Where Do We Get Evil JAG Officers? Falwell's Law Talking School?

When I was in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, I took my responsibilities very seriously, particularly when it came to briefing combat soldiers on the law of land warfare. I worked very hard to persuade them of the rightness of the law and the importance of adhering to it as a matter of honor, as a matter of duty, and for practical reasons. I found, however, that efforts in this regard had usually been undermined by the NCOs, commanders, and the soldiers’ own exposure to war movies. Most of them promised to violate the laws of land warfare and reckoned that my instruction was helpful only insofar as it would be useful in evading prosecution.

This was pretty depressing. Even more depressing has been the stance of the Bush regime about the law of land warfare. The civilian leadership has been hostile to the law, and the military has violated it on numerous occasions. I don’t see how any self respecting Judge Advocate could continue to serve under this regime. Perhaps some consider it their duty to stand in the way of the more egregious violations. Donald Rumsfeld aimed to cut the number of military lawyers since he considered them as obstructions. Perhaps the more conscientious officers have been purged and replaced by tools who are happy to facilitate lawbreaking. God knows that the upper echelons of the Justice Department have been filled with such creatures, so there seems to be an ample supply of evil lawyers to fill these posts.