Interesting Commentary on David Motari (Puppy Killer)

Here's one of the more interesting commentaries I've read about the puppy killer, including some of Motari's (supposedly) own words from his (supposed) Myspace page that I had not seen before. In that entry he talks about how another Marine shot a dog in the stomach and how everybody thought it was funny. It seems like the problem goes way beyond just Motari -- it seems like the military has just given troops in Iraq the right to fire upon any animal they see, even if it's just for "fun" and laughs. I can see firing upon rabid dogs and any dangerous animal, but encouraging troops do it "just because" is bad policy, and it's likely one of the things that is messing them up in the head. In one of Motari's (supposed) entries he says something like "I was being creative that day, we usually just shoot strays." It sounds like that's the policy, to shoot them even if they are no threat to anyone, "just because", and some of these troops are gleefully doing it. And yes, there is a difference between killing "the enemy" and killing defenseless animals for the "fun" of it. I guarantee there's going to be bad karma coming back on any servicemember stupid enough to follow these orders to shoot all stray animals when there is no real reason to. Article below :


[link to redstarcafe.wordpress.com]

Small Collateral Damage
March 7, 2008 · No Comments

Like thousands of others worldwide, I’ve been following an ugly story this week, regarding

the outing of U.S. Marine, David Motari, and an incident that took place sometime last year in Iraq.

David MotariA swaggering Motari was video’d, holding up a small and very young black and white puppy whose front paws had been tied, guffawing about how cute it was, and then
tossing it over a cliff to either an instant or a painful and lingering death.

The viral nature of the Internet being what it is, you can sift through the global outrage on various forums and blogs, and catch cached copies of the video that was deleted from
YouTube.

What is interesting and sad is the spate of excuses that have been made for this guy.

The puppy was only a toy. No wait, it was already dead. Or…the video was edited and the real puppy was never actually thrown over the cliff. Or…the mother dog had been blown up and the puppies were going to die a more inhumane death if Motari hadn’t intervened. Or, well, it was going to give away their position to The Enemy. It could have been diseased. Maybe even have rabies! The commanding officer had told them to get rid of all strays. Iraqis don’t respect dogs either. PTSD made him do it. What can you expect - these guys are trained to kill? It’s the fault of the military brass for brainwashing them. And on and on.

One word: FAIL.

Contrast the arrogant behaviour of this hoodlum with that of soldiers who have warmed our

hearts through their humanity and compassion towards the animals in Iraq that comforted them. Jay Kopelman, author of “From Baghdad With Love”, the late Peter Neesley, whose family adopted the two dogs he had rescued, and the group behind “Operation Baghdad Pups”, show us the integrity and courage of the U.S. military.

From Baghdad With Love

A Soldier’s Gift

Operation Baghdad Pups

One can presume that their integrity and that of many more soldiers like them has carried forward to their dealings with the people in the mid-east. I could hardly say the same for punks who think it is fun to toss puppies off cliffs, blow up sheep, and shoot dogs and cats for target practice. (Yes, there are more videos. Keep moving. Nothing to see here.)

In his MySpace site, Motari bemoans the fact that he was caught. No remorse, no learning, just cowardice. Of course, this could be a fake account, set up by some other attention-seeker altogether…

F**K
Category: Life

" The Sergeant Major called me in today and it looks like they found out about the dog thing. I don’t know who it was who put it on F**KING youtube, but man they are not happy…

They were even talking about court martialing me, but they better not. It wouldn’t be fair because they didn’t court martial the last guy they caught F**KING with a dog.

F**K atleast i was humane about it. That guy from motor transport shot a dog in the stomach in front of the Major and everyone thought it was funny. I F**K up and it gets on TV and all of a sudden it’s wrong. This is some BS. POS media, always sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong."



What can you do?

Recommend that this abuser be punished to the full extent of the law. Court-martial and

dishonourable discharge might send a message to others that this behaviour is not

acceptable. He does not get it, apparently, so counselling would be in order too. Maybe also

ask for an investigation into the individual who cooperated in filming the event, and anyone

else who took part.

You can write to a very busy Christopher Perrine, the PR officer fielding a lot of emails at

the Hawaii base where Motari is now, hopefully only temporarily, stationed. Please be polite.

[email protected]

And the Marines are looking for your feedback at:

[email protected]

Ask Andrew S. Effron, Chief Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, to include cruelty to all animals in the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

UCMJ

→ No CommentsCategories: animals · politics
Tagged: abuse, animal welfare, Baghdad, David Motari, Iraq, Marine, puppy
Stairway to Heaven
March 5, 2008 · No Comments