Americans React to Soldiers' Arrests

June 21, 2006 — -- Several members of the military have been charged this week in connection with the deaths of Iraqi civilians. How are Americans at home responding to the charges?

The military is considered the most trusted institution in the nation; soldiers are repeatedly taught that when they put on their uniform, they represent more than themselves. But some Americans say different rules apply when soldiers are at war.

"War is brutal. It's going to be brutal and you have to expect that," said one Chicago resident.

Near Camp Pendleton in California today, where seven Marines and one sailor were charged with the death of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdaniyah, supporters closed ranks behind the accused soldiers.

One woman said, "These men, in my opinion, are heroes and they should have a parade held in their honor."

It seems that many Americans find reports of U.S. troops' transgressions at Abu Ghraib, Haditha or Hamdaniyah more understandable in a war where our men are kidnapped, tortured and executed.

"We can't win a war with these fanatics by babying them," said Korean War veteran Jerry Lyons in Houston. "Who cares what the rest of the world thinks?"

And in Chicago, another passerby said: "Soldiers in a situation that's untenable, in a war they cannot win, these types of things happen."

But military ethicists say the belief that "war is hell" and anything is permissible can do lasting damage to the nation.

"When you start talking about throwing the book out because we're under stress … You're making a dramatic alteration in … the cornerstone of American identity," said Eugene Fidell of the National Institute of Military Justice.