Sunday morning a man walked into his home to find his wife, 8 children and 2 other relatives dead. His family was not a part of the insurgency but were mercilessly killed by an American soldier possibly under the influence of alcohol for a reason still unknown. The damage this tragedy has done will not only put more US troops at risk but also emboldens the Taliban’s recruitment and strength. The Right loves to tell us that the terrorists “hate our freedoms,” which is a ridiculous notion, because they don’t even know what our freedoms (what’s left of them) are. Like I have said before, they hate us because we are on their land and we are not welcome. The longer we have troops abroad, the more likely incidents of Quran burnings, urinating on corpses, and drunken massacres will put our brave men and women in greater peril.
America needs to show the world and ourselves that we still stand for justice. A proper investigation needs to occur and if found guilty an appropriate punishment must be dealt. The anger of the grieving family will not go away with a fair punishment but an honest and transparent trial will show the Afghans we are not evil and unjust. We may never recover from this catastrophe but we cannot let that prevent us from being the great country that we are.
