The Cruelty of American Soldiers

The war has brought hardships to Americans and Iraqis alike. Families torn, loved ones lost in combat, and not to mention the mental and physical stress on soldiers. Is the stress, however, on our American soldiers enough to compensate for the way they treated Iraqi detainees in late 2003? Our American justice system responds with a clear "no".

Seven men from a Maryland-based military camp were charged with assult. Ivan Fredrick, the highest ranked of the men, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to five charges of abuse. A second soldier, Armin Cruz, was sentenced to eight months in confinement. My question, which I am sure is the same question of many military authorities, is why did they do it? The accused respond that they knew the acts that they were committing were wrong, but that many of their intelligence commanders instructed them to do so, in order to get the "detainees broken". The soldiers reasoned that they would do anything to get their detainees to talk.

Although I believe that justice was done, I continue to wonder what it will take to put an end to the brutalness of war.