Flabby Ethics

The world has gone mad today
And good's bad today,
And black's white today,
And day's night today
--Anything Goes, Cole Porter

There is one, and only one, thing in modern society
more hideous than crime--namely, repressive justice
-- Human Personality, Simone Weil
__________

Marine Corps Times posted a report today, ''Almost Half of Surveyed Troops Say Torture O.K.''

Ranger served in an Army that no longer exists, and a country that has changed beyond recognition.

The Army I served in actually required Geneva Convention Training prior to overseas deployment, and GC cards of the rules were issued, to be carried in wallets. In addition, the country and our leadership also espoused these ideals.

Looking homeward today, is it any wonder that a professional volunteer military would have such little belief in the compliance to the GC and basic standards of civilized behavior?

It is a matter of training, and Petraeus is training the troops when he calls our adversaries in the Phony War on Terror barbarians. If they are barbaric, then the plugs are pulled and anything goes. The troops are merely reflecting the attitudes of the Chain of Command, to begin with the Commander in Chief.

In comparison, citizen soldiers of the past returned to civil life after their tours and maintained a standard of conduct that would be alien to some in this professional volunteer force. He excelled in maintaining his decency and humanity, perhaps because he could see he was not so far removed from his adversary. They were only temporarily soldiers, but permanently men--the Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.

However, for the professional soldier, his identity is rooted in his business, and his business is often of an unsavory nature.

Is it any wonder the study came up with the following findings:

''(L)ess than half the 1,350 soldiers and only about one-third of the nearly 450 Marines polled anonymously in Iraq from August to October 2006 told members of Mental Health Advisory Team IV they believe all noncombatants should be treated with dignity and respect.''

''More than 40 percent of soldiers and Marines who recently served in the war zone believe torture should be allowed if it would save the life of a comrade, according to a 2006 military mental health assessment.''

''17 percent [of Marines] said all noncombatants should be treated as insurgents.''

''Service members who had spent the most time in combat were most likely to hurt innocent people, the study showed.''

And an unusual one:

''More soldiers than Marines said they would report a fellow unit member for injuring or killing a noncombatant, 55 percent versus 40 percent. But the Marine percentage, said Rear Adm. Richard Jeffries, Medical Officer of the Marine Corps, is not low enough.''

Let's hope Rear Admiral Jeffries meant to say high. “The Marine Corps is concerned this may be significant,” he said. Well, at least that.

Some attribute the willingness to violate military rules to exhaustion, as tours are extended and ''dwell time''--recuperation between deployments--is reduced.

Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Scales said,“there’s not enough that’s being done for mental conditioning” going into combat.

“Every soldier and Marine knows what’s right, but once combat fatigue sets in, that starts to fall away,” he said.