The rules are very clear;
Under the Geneva conventions the burial of war dead "should be honorable, and, if possible, according to the rites of the religion to which the deceased belonged".
So, how did we respond?
US soldiers in Afghanistan burnt the bodies of dead Taliban and taunted their opponents about the corpses, in an act deeply offensive to Muslims and in breach of the Geneva conventions.
Our excuse is very weak, hygiene.
The truth is, a burial would take a little more time than a pyre, but not so much as to prevent it being done. We made this decision not of the basis of hygiene, but in the name of psychological operations.
And in that context it is just another violation of the Geneva conventions for the US military under Bush's leadership.
More Bad News
MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant Wednesday, charging three U.S. soldiers with murder in the death of a Spanish television cameraman in Baghdad.
Jose Couso was killed as U.S. forces advanced to take control of the Iraqi capital in April 2003, a National Court spokeswoman said.
National Court investigating magistrate Santiago Pedraz issued the warrant for the arrests of the three soldiers and their eventual extradition to Spain. They are wanted on charges of murder and a crime against the international community, according to the warrant.
6 comments:
you would think the army would have gotten the messgae by now.
follow the damn rules
Just visit the American war crimes museum in Ho Chi Monh City to see photographs of atrocities committed by US military against Vietnamese POW's and the dead. I will never forget one photo of a grinning US soldier holding a decapitated Viet Cong head in his hand (by the hair), with about 10 cigarette butts shoved up the dead man's nose. Why is anyone surpised by the bits and pieces that somehow manage to get past the Fox propaganda machine?
What is clear if you read the actual transcript of the interview with the journalist or view the actual video is that some of our troops are being duped into aiding and abetting the Psyops people in the field. The soldiers who burned the bodies did so truly believing that it was hygenic reasons. It was the Psyops guys later who took advantage of this and broadcast the taunts to the Taliban. Don't lump all the soldiers together as war criminals. Some of them are being used too.
It Doesn't matter, since it appears clear that that hygiene was not a a real issue (despite claims otherwise, burning vs internment for such small numbers of dead is not a real time saver and burrial is just as safe as burning as far as hygiene is concerned. This is a decision that a commander should control, and decision made was just wrong. The end result is just another violation of Geneva, a habit of the army that is becomming all to common.
When you write the US is flaunting Geneva, you really mean the US is flouting Geneva. But don't feel bad about this error: Dr Condoleezza Rice, Most Powerful Woman in the World, makes it, too.
Flaunting is the meaing intended, To show contempt for or scorn.
I know there is a usage issue, but I tend to be stuck where I was taught decades ago.
Thank you for your comment and correction
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