While shock and disgust has been expressed, internationally, at these allegations and photos – one thing is striking: the continued use of terminology, such as ‘rogue’, to abnormalize these actions.
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While their behaviour certainly isn’t the overwhelming norm, it is not completely outside of being a re-occurrance we have repeatedly witnessed, particularly since the invasion of Afghanistan: from the many massacres in Iraq and Afghanistan to the stories and photos from Abu Ghraib; the torture and unjust detention at Guantanamo; collateral murder and to the documents of the Iraq War Logs and the Afghan papers, still being sifted through, highlighting various American atrocities and disregard for proper process, international law and self-professed liberal axioms. And certainly such a maschismo disregard, disrespect for and trivialization of human life has not been limited to those who have been put into the by-default dehumanized category of the “other” and the “enemy” but also to fellow soldiers, particularly women who have been victims of “rampant rape” within the military institution.
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A discourse has already, and very easily, rendered an entire group sub-human and disposable without consequence. This isn’t a phenomena exclusive to the United States and its own military. We find such instances through militaries across the world, from Israel to India. Rather it is something deeply entrenched in the character of modern warfare and the modern institution of the military, particularly following WWII which saw the overnight evolution of military conflict which made indiscriminate violence from a state institution legitimate, making use of weaponry made to match. More here.