# Behaviour of US soldiers getting out of hand ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 21, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958 "2003-09-21T13:33:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/1 "2003-09-21T13:33:47Z")
Seems this war on terrorism is getting out of hand ? After shooting Iraqi Policemen, causing dozens by shooting up cars at check points and now this: [US Soldier shoots Tiger](http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/09/20/chaplain.arrest/index.html) The second story is the [Muslim Chaplain Arrested](http://edition.cnn.com/2003/US/09/20/chaplain.arrest/index.html) How did this guy even get in there ? Or better… he probably was “affected” by what he saw in Guantanamo. Certainly seems the case of internal dissention. Even if you really beleive Bush did the right thing… this kind of behaviour certainly doesnt bode well for the future of US control over Iraq or so called war on terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/2 "2003-09-21T13:46:51Z")
WTF? From our cite: > [@](#): > > Army Capt. James Yee was taken into custody by U.S. military authorities September 10 at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida, while in possession of classified documents “that a chaplain shouldn’t have,” an official told CNN, speaking on the condition of anonymity. > > \ > > In addition to the classified documents, Yee is “believed to have ties to [radical Muslims in the U.S.] that are now under investigation,” the source said. He said he could not elaborate on the basis for that belief. > > Although no charges have been filed, the U.S. military is “investigating whether [Yee] may have [been involved in] espionage or treason,” the official said. > > \ > > A State Department document available on the Internet confirms Yee’s time in Syria, saying he “spent four years studying Arabic and Islam in Damascus, Syria.” > > In the same document, Yee is quoted as saying, “An act of terrorism, the taking of innocent civilian lives, is prohibited by Islam, and whoever has done this needs to be brought to justice, whether he is Muslim or not.” What’s your point here? That this chaplain is some bad motherfucker? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/3 "2003-09-21T14:04:01Z")
Of course, the wisdom of someone who, “spent four years studying Arabic and Islam in Damascus, Syria.”, into the Army, as a commissioned officer, nonetheless, should be questioned. But the two incidents have nothing relevant to do with each other. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/4 "2003-09-21T15:47:40Z")
As we have seen time and again on this board, making a blanket accusation/statement based on a few cherry-picked incidents does not an argument make. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/5 "2003-09-21T16:48:44Z")
Well in so many threads we see blanket statements about good US soldiers morale… about disciplined troops in Iraq. The trigger happy events and the chaplain are a general tendency to a break down of the professionalism and reputation of the US forces ? ---
**Author:** ![MaryEFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MaryEFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaryEFoo)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/6 "2003-09-21T18:16:40Z")
Your Tiger link is broken. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/7 "2003-09-22T01:10:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rashak Mani \* > \*\*Well in so many threads we see blanket statements about good US soldiers morale… about disciplined troops in Iraq. The trigger happy events and the chaplain are a general tendency to a break down of the professionalism and reputation of the US forces ? \*\* There are very good reasons to be against the war in Iraq. This is not one of them. The fact of the matter is that the war is still on and in wars, people die. It’s one thing to be against the war, another to nit-pick it to death over every misstep. We all regret the deaths caused by this war, and that in and of iteslf might be reason enough to oppose it. To impune that the US forces are somehow substandard and unproffesional, though, would require a lot more than the few incidents we’ve seen. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/8 "2003-09-22T01:24:27Z")
> [@](#): > > The trigger happy events and the chaplain are a general tendency to a break down of the professionalism and reputation of the US forces ? Hmmmmm. Let me think about that… . . . No. The former were a pair of drunken louts who will pay the consequences of their actions. One by having his fingers bitten off and both will doubtless face military justice. The latter is a case of…well, I honestly don’t know. Last I read the Chaplain was being detained, but no specifics on why were given. Are you privy to any inside info? ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/9 "2003-09-22T06:13:33Z")
**Brutus** , the armed forces take a lot of people from the Middle East, because they are considered important assets. During my time in language school in the Navy I met several native speakers of Arabic from Jordan, Lebanon, and even Syria who had joined to be linguists (they still had to get some training because what they learned from their parents may have been dialect). This is a field that requires a top-secret security clearance, but the Navy thought it worth the risk because native speakers are valuable. Similarly, the US is trying hard to not make it’s foreign policy seem like an intentional war against Islam. By having a chaplain who has studied near the heart of the Muslim world, it can show the world that it isn’t out to persecute Muslims. I remember the news from just after the construction of the prison in Guantanamo, where the Army talked about how great it was that the prisoners had their spiritual needs taken care of by someone of their own faith. Incidentally, it is odd how fast that article disappeared from CNN’s front page. Methinks that the chaplain is going to end up like Jose Padilla, hidden away in a brig away from frequent public scrutiny. UnuMondo ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/10 "2003-09-22T13:18:44Z")
I am an opponent of the war and occupation, but let’s be honest; there’s no evidence the troops are “out of control.” Look at it this way; there are what, 150,000 troops in Iraq, the vast majority of them adult males? If you had a city with that many adults in it, you’d have a city of 200,000-250,000 people. Syracuse, NY, more or less. How many crimes take place in Syracuse every week? I would guess a hell of a lot more than are being committed by U.S. troops in Iraq. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/11 "2003-09-22T14:20:44Z")
Not only adult males, but mostly adult males in their Age of Stupidity (15-25), when the cerebral cortex has yet to re-assert the control over the amygdila that it lost at puberty. ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/12 "2003-09-22T14:53:21Z")
Your post was much more “clarifying” than most RickJay… its true that too many males are guaranteed trouble as the bases in Okinawa seem to prove time and again. Still overall I have the feeling that the US soldiers werent prepared for this long stint and this kind of job. I am surprised a group was drinking in a “public place” like the Zoo too. Noting that alcohol is banned for muslims. They were lucky not being picked off by local guerrilas too… probably curfew allowed them this “liberty”. The chaplain was added more due to the novelty of such a thing… US soldiers have been called imprudent, trigger happy and insensitive… but never conspiratorial or treasonous. Still I see way to many references in other debates about the solidity of the armed forces… their determination to prevail in Iraq… seems a bit like too optimistic. Iraq certainly seems a case of a morale busting situation. Your trying to help people who are trying to kill you. No one likes to be an “available” target or lightining rod as some in the US like to infer. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/13 "2003-09-22T16:27:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Brutus \* > Of course, the wisdom of someone who, “spent four years studying Arabic and Islam in Damascus, Syria.”, into the Army, as a commissioned officer, nonetheless, should be questioned. > \*\* Those are exactly the type of people we need more of. Especially in our intelligence services. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2003, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/behaviour-of-us-soldiers-getting-out-of-hand/202958/14 "2003-09-22T17:32:41Z")
My son (engineering battalion, north of Baghdad) says it much too hot to run around getting into trouble. Plus, no beer! (officially)