Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), a former Army lieutenant colonel, sent THE WEEKLY STANDARD an email commenting on the Marines' video as follows:
“I have sat back and assessed the incident with the video of our Marines urinating on Taliban corpses. I do not recall any self-righteous indignation when our Delta snipers Shugart and Gordon had their bodies dragged through Mogadishu. Neither do I recall media outrage and condemnation of our Blackwater security contractors being killed, their bodies burned, and hung from a bridge in Fallujah.
“All these over-emotional pundits and armchair quarterbacks need to chill. Does anyone remember the two Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division who were beheaded and gutted in Iraq?
“The Marines were wrong. Give them a maximum punishment under field grade level Article 15 (non-judicial punishment), place a General Officer level letter of reprimand in their personnel file, and have them in full dress uniform stand before their Battalion, each personally apologize to God, Country, and Corps videotaped and conclude by singing the full US Marine Corps Hymn without a teleprompter.
“As for everyone else, unless you have been shot at by the Taliban, shut your mouth, war is hell.”
During World War II, some U.S. Marines, in the Pacific island campaign, would dig out the gold teeth of dead Japanese soldiers. The actions of the Marines then and now should be condemned and show a lack of command discipline. However, these things happen in war and have happened throughout out the history of war. Our native Americana's would take the scalps of other Indian tribes after combat. I wish it were not so but when you ask young men to be warriors they sometimes act as warriors who can not just turn it off like a light switch. I condemn the Marines and their officers for not having better discipline because they hurt the great majority of Marines that have served with honor and sacrifice.
