"I came over here because I wanted to kill people."

[Oreo]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/28/AR2006072801492.html

Over a mess-tent dinner of turkey cutlets, the bony-faced 21-year-old private from West Texas looked right at me as he talked about killing Iraqis with casual indifference. It was February, and we were at his small patrol base about 20 miles south of Baghdad. "The truth is, it wasn't all I thought it was cracked up to be. I mean, I thought killing somebody would be this life-changing experience. And then I did it, and I was like, 'All right, whatever.' "

He shrugged.

"I shot a guy who wouldn't stop when we were out at a traffic checkpoint and it was like nothing," he went on. "Over here, killing people is like squashing an ant. I mean, you kill somebody and it's like 'All right, let's go get some pizza.' "
-snip-

now look at what he did after that interview....

The next time I saw him, in a front-page newspaper photograph five months later, he was standing outside a federal courthouse in North Carolina, where he had pled not guilty to charges of premeditated rape and murder. The brutal killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and her family in Mahmudiyah that he was accused of had taken place just three weeks after we talked.


To him... this girl was just an ant

[RagingInMiami]

1. West Texas?

Isn't that where Crawford is?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

4. No

Crawford is more central Texas.

[ChiciB1]

19. No, Crawford Is Near Where I Went To High School...

Killeen, Texas... Ft. Hood Army Post! Central Texas and about an hour from Austin.

Austin is one of the better places in Texas and I found it much more to my liking. I think Molly Ivins still lives there. I even got to meet her and have my picture taken with her. Love her!

[RagingInMiami]

21. I've been to Austin when I drove through Texas a couple of years ago

I loved it. I had a blast. And I really like how people strive to Keep Austin Weird.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. This is why his hometown should be worried

What will this kid be like when he returns home? Will someone cutting him off in traffic need to be squashed like an ant? How about his loved ones? The trauma from war will return home with them. I hope this young man realizes he needs help, or all of us will need help with he and those like him return to the US.

[SteppingRazor]

6. Hopefully, the armed forces will be wise enough to have...

mandatory counseling for combat veterans returning to civilian life. But I wouldn't count on it. We all know what a fantastic ( :sarcasm: ) record Bush has when it comes to helping veterans.

[uppityperson]

9. I don't think he is returning home, hopefully in prison forever.

If proven innocent, still don't think he will.

[Igel]

11. He'll get help, in jail.

He's the guy accused of raping and killing the 14-year-old girl and her family, with a few other accomplices.

In other words, the typical guy the NYT picked out was in short order discharged for behavioral disorders, and was a rapist-murder.

The question in the background is if the NYT reporter picked the guy at random--luck of the draw--or picked a guy rumored to have a really bad, really deadly attitude. Or if, perhaps, the reason for the discharge was discovered in the reporting.

[ChiciB1]

17. Are You Being Sarcastic? Help In Jail??

Is there help in jail?? I don't think so! My son, and this is NO reflection on his family because he WAS NOT raised this way, got involved with METH and got addicted. He's no teen-ager or even in his 20's, he's in his early 30's, but he got addicted to METH because of his wife left him and various other personal problems.

At any rate, we tried almost everything we could to help him until we realized he would simply have to pay the piper. Now, after almost 2 years of HELL for all of us, he is in the county jail serving a 6 month sentence. Some of the stories I've already heard, and this is in a county jail.... not prison, make me shudder. The stories are not from my son, we had to make a decision not to enable him anymore and I haven't seen him or heard from him since he was arrested, but I have been told about the drugs right there in jail!! I'm SURE it's not as much as he was using, but to think it's not overseen any better boggles my mind!

And there IS NOT any help... there are all kinds of rules regarding the money those on the outside have to pay for THEIR clothing, their commissary, and books have to be sent by a book store chosen by the jail. It's a money trap for sure, this much I HAVE found out, but still there seems to be little supervising and no psychological help at all.

So maybe you were being sarcastic, I don't know. I do know that the SYSTEM isn't quite what one would think. Sure jail is jail and it's meant for the purpose of reprimand, but from what I've seen and heard, I wonder if he won't be WORSE when he gets out!!!

[SteppingRazor]

3. I wouldn't say this outlook is solely the provence of American...

soldiers in the Middle East, though. It seems life is cheap to all sides over there -- look at suicide bombers, for example.

[redqueen]

13. Exactly.

There are people in every country like that.

We just happen to send ours out to do more damage and in greater numbers...

[uppityperson]

5. you do realize you are picking out an extreme case here?

War is hell, makes people into animals. If you are that way to start, it gets you even worse. Yes, people like this very much contribute to USA hatred. I wish they would get his recruiter, his signer upper (if different person), boot camp person, etc. I wish they would investigate all of them and figure out how he got there and make sure it doesn't happen again. Ever. War is hell enough without throwing Stephen Greens into the mix.

End the occupation of Iraq now. etc etc

[atreides1]

16. Why would they investigate anyone else

The need for bodies, including gangbangers, neo-nazis, and skinheads, is more important then making
sure the right kind of people are recruited!!

Besides, they don't give you a psych exam when you enlist!!!

[NNN0LHI]

20. I sure hope you are right

But I would be lying if I said I didn't have my concerns.

Don

[Kali]

7. or you could just post a photo of THE IDIOT

[BuhByeChimp]

8. No its not.

A majority don't like America because we are the Alpha dog of the world and its easy to take pot shots at us.

Do you really believe they hate us because of a young guy that is indifferent when it comes to killing people in a war? Hell, there are many more groups out there killing with not only indifference but with glee, yet they are not nearly as hated as America.

[redqueen]

15. The "Alpha Dog" of the world?

:rofl:

We're China's economic bitch, you know.

We have the most insane leader, who is the most willing to unleash our military might... that's why they hate us. Well, that and our unqualified support of Israel.

[Selatius]

10. If you feel nothing on the battlefield, you've been fighting too long.

You came home from the war alive. You are still breathing, still living, but you are dead on the inside.

[Joanne98]

12. He grew up in Midland Texas....

Green grew up in Midland, Texas. According to school officials, he dropped out of high school in 2002 after completing the 10th grade and moved to Denver City, Texas, where he earned his high school equivalency in 2003. Days after a misdemeanor arrest for alcohol possession, Green enlisted in the US Army in February 2005. He was stationed in Iraq from September 2005 to April 2006 and discharged in May of 2006.<2>

[Oreo]

14. Another quote from the soldier

"See, this war is different from all the ones that our fathers and grandfathers fought. Those wars were for something. This war is for nothing."


(I changed the title because the more I read the article the more I found it to be a really good picture of what our kids are seeing there. I highly recommend reading the whole thing.)

[ChiciB1]

18. I Did & Sent It To ALL My Email Addy's... Even The R's! n/t