A recent survey of U.S. troops in Iraq paints a bleak picture of an Army that is not doing enough to drum home the importance of lawful conduct to its troops. One statistic in particular that caught my attention showed that roughly two-thirds of Marines and half the Army troops surveyed would not report a team mate for mistreating a civilian or for destroying civilian property unnecessarily. As the Army report notes:

“Less than half of soldiers and Marines believed that noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect…”

As of 8.30am EST this survey has been picked up by about 500 outlets across the globe once again raising in the minds of the public from Africa to the Middle East and Europe to Asia that the U.S. Armed Forces seems to have developed a culture that rejects international law and the Geneva Conventions. This type of report should set off flags from the Pentagon to the State Department and although we cannot hope for such a reaction from the Bush Administration, we need to encourage those running for President to build foreign policy platforms capable of tackling such sentiments.

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2. Drones: Unlawful Response to Unlawful Combatants?
3. The Role of Democracy Promotion in a U.S.-Muslim World Realignment Strategy – Some Initial Thoughts
4. War’s Brave New World