I had promised myself I wasn’t going to talk about this. This morning, the morning show on my local radio station was discussing a (relatively) local woman who is one of the soldiers already charged in this, and her defense that she was acting under orders.

Because my only experience with the military life is what I’ve seen in movies, I was immediately reminded of A Few Good Men, in which soldiers have a “Code Red” (think blanket party) for another soldier under orders from a superior officer. While I was driving to work (reciting the famous exchange from the end of the movie under my breath: “You want answers?” “I think I’m entitled–” “You want answers?” “I want the truth!” “You can’t handle the truth!!“), I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t comment on it. For one thing, I haven’t, as Col. Jessup put it, those men and women have “a greater responsibility than [I] can possibly fathom.” That doesn’t justify what’s going on, not by a long shot, but it puts me in a place where I don’t think I have the right to pass judgement. I’ve heard men who have been in the military, and have seen action, denouncing these crimes, and while, in my heart, I agree, I really feel that I’m not qualified to judge.
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