Best Defense
Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Let the punishment fit the crime

A Maryland man was sentenced to 10 days in jail for posing as a wounded Navy SEAL. This made me think about a sign I saw in a latrine at the Marine training base at Parris Island about how the heroes of Iwo Jima had at one point cleaned this latrine, and so can you. ...

FERENC ISZA/AFP/Getty Images
FERENC ISZA/AFP/Getty Images
FERENC ISZA/AFP/Getty Images

A Maryland man was sentenced to 10 days in jail for posing as a wounded Navy SEAL.

A Maryland man was sentenced to 10 days in jail for posing as a wounded Navy SEAL.

This made me think about a sign I saw in a latrine at the Marine training base at Parris Island about how the heroes of Iwo Jima had at one point cleaned this latrine, and so can you. How about sentencing fakers to taking out the garbage and cleaning latrines at military bases? Or even better, serving as a runner in a hospital ward for badly burned soldiers and Marines?

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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