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Julia Gorin
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Jesus and Mordy
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Beheadings in Iraq were back in the news but only briefly, except for some of the perpetually angry conservative radio talk show hosts, whose anger, unfortunately, often taints their judgment and renders their solutions too extreme by far. The mainstream media, on the other hand, rapidly disposed of the news regarding the unspeakable atrocities committed by fanatic Iraqi insurgents against two more of our soldiers and the story faded quickly from the news and opinion columns.

That’s a pity because the world needs to reflect somewhat longer on the barbaric behavior of these insurgents, referred to by some opponents of the war as freedom fighters. People everywhere, whatever their position on the war, need to ponder the evil being committed by Muslim extremists in the name of Allah. It should cause acute embarrassment, indeed, outrage, to true Muslims everywhere that their religion has been hijacked and disgraced by these animals.

Privates Thomas L. Tucker and Kristian Menchaca were captured and tortured by Iraqi insurgents who then cut their heads off and so horribly mutilated their corpses that they could be identified only by DNA. It is devastating enough to lose a loved one or a comrade in arms. It is more than doubly devastating to learn that the loved one or comrade was tortured and mutilated beyond recognition. Rage would be an understandable reaction among fellow warriors after such events and the urge for revenge strong but, of course, we’re expected always to be above all that by critics of the war, sitting in the comfort and safety of their homes.

The perpetrators of such evil deeds, like the suicide bombers who target innocent civilians, are savages. They don’t deserve to be called insurgents. Nor are they combatants, entitled to the protections of those Geneva Conventions that the war critics ceaselessly prattle about. They are simply terrorists who are driven by religious fanaticism to hatred, barbarism and murder. Fanatics cannot be reasoned with or brought to justice. There are only two certain ways of protecting civilized people from the murderous fanatics who are targeting them: they must be killed or incarcerated for life, away from civilized people, in some secure place like Guantanamo. Since this is probably too much for the American civilian justice system to deal with reliably, it is perhaps best left to military tribunals.

Those with extreme positions on either side of the Iraq War responded to this atrocity with predictably extreme recommendations. Some talk show hosts demanded that our military members being held on charges of murdering or abusing Iraq civilians or prisoners be immediately set free as if one crime justifies another. On the other side, some opponents of the war saw this atrocity as just another argument for immediate withdrawal.

They are both wrong, of course. Those who demand that charges be dropped against members of the military suspected of having committed offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ),even without a full investigation, are as guilty of rushing to judgment as are those who demand that heads role without complete knowledge of the facts and circumstances. The military takes allegations of wrongdoing very seriously. There are standard procedures for conducting investigations to determine whether or not the available evidence supports charges and trial by court-martial. Members of the military found to be in violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice must answer for their offenses as determined by military regulations and the Manual for Courts-martial. Atrocities committed by an enemy do not justify illegal behavior on our part. That said, however, the circumstances and mental state of the defendants engaged in combat with an often unseen and unrecognizable enemy must be taken into account. My experience with the military justice system persuades me that the process will be fair and just, and will not be improperly influenced either from above or from outside the service.

Those who argue for immediate withdrawal or a firm timetable for withdrawal are equally misguided. We are engaged in a war against terrorists who despise and wish to kill us. It will likely be fought on many fronts and for a long time. If we weren’t fighting it in Iraq and Afghanistan, we’d be fighting it somewhere else. These terrorists are not trying to kill us because of where we are but rather because of who we are. That may not change much even after we withdraw from Iraq.

What Americans and the world need to learn from such atrocities as this is the true nature of the enemies we face and how we must deal with them. We will not defeat them by attempting to bring them to justice. Justice no more applies to fanatics like these than it does to vermin. It is not a matter of determining an appropriate sentence for them. Civilized people must be protected from them. Nor will we melt their hearts by reaching out to them and negotiating with them. Remember, they hate us for who we are and what we stand for, not what we say or how we act. You cannot negotiate with religious fanatics who believe that they honor God by torturing, killing and decapitating infidels and mutilating their bodies. CRO

copyright 2006 J. F. Kelly, Jr.

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