Horror in Kandahar

After reading this article from the New York Times's Editorial Board, I am ashamed to be an American. This past weekend, one American soldier stationed in Afghanistan shot at least 16 Afghanistan civilians execution style from three different villages. Oh ya, and of those 16, nine were children. First, the soldiers release a video of them urinating on corpses in January and last month different American soldiers burned Korans. The soldier who did this was a father. How can you shoot innocent children and have children of your own? Reading this article was terrible for the United States who is trying to make a peace agreement with the Taliban. I just don't understand how soldiers can shoot innocent civilians on purpose, especially execution style. This is going to make the United States question the mental capacity and mental illness of who they accept into the armed forces.

The rhetorical techniques of the Editorial Board appeal to logos and a strong opinion against what the soldier did. The logos is shown when the author quotes the background on the soldier including his age, family relations, and past tours in the armed forces. However, the name of the soldier has not been released. The author also cites the past recent issues of American soldiers disgracing the United States with rash and disappointing actions. The Editorial Board shows the number of soldiers in Afghanistan when they write, "There are roughly 90,000 American troops in Afghanistan now, with 22,000 scheduled to leave by this fall," (Editorial Board 1). The strong opinion of the Editorial Board in their view of a solution is shown when they write, "The punishment must be swift," (Editorial Board 1). Honestly, I couldn't agree with them more.

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