Why anyone would want to wage war on behalf of his or her country is beyond me. I’ve done it and certainly don’t look forward to any repeat performances. Military service is a Catch-22. They tell you you’re a hero and then treat you like a criminal. They tell you the martial profession is honorable and then treat you like scum.
Sergeant Jermaine Nelson is pending court martial at Camp Pendleton for murder. He could receive life imprisonment.
This is all over speculation, innuendo and testimony from events that happened in Fallujah more than four years ago. Let me ask you this. Why would anyone sign up for the Marines and volunteer for combat missions if they have a high chance of being charged with murder after the battle? I sure as hell wouldn’t. If someone has been shooting at me all day and killing those around me it is highly unlikely that they are going to survive close contact with me.
Yes, there are rules of engagements. Yes, prisoners should be treated humanely. But this is war. War cannot be won without warriors. If you treat your warrior class like your peasant class your chance of winning conflicts declines on a rapidly sliding scale. This should make every American in uniform ask him or herself who is going to get their back when they have bullets coming downrange at them? What sort of welcome are they going to receive when they get home? How many years later will it be when the same people who started the war they fought in come to arrest them for fighting in it?
Bureaucrats make the rules that soldiers live and die by. Bureaucrats judge how the rules were followed. I’d like to all hand to hand missions in America’s next war fought by bureaucrats. They’ve earned the honor.