A Numerical Perspective On Haditha

It appears as though America is going to have to face the fact that some number of its military forces may have committed a heinous crime. We should face it. And they should be held accountable, as undoubtedly they will.

In fact, if found guilty, they will likely pay a far greater price for any criminal behavior, including murder, than would a civilian in similar circumstances. As example, according to the USDOJ the average murder sentence in 2001 was approximately 17 years.

While any individuals are being investigated, charged, tried, or sentenced, we owe it to our military to retain an important perspective. Early reports suggest we may be looking at seven individuals.

The incident is still under investigation, but several senior military officials say at least seven Marines could face criminal charges.

While hundreds of thousands of military personnel have cycled in and out of Iraq, there has always been, at minimum, more than 100,000 there at any one time during the course of the war and there were 160,000 in country with 30,000 in theater during November 2005. That would mean that we are talking about less than .000044 percent of our force total at the time, or the possibility that approximately 4.4 in 100,000 of in country military personnel may have committed murder.

According to the 2004 FBI Uniform Crime Report (pdf), - p. 15. In 2003, America experienced 16,528 murder offenses for a rate of 5.7 per 100,000. In 2004, America experienced 16,137 murder offenses for a rate of 5.5 per 100,000.

While we should not excuse any offenses which come to light, we should also remember that despite the pressures of battle endured by our men and women in arms, they are no more likely to commit a violent crime than the average citizen. If anything. the likelihood of that is actually less.

Indict, try and hopefully convict the guilty. But critics would be wise to not indict the whole of our military, unless they are prepared to stand for indictment themselves as part of a civilian society just as, if not more capable of illegal violent acts.

See Hot Air for comprehensive blog coverage.

Comments

[Terry Gain]

Critics (i.e. the anti-liberation, anti-American left (which unfortunately comprises 30% of your public, 80% of your mass media and 90% of your academia) will exploit this for all it's worth, and more.

Having conceded as torture acts that, for the most part, resembled fraternity hazing, it will be difficult for sane Americans to fight back and demonstrate that these are the acts of a tiny fraction of America's armed forces.

150,000 American soldiers risk their lives so that 28 million Iraqis can have a chance at democracy and your media is about to portray this as - not merely the worst atrocity since Auschwitz- but the essence of America.

This Canadian is praying for my American friends- especially those who risk their lives for our safety- to get though this. You need to start fighting the enemy within.

[Dan]

You need to start fighting the enemy within.

Exactly - and some of my fellow bloggers on the Right had better stop their hand wringing.

[Rick]

Out of a military of very nearly one million people....those in country sent home, then sent back over and again. Combat stressed which must be experienced to be understood. Atrocities will happen among a small few and those few will be brought to justice by their peers in much harsher terms than our faux civil justice system. Keep in mind too, that the whole story has yet to be told. "Guilty until you prove your innocence"

Between Clinton and Rummy; the troop reductions have been a real good idea.

[hobo]

It all started with something -- who detonated the IED? This was done there and in countless other places with no regard for the safety of innocent civilians.

My son, (my precious little wonder) just got his commission not long ago and was told last week he would be going to Iraq. Several men in the platoon he commands have been to Iraq and Afghanistan more than twice apiece and he is aware of the conditions he will face based upon their stories. Being a veteran myself, I told him he will face some unnerving and strange conditions and he must somehow make decisions to the best of his ability that he will not regret years from now, but his and the safety of his men is the paramount issue, first and foremost. I pray to God he will never find himself in a situation like Haditha.

[Rick]

hobo: Let's hope and pray your son's first decision is to listen to his sargents. Good luck, God Bless.

[dnichols]

We need to support our troops regardless...

All of this negative press once again feeds into our enemies hands and only promotes more violence towards us and our troops, especially those on the front lines. This story will spread hate like a wildfire in the Middle East...

It is impossible for us to know what went on there, and why. But the press needs to play this down and Murtha is horrible for dissing our troops and inviting more animosity from our enemies. He is doing for political gain, and that is really an outrage.

War is stressful beyond our imagination...my nephew is home on leave from Iraq- he is 20 years old and has been there six months. He is not a Marine on the front lines, he is a National Guard and involved in Prison duty. But I can see such a change in him from living in such a life and death high-level stress situation. I can't imagine what our Marine's face daily over there. Mistakes will be made...and people can loose it, perhaps even our soldiers...think about it, People loose it here from road rage!

War is hell, and I am sorry, mistakes can be made at that level of battle and stress. But our press needs to protect our troops and think of the big picture and not feed the terror/propaganda machine. This is an isolated situation...but the press will use this to damage Bush, because they do not care about our troops as much as they hate Bush and look at a situation like this as an opportunity to bring more damage to the White House.

[Just Some Poor Schmuck]

Ever since the first Gulf War the left has been itching for an excuse to revive the "babykiller" slur that we were faced with when we returned from Vietnam. It looks like these knotheads may have given them all the excuse they need.

I feel like I'm in one of those nightmares were you know what's going to happen but you can't do anything to change it. The news media and the left is going to latch onto this like a pit bull with a two year old until we think that the Abu Ghraib coverage was minor.

If these guys did what they are alleged to have done it will be used to beat us over the head in every forum in the world. We will be unable to say anything critical of anyone, anywhere without having this incident thrown back in our faces.

The damage to American power and prestige will be incalculable. Not to mention our national self-esteem. I remember the bad old days of the late 70's and I don't want to repeat them.

[Stella]

My son, (my precious little wonder) just got his commission not long ago and was told last week he would be going to Iraq.
Posted by: hobo | Sunday, May 28, 2006 at 01:28 AM

My prayers and thanks are with your son, Hobo.

[interloper]

The "enemy within"? Good god: do you people have any idea what you sound like?