This will certainly not help things in Iraq:
Five U.S. Army soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a young woman, then killing her and three members of her family in Iraq, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press on Friday.
The soldiers also allegedly burned the body of the woman they are accused of raping.
Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of coalition troops in Baghdad, had ordered a criminal investigation into the alleged killing of a family of four in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, the U.S. command said. It did not elaborate.
“The entire investigation will encompass everything that could have happened that evening. We’re not releasing any specifics of an ongoing investigation,” said military spokesman Maj. Todd Breasseale.
Now what really makes this look bad? This part:
The killings appeared to have been a “crime of opportunity,” the official said. The soldiers had not been attacked by insurgents but had noticed the woman on previous patrols.
So we now got soldiers out shopping for women to rape in Iraq. While these soldiers deserve a lot of blame and a strict punishment if convicted, we could not address it fairly without also condemning the military and administration. These soldiers have been over there 2 and 3 years and have no sign of coming home. Who’s fault is that? The buck stops at the top and Bush is the commander in chief. This is the product of a war that was poorly planned by a bunch of chickenhawks in suits.