Most of the time, crimes that are committed locally, nationally or internationally, stay on our minds for a short period of time. At times, it seems as if we have become desensitized to the news of crime; but then there are times when we hear of certain horrific and depraved crimes leaving us at a loss to explain why.
Over the past few days I've been saddened and repulsed after reading the offenses committed by a group of teenagers in St. Louis, and the acts of four of our Marines in Afghanistan. What has been even more repugnant is the response of these perpetrators and the comments of fellow citizens in discussing these events.
Seven "juveniles" from St. Louis took part in a "knockout game", which resulted in the savage beating of a man as these youth attempted to show off their supposed toughness. A teenage girl was a witness, but failed to show on the day of court date. We can only speculate about her reasons. She was likely intimidated and probably changed her mind after considering what had happened to the previous victim.
What was further disturbing was the "celebration" that these offenders took part in while still in the court hallways after the case was dismissed. The first thought that came to my mind was "where are their parents?" It was a juvenile court and these youth must have been accompanied by some adults. How could the adults in their lives let this type behavior happen?
Most parents are dedicated to raising their children to be compassionate, honest, and productive members of the society, and they discipline their children when they make mistakes. The parents of these juveniles should have issued apologies and stopped the "jamboree" in the court. It is troubling to think of what the future holds for these youth who took part in this "knockout game." How will they deal with disagreements? Will they respect the law and lives and property of others?
Another upsetting piece of news from this past week was the release of the disturbing video of four Marines from Camp Lejeune urinating on the dead bodies of three Taliban. The Marines are one of our most elite and respected branches of the military. They receive excellent training and our Marines know that desecrating dead bodies is not only morally repugnant, but also against the Geneva Conventions.
Each faith has last rituals for the deceased; we are morally obligated to respect them even if we do not follow that faith. The entire world is watching how the U.S. government and military upholds human rights, as we preach to the rest of the global community to follow our example in this area. Our military leaders have condemned the deplorable acts and promised an investigation. The four marines have also been identified and were questioned about the incident.
I cannot understand how, after shameful pictures and blowback from the Abu Ghraib incident, a similar event has taken place again.
Those who condone this activity unfortunately do not understand that it is diametrically opposed to what our recent mission in Afghanistan is all about. In fact, this type of incident causes our troops to be placed in an even tougher position as they try to achieve success in Afghanistan.
Our military is legally and morally obligated to respect the human rights protected by the Geneva Conventions and other treaties that our country has signed.
I am even more distressed by the responses to this despicable act; we hear reasons such as "the stress of war," "the loss of their comrades," "war makes you do bad things," among the few.
Pamela Geller, the executive director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) and Stop Islamization of America (SIOA), wrote in her blog "I love these Marines. Perhaps this is the infidel interpretation of the Islamic ritual of washing and preparing the body for burial."
This comment about my faith was hurtful and disrespectful. Responses by other news media have even more offensive. I know that the majority of Americans despise these kinds of acts, but very few of them are speaking. This only gives credence to the U.S. image in Muslim countries that our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are against Islam, and not against terrorism. It nullifies all the hard work our government and military is doing in building schools, hospitals, and investing in infrastructure.
Incidents like this, and the reaction that follows by certain people whose voices are broadcast across the globe, make achieving peace even harder. It seems that those who parade themselves as being the most patriotic and supportive of our military are often saying and doing things that are putting our troops and nation's interests in further danger.
The last week was a sad indictment of our value system, but what was more disheartening was lack of moral outrage and condemnation of these acts by ordinary citizens.
