Table Of ContentThe PuriTan CulTure of
ameriCa’s miliTary
Classical and Contemporary
social Theory
series editor: stjepan G. mestrovic, Texas a&m university, usa
Classical and Contemporary social Theory publishes rigorous scholarly work that
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Also in the series
a Genealogy of social Violence
founding murder, rawlsian fairness, and the future of the family
Clint Jones
isBn 978-1-4724-1722-0
liquid sociology
metaphor in Zygmunt Bauman’s analysis of modernity
Edited by Mark Davis
isBn 978-1-4094-3887-8
Violence, society and radical Theory
Bataille, Baudrillard and Contemporary society
William Pawlett
isBn 978-1-4094-5542-4
The Puritan Culture of
america’s military
u.s. army War Crimes in iraq and afghanistan
ronald lorenZo
Blinn College, USA
© ronald lorenzo 2014
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
ronald lorenzo has asserted his right under the Copyright, designs and Patents act, 1988,
to be identified as the author of this work.
Published by
ashgate Publishing limited ashgate Publishing Company
Wey Court east 110 Cherry street
union road suite 3-1
farnham Burlington, VT 05401-3818
surrey, Gu9 7PT usa
england
www.ashgate.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
a catalogue record for this book is available from the British library
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
lorenzo, ronald.
The Puritan culture of america’s military : u.s. army war crimes in iraq and
afghanistan / by ronald lorenzo.
pages cm.—(Classical and contemporary social theory)
includes bibliographical references and index.
isBn 978-1-4724-1982-8 (hardback)—isBn 978-1-4724-1983-5 (ebook)—
isBn 978-1-4724-1984-2 (epub) 1. sociology, military—united states. 2. Courts-martial
and courts of inquiry—United States. 3. Puritans—Influence. 4. Iraq War, 2003-2011—
atrocities. 5. afghan War, 2001—atrocities. 6. military offenses—united states. 7. War
crimes—Case studies. i. Title. ii. Title: us army war crimes in iraq and afghanistan.
u21.5.l65 2013
306.2’70973—dc23
2013020858
isBn 9781472419828 (hbk)
isBn 9781472419835 (ebk – Pdf)
isBn 9781472419842 (ebk – ePuB)
III
Contents
List of Figures and Tables vii
Preface ix
Series Editor’s Preface xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Nomenclature xv
An Excerpt from The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism 1
1 Introduction 3
“A Prayer Against Our Enemies” 11
2 An Overview of American Military Justice 13
Excerpts from The Swedish Articles of War 25
3 Puritan Military Justice 27
Excerpts from One Letter and Two Speeches 53
4 Puritanism and Responsibility 55
Two Stories of Hunting Witches 79
5 Puritanism and Revenge 81
An Excerpt on Military Superstitions of World War II 113
6 Puritanism and Superstition 115
An Excerpt from Sam Vaknin’s Malignant Self Love 149
7 Puritanism and Narcissism 151
A Definition from The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce 171
8 Conclusion and Discussion 173
References 185
Index 207
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List of Figures and Tables
Figures
7.1 PowerPoint Slide “Afghanistan Stability/COIN Dynamics” 167
Tables
3.1 Military Justice System Statistics for the United States Army,
Fiscal Years 1995-2012 29
3.2 Military Justice System Statistics for the United States Navy and
Marine Corps, Fiscal Years 1995-2012 31
3.3 Military Justice System Statistics for the United States Air Force,
Fiscal Years 1995-2012 33
3.4 Military Justice System Statistics for the United States Coast
Guard, Fiscal Years 1995-2012 35
To my parents, Mary and Roger Lorenzo,
and in memory of my best friend,
Jason Charles Crawford (July 19, 1971–January 2, 2009).
Preface
Exploring Puritanical cultural habits in the 21st century American military,
the following study focuses on U.S. Army courts-martial in the Global War on
Terror. The study uses Emile Durkheim’s original sociological interpretation of
crime and deviance. That interpretation is linked with responsibility as described
by Durkheim’s follower Paul Fauconnet in Responsibility: A Study in Sociology
([1928] 1978) and with a new cultural reading of Max Weber’s The Protestant
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism ([1905] 1976). The study is an inductive,
descriptive examination of the Puritanical aspects of American military culture
based on its treatment of acts labeled as deviant and criminal in the Global War
on Terror. Four sets of war crimes are examined: Abu Ghraib (which occurred
in Iraq in 2004), Operation Iron Triangle (which occurred in Iraq in 2006), the
Baghdad canal killings (which occurred in Iraq in 2007), and another set of
killings which occurred in Afghanistan. My data include primary data collected
through participation and observation for one court-martial related to the Baghdad
canal killings as well as secondary data sources from the other cases including
records of trial, investigation reports, charge sheets, sworn statements, and other
documentation.
The study illuminates how unconscious, Puritan cultural habits color and shape
both military actions and their perceptions. I explore Puritanism and its influence
on military law, responsibility, revenge, “magic” (in its sociological sense), and
narcissism. The study concludes with observations and recommendations for
changes in U.S. military law.
With regard to legal issues regarding my use of court documents, the reader
should be aware of the following: all material pertaining to the records of trial
from which I quote are regarded by law as public documents. The records of trial
(ROT) include the transcripts of Article 32 hearings, other pre-trial hearings,
investigative reports, sworn statements, transcripts of testimony at courts-martial,
and other documents. The only exception to this rule is the AR 15-6 report case
in Afghanistan, which was not included in Corporal Jeremy Morlock’s ROT.
However, I obtained the Maywand case AR 15-6 report from a news source,
and various news sources have already quoted extensively from this report in
numerous news reports. Because that specific AR 15-6 report was obtained from a
news source, it is also a public document. In summary, all my usage of government
documents in this study is lawful, and the government of the United States does
not own any copyright to any of this public information.
