Lt. Col. Steele's Tragedy

Here's a tragic story, worthy of the attention of a new Shakespeare:

BAGHDAD (AP) - A senior U.S. officer has been charged with nine offenses, including aiding the enemy and fraternizing with the daughter of a detainee while he commanded a military police detachment at an American detention facility near Baghdad, the military said Thursday.

Army Lt. Col. William H. Steele was accused of giving "aid to the enemy" by providing an unmonitored cell phone to detainees.

Steele was the commander of the 451st Military Police Detachment at Camp Cropper, a U.S. detention center on the western outskirts of Baghdad, when the offenses allegedly occurred between October 2005 and February, military spokesman Lt. Col. James Hutton said. ...

The other charges included unauthorized possession of classified information, fraternizing with the daughter of a detainee, maintaining an inappropriate relationship with an interpreter, storing classified information in his quarters and possessing pornographic videos, the military said.

Steele also was charged with improperly marking classified information, failing to obey an order and failing to fulfill his obligations in the expenditure of funds, the military said.

What a complete fall from grace! One can assume that Steele, having attained the rank of Lt. Col., was passionate about his military career and his country, and spent years in dedicated service. He was willing to put his life at risk for his country and obviously had made sacrifices to be where he was.

No comfy life in the suburbs, no going to the game with buddies on Saturday, no easy job in the corner office; instead, Steele opted to serve. Close the curtains on Act One.

In Act Two, we begin to see Steele's fatal weakness manifest itself, as he begins to make a bad decision here, is forced to cover up a small error there. A cycle of lies, secrets and self-recrimination follows.

As Act Three opens, Steele has sworn to himself that he can change his ways and he does; he's strong and focused and worthy again. But then the detainee's daughter enters the scene.

Alluring, shapely and possibly available, his focus tragically shifts from his desire to change to his desire to see her change into something more comfortable. She keeps him awake at night; she poisons his thoughts.

As the act unfolds, he makes his fatal mistake, providing the phone. He gets sloppy because his mind is lustily involved elsewhere, and forgets to return files. Then he tries to cover it all up by not following a direct order from his superior officer. And everything crashes.

Steele falls far, from warrior to traitor, and we leave him at the final curtain alone in his cell in Kuwait, torn between feelings of guilt and failure ... and thoughts of her.

What was Steele's fatal weakness? It lies in one of the minor charges against him, "possessing pornographic videos."

Steele didn't fall for money or false allegiances. He fell to lust, a sex addict whose addiction caused him to make a series of bad choices and live a life of secrets and lies.

Lust fueled by pornography destroyed Lt. Col. William Steele as it does millions of greater and lesser men every year. What he didn't know is that there is a life free of this addiction.

For Christian men, visit Celebrate Recovery. There should be a Celebrate Recovery group at a church near you. Here are the program's workbooks. And here's a message from Pastor Rick Warren on addiction and recovery.

Any concerned man or concerned wife should also read Out of the Shadows by Dr. Patrick Carnes, the premier secular work on the subject.

For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. (Phil. 2:13 NIV)

Update: True to form, a porno spam-bot latched onto this post and posted a comment with links to porn sites. I've deleted it, of course, but it shows the lengths the porn industry goes to suck in new addicts and to get more money out of those it's already ensnared.