Army reopening Tiger Force case

[UpInArms]

http://www.trivalleyherald.com/Stories/0,1413,86~10669~1737998,00.html

WASHINGTON -- Facing criticism for dropping an investigation of an elite U.S. platoon that slaughtered Vietnamese villagers, Army officials have reopened the case to find out why no one was charged despite evidence that the unit violently lost control in 1967.

Reversing an earlier decision, Army investigators are now examining thousands of documents from a case that has been buried in the government's archives for decades.

The Army's review of the Tiger Force investigation comes a week after questions were raised about why the military closed the longest war-crimes investigation of the Vietnam War.

Newspaper findings showed that the Army substantiated charges more than 30 years ago that 18 soldiers committed war crimes between May and November, 1967, including murder and assault. But no one was charged.

...more...

[Military Brat]

1. I have real qualms about this one

Yes, I believe it should be investigated. But I am concerned that the timing of this investigation will cause the Army to close ranks. Depending on how bush is instructed by Rove to respond to queries about the investigation, for example his attitude about it, then we may find that he uses it as an opportunity to "support the troops" of Vietnam (how ironic) and the Army will have a reason to support bush and increase his so-called popularity.

I must have missed the origin of this story emerging. Who brought it to the attention of the press, and why is it getting so much attention after all these years?

The investigation is a good idea; if anything, it will perhaps allow the soldiers to come clean and purge their conscience. But it's bad timing.

[UpInArms]

2. this appears to have been

re-opened by an investigation on the part of The Toledo Blade - here is a link to their series of articles:

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=SRTIGERFORCE

[jobycom]

3. Could also raise awareness of the general public towards

soldiers and war. IF the media latches on to this story, the inevitable question will be "How often does/did this happen?" It could at least make the military more cautious in our current wars, to prevent some of this type of atrocity. It could also help to bring home the general horror of war. The Army will be put in a position of having to either defend or condemn such actions, either by stating that they happen all the time and are just unfortunate aspects of war, or by saying this was a rogue unit that committed horrible atrocities that need to be punished. Either way, the "enemy" civilians become more humanized, and the public's awareness of human loss will go up.

Maybe not far up. I doubt the media will give this much coverage, since it would look bad towards the military and their Republican employers. If it grows legs, I don't think the military can brush it away so easily without looking callous. But the media will squash coverage, as they have of anything else that could cause Bush the slightest problem.

[izzie]

4. Is this to take away if they do anything now?

This is really fishy.

[Voltaire99]

5. High. F*cking. Time.

Every one of those villains should be tried. Their wickedness is of Saddam calibre, and we cannot have the least shred of moral authority as a world power if we continue to hide the sadistic murders of hundreds of civilians for pleasure, stress-relief, sex and sport.

Those not yet in the know are referred to thetoledoblade.com for its groundbreaking series, "Buried Secrets, Brutal Truths" published last month. This is one of the signal events in the last few decades of US journalism, an investigation almost without peer since the Post's Watergate work.

Now, let us see if the military and the executive branch can do a better job than their last whitewash. This time round, it will certainly be harder to hide the truth.