By the North Chilton Advertiser staff

We wish a safe trip to the 17 members of the 1156th Military Police Detachment from the National Guard based in Clanton when they are deployed to Iraq this spring.
Though the Guardsmen won’t be Marines on the front lines, patrolling the streets, Iraq is a dangerous situation for any U.S. soldiers there because the insurgency still exists. And the Guardsmen are filling an important role in our country’s efforts overseas. The 1156th is made up of criminal investigators that will spend 12 months looking into homicides, sexual assault and other crimes committed in Iraq, probably Baghdad.
Because human rights violations was a case we made for invading Iraq and replacing the government in power, preventing our troops from committing the same crimes is crucial to our presence there having legitimacy.
Unfortunately, war crimes happen. We’ll be proud to say some of the ones trying to prevent those crimes are from right here in Clanton.