Our World

American Soldiers Torturing Iraqi Civilians

Melson J. Bacon, a medic serving in Iraq, testified today in front of the court-martial that on April 26, 2006 he, along with seven other American soldiers, pulled an Iraqi civilian out of his home and put ten bullets in his head as a way of expressing his frustrations. The troop was frustrated that they were having trouble finding a known terrorist that had already been captured three times, but was also released three times. The troop unsuccessfully tried to cover up their crime by putting a machine gun next to the dead body, but the crime was uncovered. Bacon was the 1st one to be court-martialed, while the others face a lifetime in prison.
In my opinion, the soldiers participating in this event should be punished to the full extent of the law. Just because there is a war going on does not mean it is acceptable for soldiers to brutally torture and kill civilians who don’t necessarily even have anything to do with the war. The war in Iraq has already made the U.S wildly unpopular with the rest of the world, and events like this one defiantly don’t help improve our image. This, unfortunately, isn’t the first time troops stationed overseas have abused their power, as in many wars torturing, rapping, and killing of civilians has been reported. I hope this occurrence doesn’t stir up too much controversy between civilians in the U.S as I’m sure anti-war groups in America will jump at this event and attempt to show it as an example of how the war in Iraq is a waste of human lives.
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posted by Anonymous @ 10/06/2006 05:00:00 PM