Liquor Is Spur to Crime

PAUL von ZIELBAUER
"In May 2004, Specialist Justin J. Lillis got drunk on what he called “hajji juice,” a clear Iraqi moonshine smuggled onto an Army base in Balad, Iraq, by civilian contractors, and began taking potshots with his M-16 service rifle."
There are two other instances of violence: a soldier shot and killed another after a night of drinking, and a group from 101st airborne raped a 14 year old iraqui girl, killing her and then her family.

Here are some statistics from the New York Times:
"Alcohol- and drug-related charges were involved in more than a third of all Army criminal prosecutions of soldiers in the two war zones — 240 of the 665 cases resulting in convictions, according to records obtained by The New York Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Seventy-three of those 240 cases involve some of the most serious crimes committed, including murder, rape, armed robbery and assault. Sex crimes accounted for 12 of the convictions.
The 240 cases involved a roughly equal number of drug and alcohol offenses, although alcohol-related crimes have increased each year since 2004. "

It is very disturbing that this is the case, and it is the cause of many unnecessary war crimes being committed by American soldiers. The Pentagon stated that binge drinking has been a serious problem (especially recently) and shoots up about 30% during war-time amongst soldiers.

Something should be done, or more serious consequences need to be set in place for violators of the no-alcohol law in the army.