Elf Sternberg

Rigorous interrogation under battlefield conditions is nothing new. In honor-bound militaries such as the British Army, the convention is that if the interrogation needs to take place to save lives (as in this case), the officer is to "take a walk around a boulder" and conveniently not witness what the NCOs do to the guy. This is because the action, while necessary, is in fact dishonorable and not something to be witnessed by an officer.

We'll never know if the "policeman" would have talked using the legal techniques employed by US military interrogators, or if there was sufficient time for this to work. This was not a "under fire, enemy forces on the march, mines in the brush ahead" type of situation. Urgent, yes, but not of an urgency that admits of no delay.

I believe that what the good Colonel did was ethical under the circumstances. I do not believe that _he_, as a serving American military officer, should have been doing it . . . setting this as an example to his personnel and by extension to the US military as "something an officer does." By definition his actions represent the Congress of the United States of America.

I am deeply concerned about the slippery slope presented here, and by the abject failure of many people involved in this issue to recognize the consequences of turning a vile and horrid necessity into some sort of twisted virtue.

In the language of military citations, a particularly brave or noble act is recognized as being "in the highest traditions of the United States Army." Lt. Col. West's conduct was NOT and should NOT be part of the tradition of the United States Army.

Therefore, I believe that Lt. Col. West should be hit up for one count of "conduct unbecoming an officer" and dismissed from military service on that ground.

Not incidentally, Colonel West's inability to grasp the finer points of this issue by itself demonstrates his lack of fitness to hold a command position -- so I would not object to a relief on grounds of simple incompetence, or a voluntary resignation.

Given that he has refused to resign, the court martial can and will throw the book at him. He is likely looking at prison time.

This would not have come up if Colonel West was a Marine. Marines can and will take casualties instead of compromising their honor. There are many Marines. There is only one Marine Corps.