 people killed in Ishaqi, the shooting of the parents of 3 kids 18 months ago, and too many more news stories over the past year. At this point I’m starting to think that we’re doing more harm than good—not only to the Iraqi’s but to ourselves—by “staying the course.” How many civilians do we need to kill either accidentally or intentionally before it’s enough? How badly do we want the rest of the world to hate us before we decide they hate us enough?
With friends like us Iraq doesn’t need any enemies…
Posted on 06/02/2006 at 09:47 AM 
Posted on 06/03/2006 at 12:29 AM 
Prefaced Fact . . .
I’ll preface this comment with the known fact that is very, very (like: very!) common for the Iraqi Insurgency (and its many folds) to use civilians *and* their homes as shields and shelter. In addition, alQaeda teaches how to best use this tactic for propaganda purposes against Western forces.
That said . . .
Haditha, Abu Ghraib, and other incidents, reflect not so much how the US Armed Forces conduct themselves as it does the a wider, larger moral problem with young Americans.
Young Americans: Your Cute Little Psychopaths...
Let’s face it, young Americans are probably the least empathetic generation we’ve raised thus far. We’re now reaping that hate-filled harvest. AbuGhraibs, Hadithas, et al, happen because these young Americans care little for their fellow human beings, especially if they don’t speak English. American culture teaches prosperity, not empathy. This is a bitter meal long in the making. Americans are just unhappy they now have to eat it, not so much for the deaths or torture of these civilians.
Americans are taught to be ugly...
America, not just their military, needs an inservice training-day. “Caring should be motivated by honest concern, not by need or identity. Now, let’s all try and care for something first, then someone next. Please hand-out the dolls.”
AbuGhraibs happens every day in America.
Just visit a US school gym class and listen and watch.
It’s very scary; It’s your future in the making.