Open Post

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In Response to Savagery

When confronted with savagery one can demonstrate courage or flee. The second option is available for a limited time only. Eventually there will be nowhere to run.

The New York Times:

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 10 — Insurgents posted an Internet video on Monday showing the mutilated bodies of two American soldiers abducted in June and found murdered days later during a search by American and Iraqi forces south of Baghdad. A message with the video says the soldiers were killed out of revenge for the rape and murder of an Iraqi girl in March, a crime in which at least six American soldiers are suspects.
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“We present this as revenge for our sister who was dishonored by a soldier of the same brigade,” says a message in Arabic on a title card at the start of the nearly five-minute video. Militants had learned of the crime early on and “decided to take revenge for their sister’s honor,” the message says, according to a translation by the SITE Institute, which tracks jihadist Internet postings.

For what its worth, the video does not depict the murder of the soldiers, who may have been killed in the initial attack. The fact that the actual killings aren't on the video indicates this is likely - insurgents generally don't miss such an opportunity. That there are four insurgents in view in the video implies there weren't enough to carry off the third victim, whose body was found at the scene of the attack.

The Jawa Report has an edited (but graphic) version of the video, along with still images. You can read the coverage of the story there without seeing the pictures or video - they are at the bottom of the post following several warnings.

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The Times says the video (and accompanying statement) "deepens the mystery surrounding the rape and killing of the Iraqi girl and the slayings of her parents and younger sister."

American officials have said that the soldiers implicated in that crime are from the same platoon of the 502nd Infantry as the two abducted soldiers, but investigators have yet to draw a direct link between the events.
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It is questionable whether the soldiers were actually killed out of revenge. Iraqis around Mahmudiya, where the rape and murders took place, believed at the time that the girl and the other three victims were killed by other Iraqis in sectarian violence, according to the mayor of Mahmudiya and American military officials. The mayor said the possible involvement of American soldiers only became apparent on June 30, when the American military announced it had opened an investigation into the crime.

Note that the Times story isn't questioning whether the accused US soldiers actually committed the rape/murders, just stating that at the time of the killing of these two soldiers (who have no connection to the previous crime beyond being members of the same platoon) the belief was that insurgents committed the earlier crime. In fact, according to published reports, the rape was planned to make it appear just so. Other soldiers, interviewed in the aftermath of the killings depicted in the newly released video, implicated those who (allegedly) committed the earlier rape/murders.

However, there are indications that many of the locals didn't buy the "insurgent" story, although comments from neighbors to the effect of "the victims were Sunni - we didn't think they had been killed by insurgents" were published in news accounts only after the arrest of the US suspects. (One could also interpret the comments as an admission that if the victims were Shiite there would be no questions asked.)

Locals might have captured and killed the two Americans in retaliation for the earlier crime, but I suspect that this claim was an opportunity that presented itself only after the fact. Earlier statements made by the terrorist groups claiming to have kidnapped the Americans made no reference to the rape/murder case, which had not yet been revealed.

All the facts behind the entire story will likely never be known. But this is a fine example of why a recently translated al Qaeda manual titled The Management of Savagery should be required reading for all US troops. In this case insurgents took advantage of events in a manner exactly as described in that document.

- Brutal killings must be explained in a manner that justifies the atrocity

- Public opinion must be turned against the enemy soldiers

- Al Qaeda should be seen as the solution to the chaos/savagery - even as they foment more such atrocities (hence the title)

These efforts are to be directed at the local Muslim population in any conflict. In Iraq, with a majority non-Sunni population, they will achieve limited success. But the even more powerful response is desired from the population of the enemy state - erosion of support for the effort on the home front.

Hence whether the killers of these soldiers knew of the rape/murder at the time or not, the perpetrators of that earlier heinous crime have handed a victory to the enemy, perhaps the most significant propaganda victory of the war.

How to counter attack? Use truth. Insurgents didn't "break" the story of the rape and murders in Iraq, even though they had the perfect opportunity to do so when they first kidnapped (or simply took the corpses of) the US Soldiers. The crime was revealed - just as the actions of the criminals at Abu Ghraib were revealed - when American soldiers acted in the manner of the vast majority of American soldiers and sought justice for the victims of the criminals who had disgraced the uniform. It takes a bit of courage to do that - perhaps a different sort than that needed to face enemy fire - but both are common traits instilled in the vast majority of America's modern warriors, before and after they take the oath.

Don't give rapists, murderers, and torturers - regardless of their manner of dress - the credit for that sort of courage.

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Elsewhere on this topic:

The Jawa Report

Allah

Captain Ed

Power Line

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Update: Capital Charges Filed In Rape-Slaying Case

Military authorities on Monday disclosed that they had filed capital charges of premeditated rape and murder against four of the five active-duty soldiers accused in an attack on an Iraqi family in March.

A 15-year-old Iraqi girl, who was allegedly raped, was killed along with her mother, father and younger sister in the attack in a village near Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad.

Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Spec. James P. Barker and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman are charged with rape, murder, housebreaking, arson and drinking alcohol against military rules, the U.S. military said in a statement. Another soldier, Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, was charged with premeditated murder, rape and obstruction of justice. The four soldiers could face the death penalty if convicted.

The fifth active-duty soldier, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement for allegedly failing to report the incident. Yribe was not directly involved in the attack, U.S. military spokesmen in Baghdad said.

The final suspect, Steven D. Green, who was discharged from the military for a personality disorder before fellow soldiers identified the alleged perpetrators of the crime, pleaded not guilty last week in Louisville to federal charges of rape and murder.

Reports allege that Green fired all of the shots and was one of two soldiers who directly participated in the rape.