Were US soldiers right to Stage a Mutiny to avoid Revenge Killing of civilians in Iraq?

Question

An Army Unit didn't want to take part in senseless killings because their anger was so great about dead comrads from an IED attack, so they refused orders to go back and fight.

Aren't they the greatest heros in the world?

http://i2.democracynow.org/2007/12/21/us_soldiers_stage_mutiny_refuse_orders

Should we celebrate these great men by ending this crazy war so they can finally come home?

Answer 1

I read the article. Clearly, something should have been done to head off what happened. However, Mutiny is a violation of the UCMJ and has to be punished to the fullest extent of the Law. How the war in Iraq is being conducted, particularly by the Army and Marines, is criminal but not as criminal as your using this tragedy to promote your defeatist agenda!

Answer 2

Absolutely, it is the hardest thing to disobey an order in the situation that our Troops are serving in, being a suicidal war of Empire and attrition. My heart goes out to the young people fighting for the United States when the leadership around them is beginning to break down and commit criminal acts against innocent civilians.

The troops are in a no win situation and it is a gut check stand-off when they refuse to follow illegal orders from their Superiors.

It is like turning on your mother and fighting and harming the person closest to you in the World. It is life changing into horror and turning on it's self. A soldier has given his word to his fellow soldiers to do what is deemed right by them or by their professional leaders.

It is h**l on earth! But, when the situation calls for a no, then it becomes a personal decision that can not be denied. Are you going to break the code and make yourself a predator to your own identity?

Answer 3

I don't think these men should be celebrated; they should be pitied.  They are not mutinying because they believe what they are ordered to do is unjust or so they could come home.  They mutinied because they don't believe they could do their jobs responsibly due to the emotional stress of losing their comrads.  If anything, I believe this demonstrates the toll our Iraq occupation is having on our enlisted men, and more political pressure should be applied on the Iraqi government to shorten that occupation.  We need those men to fight the actual War on Terror, not waste them in Iraq.

Answer 4

yes, this war is getting way out of hand

Answer 5

Mutiny is valid if there is a reasonable cause to stage it.

Answer 6

No I think they should be court-marshal, its easy to feel sorry for them cause you are not there nor been there.  Things like this is what is making our country weak.