Word: uniting
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...investigation was ordered by Gen. Eric Shinseki, the Army chief of staff, after Staff Sgt. Frank Ronghi was charged with raping and murdering a Kosovar Albanian girl in January. The Army began to learn of the rot in the unit at Merita Shahibu's funeral. "If they can beat us," senior officers were told about the 3/504th, "they can also kill us." Information contained in the report regarding the "negative command climate" in the unit led defense counsel to seek leniency for Ronghi, who was found guilty of rape and murder and sentenced to life in prison in August...
...prepared for war and had not been adequately schooled in peacekeeping. "As a result, the [U.S. troops] experienced difficulties tempering their combat mentality for adapting and transitioning to the Kosovo [mission]," Col. John Morgan III concluded in a report released Monday at the Pentagon. "In [this] environment, the unit's overly aggressive tendencies were manifested in practices such as the unit slogan, 'Shoot 'em in the face,' and their standard operating procedure of pointing the M-4 carbine weapon system with the attached maglight in the face of local nationals in order to illuminate their faces...
...Nearly all the trouble occurred in Ronghi's unit. During one demonstration in January, the soldiers "verbally antagonized" the people they were charged with protecting. "Get the f--- out of here!" some of the G.I.'s yelled at the Albanian Kosovars. "Shut the f--- up!" In many cases, those being sworn at didn't understand English, the report said...
...troops also were trigger-happy. "It was not uncommon for the 3-504 to use warning shots," an officer from another unit told investigators. "They are very quick shots." Once they fired on a vehicle, blowing out its back window, when it refused their order to halt. Inside were two Red Cross workers "who were fortunately not injured," the report said...
...3/504 was very heavy-handed with the people in Vitina," said an unidentified lieutenant colonel - also a military policeman - who witnessed the unit in action. "I tend to think that human dignity and respect are values, and not just rules of engagement," he said. "We, as Americans, have an innate feeling for what is right and wrong...