Mad as a March, errr, soldier?

On 16 March 1968, American troops killed about 425 (give or take) unarmed Vietnamese civilians in what became known as the Son My (or My Lai) Massacre. Most of the victims were women, children (including babies), and elderly people. Some of the bodies were later found to be mutilated.

Second Lieutenant William Calley, a platoon leader in "Charlie" Company of 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry, singlehandedly killed 22 villagers, for which cowardly act he was punished according to American justice, and served three and a half years under house arrest.

Some apologists for the military thought Calley must have been crazy. The stress of war and all that. Poor boy. Or maybe he just hated gooks. Anyway, we were told, this was a one-off incident, perpetrated by a deranged individual -- wonder who killed the other 400? -- and would never happen again.

Now Associated Press reports that a US "service member" -- Lt. William Calley Jr. [Ed., please check name] -- walked out of a base in southern Afghanistan before dawn today and started shooting Afghan civilians. Villagers showed an Associated Press photographer 15 bodies, including women and children, who they say were killed by the American.

NATO officials have issued the customary profuse apology, in a mimeographed letter "to whom it may concern". Reprisals can certainly be expected. Stay tuned.

Canadian takes personal responsibility for bombing Libyans

In one of those "oops moments" that seems to characterize the West's forays into Arabia, NATO admitted that its warplanes [Any particular country's? Ed.] bombed a residential neighbourhood in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Sunday. Nine civilians, including two children, were killed.

The incident gave supporters of Colonel Moammar "Mo" Gadhafi's régime a new rallying point against the international intervention in Libya's civil war. The Libyan foreign minister called for a "global jihad" on the West in response to the killings.

Of course NATO says it was an unfortunate accident. One of its pilots missed his target. One of its bombs "went astray". Very regrettable. So sad. But will they stop the bombing runs? Errr... no.

Now here's the Canadian angle. The deputy commander of NATO’s "prestigious but hardly over-worked regional command in Naples" is none other than Canadian General Charles "Call me Charlie" Bouchard. [Not kidding about "Call me Charlie". See the article referred to below. Ed.]

According to a Globe and Mail puff piece, which unfortunately appeared just a couple of days earlier, "Charlie" "personally signs off on every last preselected target. [My emphasis. Walt]

"It’s not just attention to detail, it’s a visceral sense of personal accountability. [My emphasis...again. Walt]

"General Bouchard...is careful, deliberate and worries deeply about how to apply the big hammer of air power in the small circumstances of a brutal dictator clinging to power by indiscriminately killing and terrorizing his own citizens.

"'I must meet rules, the mandate, the political guidance,' but, he adds, and grows quietly pensive, 'I look at every target … at the end of the day it’s a judgment call … and I’m accountable, I’m accountable to Canada, I’m accountable to NATO, and more importantly I’m accountable to myself,' he says.

"Make the wrong call and the wrong people, or maybe too many people, die. And, Gen. Bouchard adds: 'I want those who know me best to be able to look at me and say, "you did the right thing".'"

Charlie has yet to comment on Sunday's little incident.