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Good post. Good point.

However, I think you are ignoring or atleast underestimating the peer pressure involved. Yes, Akbar had a voluntary job. But once there, the army can be very structured and regimented. People who don’t toe the line are severely reprimanded. The nature of the job entails a high level of conformity. In his case, leaving the army, while being a theoretical possibility, is not much of a choice. He would have been ridiculed, humiliated by the only peers he knows.

Clearly this pressure pushed him over the edge.

I don’t agree with the article either. The racial undertones of the time is mentioned but short-changed in the final analysis.

Good point. It’s a shame that our culture emphasizes preformance to such a degree. People shouldn’t have to resort to that kind of action because they don’t live up to their own expectations.

Thanks, sanity - I agree there is a lot more peer pressure and the pressure to conform in the military than anywhere else.

George, sad but true - but also necessary in some situations.

I do wonder how old that journalist is. His attribution of racist motives for the fragging in ‘Nam does not square with the way I remember it, except insofar as it was mostly junior officers who got taken out. A number of them were first-time-out ROTC grads who refused to listen to the experienced NCO’s and kept getting people killed by screwing up.

John, every time someone writes about history, they change it a little, making it conform to their idea of what it should have been like. Black soldiers revolting against white ones, gotta be racism - so goes the thinking. Who cares what really happened?

I’m no Vietnam historian, but I’d be suprised if the Black soldiers went berserk in the first week of the war.

Good point, John.

In answer to sanity who says, “In his case(Asan Akbar),leaving the army, while being a theoretical possibility, is not much of a choice. He would have been ridiculed, humiliated by the only peers he knows.” So you want me to believe that to avoid ridicule and humiliation he chose the hatred of his peers, disgrace for his family, loathing by most of his countrymen, and probable death by execution after a speedy court martial. Could it be that all we have here is another example of Muslim fanaticism?

The simplest explanation is most often the right one, Richard - I find your explanation a lot more believable, especially after reports about the problems his father had too, with law enforcement.

Shanti,

If this Asan fellow was indeed a Muslim fanatic, I find it implausible that he was fighting for the US forces in the first place. War in Iraq was a distinct possibility ever since the beginning of this year, following Mr. Hussein’s refusal to step down, and Dr. Blix’s failure to find any WMDs.

I personally would believe that he went wacko after watching some Al Jazeera reports. Is his trial going to be privately held? I would like to know why he did it, wouldn’t you?

Darsen.

Of course, I want to know why he did it - but then this is a military matter and the military is probably going to hold a closed “Court Martial”, which is a standard procedure.

I don’t know why he should suddenly go whacko after watching some TV reports and not believe the people he is working with on a daily basis instead of some TV reporter.