Our soldiers have already asked for forgiveness for what we’re going to do to the Iraqi army. – Bryan P. McCoy, Lieut. Colonel, USMC, quoted in last week’s Time.
It’s an interesting way to bring God into it, but I guess it’s how you need to be thinking if you’re going into combat. Except that sometimes, for some men, it contributes to the mentality that created the My Lai Massacre, which “took place on March 16, 1968, and was reported in the The New York Times the following day” with this headline: Vietnamese Say G.I.’s Slew 567 in Town.
The Sunday’s NYTimes Book Review takes a look at the books “Jarhead” by Anthony Swofford and “Baghdad Express” by Joel Turnipseed, both Gulf War vets.