by Jeeni Criscenzo [ImpeachPAC candidate]
I live in the shadow of Camp Pendleton and have many opportunities to talk to Marines. Most of them seem so young to me. Many are 15 years younger than my own son and they have been to Iraq for two and three tours of duty. They are soft-spoken, respectful and sad. I look in their eyes and see dark pools of pain that make me wonder what terrible things they have seen. I've never met a Marine here in Oceanside that seemed capable of killing children in cold blood.
So when I read today that photos show that a Marine unit from Camp Pendleton executed as many as 24 Iraqi civilians in cold blood, my head began to spin. I've heard stories of civilian deaths, and seen photos of the bodies of Iraqi women and children killed in this horrible illegal invasion. But for the first time I had to contemplate the unfathomable - that one of those beautiful young men I've met at the bus stop, or the laundromat or the farmer's market could have been in that group that went over the edge, lost their moral compass, put a gun to the back of an innocent child's head and pulled the trigger.
What happens when we send these young people, who have offered up the prime of their lives to defend us, into an environment where the enemy they have been trained to destroy turns out to be a pregnant woman or an eight year old girl? What happens to the things their mothers taught them about protecting the defenseless?
What happens when you are only 20 years old and you've been through boot camp and brainwashed to obey orders and look out for your buddies and suddenly your buddy is blown to bits and your sergeant is telling you to shoot the brains out of an old man and women in their night clothes? What happens to the things your father taught you about controlling your temper?
What happens when you survive the nightmare and come home with all your limbs intact and get sent back again and survive and get sent back again to a war that no longer makes sense, a war that the majority of the country now agrees was a terrible mistake? What happens to the words of your Sunday School teachers and Little League coaches and first loves?
What are we suppose to feel when we read about this "investigation"? Do we act shocked and indignant as if we had no idea these things happen when we send young people to fight wars? Hell, I knew it was happening and so did you! And I was angry about it three years ago when this war started and I'm still seething. I don't want anyone killing kids in my name!
I object to the condemnation of these Marines. Did punishing the soldiers accused of inflicting torture at Abu Ghraib reassure anyone that justice had been served? Everyone who sits blithely on this nightmare carousel that isn't helping to pull the brake, is pulling the trigger. Every one of us who stood silent while this Administration sold us this war is responsible for all the consequences of this war - even the ugly parts we don't want to know about. Every one of us who paid the taxes that bought their weapons is guilty.
Bush said on Thursday that he considered the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse involving Army soldiers the worst US mistake of the entire war. Mistake? He calls this a mistake? Leaving the toilet seat up is a mistake. Unprovoked murder... torture... detention without charge... these are not mistakes! They are the worst crimes humans can commit and they are being committed by our Administration with complete impunity. Investigating and prosecuting the people on the bottom of the ladder isn't going to save our moral standing in the world community.
It's time to shine the spotlight on the real perps and get them out of the control seat and behind bars where they can't hurt innocents any more. That's what civilized people do.
--- Jeeni Criscenzo is running for U.S. Congress in California's 49th District. She is running against Darrell Issa, who continues to blindly support the invasion and occupation of Iraq. If you would like to see someone who has a clear moral compass and a spine of steel representing you in Washington, please visit Jeeni Criscenzo's website at www.DREAMofJEENIforCONGRESS.com [1] and offer your support.