Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Civili "al posto sbagliato"

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/5402104
[...]
Their attitude to these dangers is summed up by Specialist (Corporal)
Michael Richardson, 22. "There was no dilemma when it came to shooting
people who were not in uniform, I just pulled the trigger. It was up close
and personal the whole time, there wasn't a big distance. If they were
there, they were enemy, whether in uniform or not. Some were, some weren't."
Specialist Anthony Castillo added: "When there were civilians there we did
the mission that had to be done. When they were there, they were at the
wrong spot, so they were considered enemy."
[...]


Beh, che siano investigati se hanno ucciso dei civili.
Dove sta il problema?
-Stefano

 
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/5402104
19 Giugno 2003
Articolo vecchio di 2 anni.
Quando ci posterai un articolo sulla guerra del Viet-Nam?
Mirco

 Quando ci posterai un articolo sulla guerra del Viet-Nam?
Anche subito.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai.html
  The My Lai Massacre
 On March 16, 1968 the angry and frustrated men of Charlie Company, 11th
Brigade, Americal Division entered the Vietnamese village of My Lai. "This
is what you've been waiting for -- search and destroy -- and you've got it,"
said their superior officers. A short time later the killing began. When
news of the atrocities surfaced, it sent shockwaves through the U.S.
political establishment, the military's chain of command, and an already
divided American public.
Poised for Conflict
My Lai lay in the South Vietnamese district of Son My, a heavily mined area
where the Vietcong were deeply entrenched. Numerous members of Charlie
Company had been maimed or killed in the area during the preceding weeks.
The agitated troops, under the command of Lt. William Calley, entered the
village poised for engagement with their elusive enemy.
Massacre
As the "search and destroy" mission unfolded, it soon degenerated into the
massacre of over 300 apparently unarmed civilians including women, children,
and the elderly. Calley ordered his men to enter the village firing, though
there had been no report of opposing fire. According to eyewitness reports
offered after the event, several old men were bayoneted, praying women and
children were shot in the back of the head, and at least one girl was raped
and then killed. For his part, Calley was said to have rounded up a group of
the villagers, ordered them into a ditch, and mowed them down in a fury of
machine gun fire.
Call for Investigation
 Word of the atrocities did not reach the American public until November
1969, when journalist Seymour Hersh published a story detailing his
conversations with a Vietnam veteran, Ron Ridenhour. Ridenhour learned of
the events at My Lai from members of Charlie Company who had been there.
Before speaking with Hersh, he had appealed to Congress, the White House,
and the Pentagon to investigate the matter. The military investigation
resulted in Calley's being charged with murder in September 1969 -- a full
two months before the Hersh story hit the streets.
Questions About Soldiers' Conduct
As the gruesome details of My Lai reached the American public, serious
questions arose concerning the conduct of American soldiers in Vietnam. A
military commission investigating the massacre found widespread failures of
leadership, discipline, and morale among the Army's fighting units. As the
war progressed, many "career" soldiers had either been rotated out or
retired. Many more had died. In their place were scores of draftees whose
fitness for leadership in the field of battle was questionable at best.
Military officials blamed inequities in the draft policy for the often slim
talent pool from which they were forced to choose leaders. Many maintained
that if the educated middle class ("the Harvards," as they were called) had
joined in the fight, a man of Lt. William Calley's emotional and
intellectual stature would never have been issuing orders.
Orders from Above?
Calley, an unemployed college dropout, had managed to graduate from
Officer's Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1967. At his trial,
Calley testified that he was ordered by Captain Ernest Medina to kill
everyone in the village of My Lai. Still, there was only enough photographic
and recorded evidence to convict Calley, alone, of murder. He was sentenced
to life in prison, but was released in 1974, following many appeals. After
being issued a dishonorable discharge, Calley entered the insurance
business.