The New York Times contains an insightful and disturbing op-ed discussing the disgraceful attitude of some U.S. soldiers towards their enemy. Aidan Delgado, a private in the Army Reserve, recalls that a top officer in his unit "made wisecracks about the soldiers heading off to Iraq to kill some ragheads and burn some turbans." According to the private, the top officer laughed and "everybody in the unit laughed with him."

The op-ed suggests that these racist feelings undergird the "gratuitous violence that, according to Mr. Delgado, is routinely inflicted by American soldiers on ordinary Iraqis."

Mr. Delgado said he had confronted guys who were his friends about this practice. "I said to them: 'What the hell are you doing? Like, what does this accomplish?' And they responded just completely openly. They said: 'Look, I hate being in Iraq. I hate being stuck here. And I hate being surrounded by hajis.' "

"Haji" is the troops' term of choice for an Iraqi. It's used the way "gook" or "Charlie" was used in Vietnam.

In response, Mr. Delgado surrendered his weapon to his commanding officer and said he would not fight. For his moral objection, Mr. Delgado was called a "traitor" or a "coward."Eventually, the private received conscientious objector status and was honorably discharged.