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Death Penalty Recommended in Prosecution of Soldiers

By TChris, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Sat Sep 02, 2006 at 02:22:19 PM EST
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by TChris

The military hasn't executed a soldier since 1960. It isn't likely to, and shouldn't, execute four soldiers accused of murdering three Iraqis, despite a recommendation that the death penalty is warranted.

Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. concluded that the slayings were premeditated and warranted the death sentence based on evidence he heard at an August hearing. The case will now be forwarded to Army officials, who will decide whether Daniel's recommendation should be followed.

More details about the alleged murders can be found here.

If the soldiers are convicted after a fair trial, they should be held accountable, just as they would be if their victims had been American citizens. But whether the victims were American or Iraqi, death is not the appropriate punishment. Iraq has seen enough death in the last four years.

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    Death Penalty Recommended in Prosecution of Soldiers | 5 comments (5 topical)
    Re: Death Penalty Recommended in Prosecution of So (none / 0) (#1)
    by HK on Sat Sep 02, 2006 at 02:55:18 PM EST
    Another example of how those who support this war don't really support the troops and are prepared to abandon them at the first sign of embarrassing and inappropriate behaviour. Who knows for sure what these soldiers had been told or went through before they committed this act? When someone is killed at the hand of another it is never good, whether that hand belongs to an errant individual or the state. The ugliness of the WOT (or OIL as Che so astutely called it on another thread) continues.

    Re: Death Penalty Recommended in Prosecution of So (none / 0) (#3)
    by farmergiles on Sun Sep 03, 2006 at 11:26:01 AM EST
    No. This is what should be happening. If I see any more 3-5 year sentences for these things, I'm going to puke. I am against the death penalty, but it seems that someone in the Army sees, at long last, that this is unconscionable and unacceptable behavior for US troops. Here's the AP story I read. We have pissed away whatever moral standing we had as a democracy by allowing this kind of conduct. This is a small step toward regaining what little we may be able to recover. I don't want to see these four executed, but I do want these crimes taken as seriously as they should be. Enough is enough. Maybe this will make some folks start asking some hard questions about all sorts of things. I posted a Dailykos diary entry on this that had some interesting comments.

    Re: Death Penalty Recommended in Prosecution of So (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Sep 03, 2006 at 10:47:40 PM EST
    "This is what becomes of empire". from the movie Breaker Morant.

    Re: Death Penalty Recommended in Prosecution of So (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Sep 03, 2006 at 11:13:17 PM EST
    Basically I'm with you farmergiles. As I'm against the DP at all I hope these four soldiers won't face execution hopefully BUT - like you said - I stronlgy hope they will be sentenced accordingly like if they had killed some american citizens. More likely of course is that they will get acquitted anyway or face an alibi sentence, something like 3 or 4 years, to silence the critics. Granted, these are "only" the henchmen of death, still they are fully accountable for all their actions imo, but the real persons in charge for all the crimes happening in this context are the Bush junta in the White House and the lobby of the US oil and weapons industry backing their imperialist agenda of US hegemony worldwide. Going to war under the banner of "Freedom, democracy and human rights" while at the same time supporting atrocious regimes and dictators worldwide with billions of $$$, overthrowing democratic elected governments in the so-callled Third World, selling them their weapons and wondering why maybe in ten years from now some terrorist attacks come from these countries. And some of you people out there wonder why they put some bombs under your assses, I often wonder why we don't face more attacks considering all the crimes that happened all over the planet in our name. And just to make it clear, the leaders of the Democratic Party ain't much better, the only difference to the people in power now is their spinelessness, with all that playing-it-safe tactics out of fear they could be labelled UNPATRIOTIC and maybe lose some votes! Geez, what a dilemma! I sometimes wonder if there is any real opposition out there instead of all these pusillanimous Democrats. Is there any decency left?! I gotta calm down and take my pills now. This was my little rant for today...

    Re: Death Penalty Recommended in Prosecution of So (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Sep 03, 2006 at 11:31:55 PM EST
    I do not see how bringing these Soldiers to Court Martial is abandoning the troops. Their actions are completely outside the values of the Army and warrant a Court Martial. I can tell you who knew what these Soldiers went through, the chain-of-command who brought the charges up and initiated the Article 32 hearing. Soldiers are trained and taught what is proper and improper during combat. This was clearly a violation of the Law of War and they knew it. Nothing excuses the pre-meditated murder and rape of civilians.

    Death Penalty Recommended in Prosecution of Soldiers | 5 comments (5 topical)