US 'death squad' operating in Afghanistan

[Yeekim]

So, the pictures of these evil crimes have emerged. If the US military executes these vermin I'll be glad. People who hunt and kill children for sport are not really human.

Don't be hasty, young hobbit. Few years of pre-trial imprisonment under suicide watch should come first.

 

[RedRalph]

I'm not opposed to it, but I would be a hell of a lot more sparing with it than you would.

NOTE: I've seen the photos and they are really horrible. I'm not going to post them but someone probably will. I would advise that they be spoilered, not everyone wants to see murdered children being paraded as trophies.

 

[Flying Pig]

People who hunt and kill children for sport are not really human.

Whatever we think about a particular case, it's a very dangerous precedent to say that anyone can be removed from the human race by their actions.

 

[emzie]

I thought you opposed Capital Punishment?



And I thought you were as well?

I oppose it in practice in a civilian context, though I don't have an issue with the concept. For this though? No qualms about using it for war crimes. Keep in mind that all of the men in question voluntarily put them under the jurisdiction UCMJ.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Septic Tank = Yank is a racial slur now?

 

[MobBoss]

Don't be hasty, young hobbit. Few years of pre-trial imprisonment under suicide watch should come first.

Only if their own attorneys ask for such delays.

And it remains to be seen whether these guys are stupid enough to make suicide references. But anything is possible I guess.

 

[emzie]

Only if their own attorneys ask for such delays.

And it remains to be seen whether these guys are stupid enough to make suicide references. But anything is possible I guess.

Do you think that, if found guilty, they should be executed?

 

[MobBoss]

Do you think that, if found guilty, they should be executed?

I dont know all the details to be honest. If the sentencing guidelines are inclusive of the death penalty, and the crimes comitted merit it, then of course. They certainly wouldnt be the first to have it done, nor the last.

 

[JollyRoger]

The military has been very soft with use of the death penalty over the past half century.

 

[emzie]

The military has been very soft with use of the death penalty over the past half century.

I'd've thought if it would have been applied to anyone, it'd've been the guys who raped a 15-year-old Iraqi girl then killed her family to cover it up. So I'd not be surprised if these guys got life as well.

 

[Patroklos]

You might want to google that case again.

 

[FriendlyFire]

I dont know all the details to be honest. If the sentencing guidelines are inclusive of the death penalty, and the crimes comitted merit it, then of course. They certainly wouldnt be the first to have it done, nor the last.

Given that only one person was found guilty of MyLai and he recieved a full presidental pardon. I seriously doubt it.

Thats the nature of war.

 

[GamezRule]

Lets leave Afghanistan while we can.

 

[MobBoss]

Given that only one person was found guilty of MyLai and he recieved a full presidental pardon. I seriously doubt it.

Jeez, FF, get with the program. There are at least two soldiers on death row at the US discipline barracks. Check your doubts and do some research.

 

[Tani Coyote]

I thought you opposed Capital Punishment?

I think it's a lot harder to falsify murder in an occupation that killing is a part of.

Civil society is a very different beast.

 

[FriendlyFire]

Jeez, FF, get with the program. There are at least two soldiers on death row at the US discipline barracks. Check your doubts and do some research.

That was quick

The Guardian, Monday 21 March 2011

All of the soldiers have denied the charges. They face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.

I give General Petraues the thumbs up then.
If anyone can understand how damaging this is for counterinsurrgency then it will be him.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Given that only one person was found guilty of MyLai and he recieved a full presidental pardon. I seriously doubt it.

The difference, of course, is that the US military typically doesn't put soldiers who torture and murder innocent civilians on death row. They save that ultimate punishment for those who murder US soldiers and possibly even leak "confidential" information.

And even then, it is usually reserved for blacks and other minorities. From a 2006 article:

http://www.refusingtokill.net/USGulfWar2/DeathRowinmilitary.htm

Currently there are eight men on death row at the Castle: six African-Americans, one white, and one Asian of Filipino descent. There are no women on military death row. These numbers are all the more stark when it is recalled that Black men make up 6 percent of the entire U.S. population, and that Blacks as a whole make up 30 percent of enlistees. The only white inmate on death row is the former senior airman Andrew Witt convicted last October for the double murder of two people in the summer of 2004. To say that racism plays a role in who gets death in the military justice system is an understatement.

 

[JollyRoger]

Jeez, FF, get with the program. There are at least two soldiers on death row at the US discipline barracks. Check your doubts and do some research.

And we are about to hit 50 years since the last military execution.

Edit:

Max of 24 years. They sure are soft on crime at that base south of Seattle. Perhaps the bad influences he received from his hometown were considered as mitigating factors.

A 22-year-old U.S. soldier pleaded guilty Wednesday to the murders of three unarmed Afghan civilians, telling a military judge "the plan was to kill people" in his coordinated conspiracy with four fellow soldiers.

Spc. Jeremy Morlock of Wasilla, Alaska, was court-martialed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, and one count each of conspiracy, obstructing justice and illegal drug use in exchange for a maximum sentence of 24 years in prison.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110323/ap_on_re_us/us_afghan_probe

 

[JollyRoger]

Inadverdant consecutive post - please delete

 

[ParadigmShifter]

2 hours between double posts - impressive

Is it any surprise people who like to kill people and maybe get away with it are drawn to a military career?