I read a news article on the BBC Website on the 4th of July that made me feel as though I had little to celebrate this year. Titled “Veteran faces Iraq murder charges,” it was about Steven Green, a retired private, who stands accused of the rape of an Iraqi woman, and the murder of 3 other Iraqis including a 5 year-old child in March. I was and continue to be horrified, but find myself asking a fundamental question. Why wouldn’t we expect major crimes to occur with 150,000 U. S. troops fighting in Iraq? That’s not a slur against U.S. military forces. It is however, a slur against the morality of our nation. Many of us seem to have forgotten that war is ugly, despite the fact that the Iraq war has caused the deaths of more than 20,000 Iraqis and over 2500 U.S. military personnel. The fact that our president, the nation and it’s citizens are still able to dismiss this Neo-con and evangelical Twenty-first century crusade as simply a part of a larger war against terror in general demonstrates our own culpability. First, the concept of a pre-emptive war is of questionable morality. Second, we have adequate proof that there were no WMD in Iraq at the time of our invasion. Third, we also have definite proof that there was no connection between Saddam Hussein and al quaida at the time of the invasion, though there are now links between the current insurrection and al quaida.

Additionally, I worry that Mr. Green’s discharge “due to a personality disorder” before he was charged with the crime was an attempt to distance the powers that be from the crime. There is also some suggestion that the recent kidnapping, torture and murder of two soldiers from Mr. Green’s unit, the 502nd, may be related. I suspect that we will be hearing a great deal more about this incident in the months ahead.