What are we doing to a generation of American males?

This evening we were watching a program on VH1 called The Drug Years, part of which dealt with the soldiers returning from Vietnam strung out on heroin -- or trafficking in it.

I've wondered a lot of late if we're going to see the same thing among soldiers returning from Afghanistan, given the prevalence of poppy production over there. But there's something even worse afoot -- the damage to the humanity of the men this president has decided to keep in Iraq indefinitely, with no clearly-defined mission.

This is what happens when you train men to be killing machines and then send them off to a war that has no rules. I blogged on the rape and murder perpetrated by American soldiers in Iraq this morning, but the story gets worse:

Investigators believe American soldiers spent nearly a week plotting an attack in which they raped an Iraqi woman, then killed her and her family in an insurgent-ridden area south of Baghdad, a U.S. military official said Saturday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said the attack appeared "totally premeditated" and that the soldiers apparently "studied" the family for about a week before carrying out the attack.

According to the official, the Sunni Arab family had just moved into a new home in the religiously mixed area about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The Americans entered the home, separated three family members from the woman, then raped her and set fire to her body, the official said. The three others were also slain. A senior Army official who also requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing said one of the victims was a child .

[snip]

One of the officials familiar with details of the investigation told The Associated Press that a flammable liquid was used to burn the woman's body in a cover-up attempt. It was unclear if it was gasoline or lighter fluid.

These crimes occurred in March. The investigation began June 24. The soldiers being investigated are from the same unit as the two American soldiers who were kidnapped, tortured and murdered by Iraq insurgents last month.

So now American troops and Iraqi insurgents are engaged in revenge warfare, in which retribution is exacted on innocents for war crimes on both sides.

We have a Commander-in-Chief who believes he does not have to obey the rules of war, so it's only to be expected that burnt-out, traumatized soldiers on their third or later stop-loss are going to believe THEY don't have to obey the rules of war either. The problem is that we are dealing with an insurgency who will not hesitate to retaliate.

This is what we're going to see more and more frequently in Iraq, as Republicans insist that we "stay the course", even though neither they, nor the president, nor the hapless souls on the ground, have a clue what the course is -- except the lives and the sanity of more and more American youths being spent; and spilling the innocent dignity and blood of Iraqi famiilies who just want to live their lives the same as we do.

Today this president, this spoiled, petulant brat who has never once in his life had to sacrifice anything, said, "At this hour, the men and women of our armed forces are facing danger in distant places, carrying out their missions with all the skill and honor we expect of them."

Tell that to the relatives of a woman in Iraq who was raped and murdered, and her body burnt by American solders who snapped. Tell that to the families of the two soldiers in their unit who have to go to bed every night knowing that their sons were equally tortured in retaliation.

The blood of all of these people is on our hands....because we continue to allow this president to wage this war.