I am currently stationed in Okinawa, Japan. I am originally from Apopka, so I try to keep up with what’s going on back home by various Web sites, the Orlando Sentinel being one of them.
I was very annoyed when I read the article about Polk County SWAT officers shooting a suspect with 68 bullets. The reason it bothered me is because of all the bad publicity the military gets for things it does. If nine Marines were to shoot 68 bullets into an Iraqi who had killed a Marine, it would be all over the news. Those Marines would be under heavy investigation if word got out, and they most definitely would be punished for these actions.
But when SWAT officers do this, they can brag about it in a newspaper and be quoted as saying things such as they would have shot him more if they had not run out of bullets. Such force is not necessary to kill one man and would violate the Geneva Conventions, but is allowed on America’s land. Why is this considered OK?
LANCE CPL. CHRISTOPHER SERWE
OKINAWA, JAPAN
