disillusioned

I watched a show on PBS Sunday night, part of their Independent Lens series.  It was called "Kill Team," the story of American soldier Adam Winfield and his attempt to stop war crimes against unarmed Afghani citizens.  The men carrying out these heinous crimes were members of his own platoon.

For months he'd been messaging back and forth with his father about the situation, not sure what to do.  Knowing that if he tried to work the usual chain of command it would just come back down to him.  At home, Winfield's father, himself a veteran, made repeated calls to military officials, eventually being told that "stuff like that happens."

In Afghanistan, the body count of innocent civilians was rising.  Individuals were targeted, gunned down and then soldiers would plant weapons on the victims in order to defend their actions.  When word of the incidents was leaked by a Pfc, he was beaten and the platoon leader threatened to kill him, saying he would go home in a body bag.

Winfield was similarly threatened, his SSG saying that they could cut him up in little pieces and feed them to Afghani dogs and no one would know what happened to him.  In May, 2011, another target was selected and Winfield was told to shoot him.  According to Winfield, he was among the soldiers who fired at the man, but he didn't aim at the 45-year old.  Once a pineapple grenade had been planted near the body, the SSG walked up to the corpse and fired two shots into his head.  He then made Winfield and another soldier pose with the body.  Not unlike a hunter poses with his kill.

In the end, Winfield was charged with murder, but plead guilty to a lesser charge.  He received a three year sentence.  The SSG was sentenced to life in prison and a Cpl was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

The Pfc who first leaked the information about the killings said (here I paraphrase) that "from the moment we enter boot camp until the day our tour is up, they are taught to kill, kill, kill.  So why, then, when we do it, do people get pissed off?"  As if to say, our whole mission is to kill.  When there's not enough legit action, we feel like we're failing.  So people get creative.

Apparently, it's also a big deal to get a Infantry Combat Badge.

I'd like to think that this is an isolated case, but soldiers interviewed for the film indicate that their platoon was not the only one involved in this kind of activity.

Something's wrong here...very wrong.  No wonder the incidences of PTSD are alarmingly high.

Somebody needs to fix our military.

Here's a link to the documentary trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9uMa8ztGGk