the Centrist

Time to cover their backs:

It seems to be all about color, or ethnicity, but it is inexcusable the way many soldiers have been behaving. They have been deployed, so we are told, to keep the peace … but time after time they have abused their rights and misrepresented the very nation and tax payers that have sent them. The accusations pile up as we see charges of rape, child pornography, and impregnating pubescent children as routine. Yet media giants largely ignore this story. We see no outcry from the New York Times, who focused the world in rapt attention during the Abu Ghraib scandal. Senator Ted Kennedy feels free to accuse the United States Military of torture, but has been silent about these accusations. The normally audible ACLU, with its recent 1000 page report on the abuses of the U.S. Military and litigation for the Constitutional Rights of foreign terrorists, has, by its silence, joined this conspiracy . Perhaps the reason for the cover up by these leftists is that the accused Armed Forces are not American … rather, they are the United Nations Peace Keeping Force.
Another very interesting tidbit is that the most serious criminal charges are against a senior official from France … Didier Bourguet. Perhaps you can remember the outcry from that nation pertaining to the abuses at Abu Ghraib … and ongoing clamoring about Guantanamo. The charges against Bourguet range from rape to child pornography as he was caught red handed in a sting operation preparing to rape a 12 year old girl. Apparently his lawyers believe the old adage that ‘if 100,000 Frenchmen are doing it … it must be right’ … as his defense states that this is “a widespread occurrence” with these forces in both the Congo and Central African Republic … and, so they reason, if it is common, it is normal, if it is normal … it is okay, thus must be excused.
Furthermore, according to syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin in her article “The U.N.’s Rape of Innocents” (Worldnetdaily.com) … these accusations come on the heals of the 2001 revelation by whistle blower Kathryn Bolkovac (U.N. security worker in Bosnia) of widespread sex-crimes involving U.N. personnel in the Balkans. Therefore, we can assume these are not isolated incidents.
It is cogent to mention that while these horrible abuses are going unchecked by the press it has had no lapse in conscience in the coverage of Marine Lt. Ilario Pantano. Pantano is the Marine accused of 1st Degree murder for a previously reviewed and exonerated combat situation. In short, a disgruntled NCO accuses him of murdering two insurgents. Pantano’s platoon had caught the two insurgents in the Sunni Triangle fleeing a building fraught with illegal bomb making materials. After they had been apprehended at the scene, these terrorists began to walk toward him and his men. Pantano, no doubt, was aware of the hundreds lost to homicide bombers in this region. He ordered them to halt … in their native language. When they refused, Lt. Pantano shot them both dead. Eyewitnesses corroborate Pantano’s story. He remained on duty in that position for the remainder of his tour … another three months. Rather than give this brave marine the same rights granted O. J. Simpson … double jeopardy … the military and the the world feels it is not asking to much of America to charge its heroes with capital murder after they have been vindicated for split second combat decisions. Yet, this same world press insists on ignoring facts against U.N. soldiers like: last months’ U.N. report of 72 separate allegations of abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and civilians, 26 of which have been substantiated and involve soldiers from Pakistan, Tunisia, South Africa, and Uruguay (BBC wire report 2/14/05).
So one might ask, as our soldiers are subjected not only to dishonorable discharges and years of imprisonment, but also capital murder charges … just what is the United Nations doing to police their own soldiers? They have concocted a statement that: “bands its peacekeepers from having sex with local people”. But, the U.N. does not have the power to enforce and or discipline violators of their fiat. Thus, akin to a grade school principal, they merely “send them home and request the country of origin takes action” (quotes from BBC wire previously referenced). Only the Moroccan Government has thus far co-operated with this request.
In an atmosphere where senior leftist Senators like Ted Kennedy “worries about America’s image on torture” … one wonders … why worry about America who both acknowledges and litigates its abusers … when the world press and most nations ignore theirs? It is time to stand up for soldiers and Marines like Lt. Pantano. It is time to “cover their backs” as they have covered our … it is time to petition the President of the United States to unconditionally pardon these brave souls from frivolous accusations from which they have already been reviewed and cleared … thus granting them the same rights as other Americans that of “double jeopardy”. Should you wish to sign such a petition it can be found on my website … billbellavia.com.