The Old "Bait and Snipe"

US Army snipers have been leaving "bait" for terrorists, and then shooting them when they come by to pick it up. Of course, the bait is not cheese, or peanut butter, but instead ammunition and materials for making explosive devices. The NY Times and the Washington Post have picked up the story.

The story has come up in the news because three of the snipers involved in this "baiting" mission have been charged with murder. They do not deny that they killed the three Iraqi men whose death is at the center of that controversy. Their defense is based on the fact that these men were operating under orders from Pentagon officials. Other soldiers have come forward to say that the items, rather than used for "baiting" were planted on the men after they were shot as a way to justify those killings as appropriate under military law.

This has all the trappings of another huge PR blow for our troops in the Middle east, and besides that, seems a little risky. Such a program not only runs the risk of shooting some an man simply trying to keep the road free of plastic explosives, but also of furthering the notion that the US Army is simply there to wreak havoc and kill as many civilians as possible. It is critical to our success in Iraq that the people there begin to trust the US Government and its soldiers; initiatives and programs like this endanger that goal, and in so doing, keep our soldiers in the line of fire longer.