Rules of Engagment: What Were They at Haditha

The article, Rules of Engagement: What Were They at Hadita?, discusses the supposed slaughter of 24 Iraqi “civilians”. To understand this story one must first understand the area in which the “massacre” took place? It is in the very dangerous Sunni triangle in Iraq. This is said to be one of the most dangerous places on earth. Also, Haditha is one of the main places that terrorists gather to plot against the US forces in Iraq. A roadside bomb in the city killed an American soldier. The soldiers that were with him went to attack the suspected perpetrators of the attack. In doing so they killed 24 “civilians”. Another interesting fact is that the people who are testifying in the case are Iraqi “civilians” themselves. In all likelihood these “civilians” are insurgents themselves. You know that there is something wrong when Iraqi “civilians” are thought to be more truthful than US marines. However, this is not the first time that this has happened. No, believe it or not it has happened before. The first incident was in the Vietnam War. U.S. soldiers were sent to the village of My Lai in Vietnam. It was a hotspot for the Viet Cong fighters. When the soldiers arrived they found no men of fighting age, just women, children and old men. The soldier’s proceeded to kill hundreds of civilians. This was, in no way, the proper course of action. However, it is not as wrong as many people would lead one to believe. One must always realize that in a country were guerilla warfare was a way of life one must always be alert. This may have just been an example of trigger happy Americans who were just very scared. Amazing parallels can be drawn between what happened in Vietnam and in Iraq. What one must realize is that these people are human. When faced one is extremely emotionally charged sometimes irrational decisions are made. To put it simply, one must not have one hand tied behind their back to fight and war and quite frankly, since Vietnam, the US does.