Staff Sergeant Girouard's Court-martial begins tomorrow (13 March 2007)

The 24-year-old 101st Airborne Solider faces premeditated murder charges in the shooting deaths of three Iraqi detainees last May during operations at a chemical complex north of Baghdad.

Not the best or brightest: Increased granting of 'moral waivers' dangerously lowers standards for military recruits

The savage conflict in Iraq has placed enormous stress on even the most level-headed, scrupulous of soldiers. Abu Ghraib and other moral lapses should be incentive enough to redouble efforts to enlist the best and the brightest. Instead, it seems that the lowering of standards will have the opposite effect.