The lesson of Haditha? War is hell.
Another marine cleared by the investigating officer in the Haditha incident, where marines were accused–by Rep. Murtha and others–of grisly murders as revenge for a buddy who was killed. The consistent story emerging is that of decent boys reacting according to their training in a nearly impossible situation:
Investigating officer Lt. Col. Paul Ware said the evidence was too weak for a court-martial. Tatum shot and killed civilians, but “he did so because of his training and the circumstances he was placed in, not to exact revenge and commit murder,” Ware wrote.
“I believe (Lance Cpl.) Tatum’s real life experience and training on how to clear a room took over and his body instinctively began firing while his head tried to grasp at what and why he was firing,” Ware wrote. “By the time he could recognize that he was shooting at children, his body had already acted.
Anyone who has read Malcom Gladwell’s Blink will immediately recognize in this event his description of the inevitable manner in which cops under fire tunnel their vision and stop absorbing the kind of contextual information that would help them recognize nuances, and how all of this occurs within 1-3 seconds of reaction time.
If you have not read Blink, you should. It does a tremendous job of explaining how cops [and soldiers] react under stress, and how to limit erroneous snap decisions. Blink is noteworthy because Gladwell is black, and he does a great job balancing the role of subliminal prejudice–which is real–without condemning or simplifying.
The lesson of Haditha may simply be that life is complicated, war is hell, and Congressmen like Rep. Murtha should shut the hell up until investigations are complete.
As to those whose ideological agenda is so entrenched that they will insist that these recommendations are a whitewash: shame on you.
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