Declare a mission or go home.

Five U.S. soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a young woman, then killing her and three relatives, an American military official said Friday, describing the latest allegations of abuse of Iraqi civilians.

The soldiers also allegedly burned the body of the woman they are accused of assaulting in the March incident.......

In the early days of the Iraq war, US soldiers were told that the road home led through Baghdad, and those soldiers fought with everything they had to follow that road in a truly historic military action. Where does the road home lie now?

I don't know enough about this specific incident to pass any judgement, but I do feel we can add it to the collected evidence of breakdowns in discipline, and I would credit the breakdowns in discipline to the stress generated by the "unique nature of this war."

Often that phrase is used in describing the incredible stresses brought on by the realities of fighting an insurgency, the daily attacks and bombings, the unidentifiable, almost omnipresent enemy force, but I think something that is often left out of this discussion is the absence of a clear "on the ground" mission.

Sure, the soldiers in Iraq can regurgitate that they're there to help the Iraqis towards freedom, but what does that really mean? And how does that translate to an IED?

So, as the daily violence continues, frustrations and discipline problems among the troops appear to be growing. I feel certain that alot of soldiers recognize the disconnect between that vaguely expressed mission of freedom and the realities of their daily experience.

The answer to this is leadership. Declare a mission for the military in Iraq. A mission that is clear, definable, and achievable. A mission that can be broken down into small actionable tasks that can be carried out by soldiers.

Tell them where the road home lies, and, I believe, they will fight like hell to get there.