hat the US military has whitewashed the behavior of its troops that fateful March night, not even coming up with a reprimand, may be highly significant. Iraq is not a popular posting, especially for America’s part-time soldiers. The ordinary GI is wrapped up in his helmet and body armor and weighed down with his ammo and personal weapon. He is thus largely equipped to do nothing but defend himself with main force. Defending the rights and lives of innocents who come within the range of his gun is secondary, even though that is in essence the reason why he and his comrades are supposed to be in Iraq. As happened in Vietnam, it seems that many US troops are just hunkering down and looking to get through their Iraq tour alive, while having little contact and less sympathy with the people whose protection and support is supposed to be their mission. Had the Pentagon accused any of the soldiers who opened fire on March 4 last, it might have had a further impact on the morale of thousands of other frightened and reluctant reservists elsewhere in the country.
Arabnews