By the time the average reader views this article, most will have seen the supposed video of a member of the United States military throwing puppy off of a cliff in Iraq.
As a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, I am disgusted at his actions and certainly would hope that his command comes down with swiftpunishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
However, before people overreact and threaten his life or the lives of his family, I think it's important to look at the bigger picture.
What brought him to that point in his military career - or his life for that matter - that would make him think that this sort of behavior is acceptable?
Let's face the facts: the dirty little secret Uncle Sam doesn't care to publicize in his military recruiting pamphlets is that during your boot camp, the military trains you to kill.
Not only does it train you to kill, but it also trains you to have no second thoughts about it. It continually pounds into your head: "Kill them before they kill you."
The government does not want soldiers and Marines who second-guess themselves. It wants robots who perform instantly and obediently to lawful orders given by superiors.
If you couple that "kill" mentality with being put in a stressful environment like Iraq, then you are bound to have young men who completely lose it and do stuff like this young man did, or maybe even worse. Given the state of Iraq in the past few years, there is a high probability that he has seen things that would make the average person sick, and naturally, it has had a profound effect on him.
This man should be removed from whatever combat zone he is in right now and get mandatory psychological help before he does something worse.
This incident will no doubt put another blemish on our military. However, it should also be noted that when you take 18- and 19-year-old kids, give them three to six months worth of training and send them to combat-prone theaters like Iraq, do you not think that some will certainly lose their hold on reality? Reality over there is car bombs, improvised explosive devices and seeing guys you serve with die right in front of you.
The court of public opinion will no doubt condemn this young man, but to a degree, it needs to hold the government accountable for having him there in the first place.
Don Kershaw is a student at Sante Fe Community College and a member of the editorial board.
