Military Troops Disciplined for Doing Their Job

Dr. Bill Smith, ARRA Editor, USAF Retired: If you are military, family of military or a supporter of the military, the following examples of abuses of our service members by the military services will heighten your concern about today's military chain-of-command. The knee-jerk reaction of military commanders and their staffs in response to "excessive political correctness" by the liberal left should make your blood boil. Military members understand the inherent power of their commanders. However, they also trust in their commanders to defend and to protect them while they have served in "harms way." This abuse of our military by commanders with the use of the judicial system makes me wonder about the past influence of the liberal Clinton administration on the development and advancement of these commanders and their staff officers.

When military commanders send troops in to "harms way" to face "kill or be killed" situations, military commanders should not second guess or to treat these situations like civil actions. Military commanders should protect the troops from unreasonable accusations and / or excessive oversight and review. When commanders criminalize or attempt to criminalize military responses as detailed in the below examples, they trample on the morale of the troops, place at risk the lives, the careers and the reputations of the troops under their command. Today's commanders at many levels in the chain-of-commands seem to be more interested in protecting themselves or their service image and are willing to allow the careers, reputations, and livelihoods of lower ranking members to be placed at risk. It is time for commanders to stand up and say: "War is Hell" and innocent people die. Saving fellow comrades-in-arms is more important than treating "nicely" a terrorist insurgent. The following examples were detailed by Chuck Muth in his article Support the Troops by Untying Their Hands.  . . . [Read More]