Dear Editor, 

Unprovoked violence, even in a war zone, is unacceptable. It doesn’t matter whether the victim is a child, an adult civilian, or a dog. This victim happens to be a disfigured dog trying to flee soldiers as they hurl rocks at it.

An unsettling video from a CD discovered in Baghdad's Green Zone depicts U.S. soldiers forcefully hurling rocks at a dog with a spinal deformity. As the dog cries out in pain, the participants laugh and one blurts, "That is the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life." Another suggests, "You wanna go over and kill it?" Huge Internet audiences have recently viewed this disgraceful video at http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6445f9fdd7.

Concerned Americans must call for an investigation into this gutless act and urge defense leaders to court-martial any soldier connected with the torture of this dog. Americans do not want their tax dollars wasted on tormenting animals in times of war - that is not why we sent soldiers to Iraq.

Profound cruelty shames U.S. troops and our nation. Moreover, criminologists and mental health professionals view the intensity of vicious behavior as a precursor to future violence. Testimony at the court-martial hearing for coconspirators accused of aiding one-time soldier Steven D. Green in the murder of an Iraqi girl and her family revealed Green had once set fire to a puppy and tossed it off of a roof.

Animal cruelty is a key trait in the American Psychiatric Association's profile for conduct disorders. Randall Lockwood, Ph.D., regularly enlisted to aid cruelty investigators, law enforcers, and court officials, describes violence against small or non-threatening creatures unlikely to retaliate as a precursor to assaulting children, the elderly or disabled, or other vulnerable victims. Who is more helpless than a crippled dog?

We can't just wait for the next violent "prank". Demand that the Department of Defense fully investigate this incident and hold implicated soldiers accountable. The military must not accept nor excuse this utter disrespect for life and the statement it makes to the world about America.

Americans everywhere must insist on zero tolerance for animal cruelty and that all offenders (military and civilian) face prosecution. 

Speak up for the animals. We are their only voice.

Kendra Kemenyas