Durbin: Pardon scavenging GIs

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- President Bush should pardon six Army reservists from Ohio who were court-martialed for taking equipment to carry out their mission in Iraq, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Tuesday.

In a letter to the president, Durbin said the members of the 656th Transportation Company may have committed a technical violation and an error in judgment but the military should not have treated this mistake as a felony.

"The punishment is completely out of step with the violation," Durbin said. "Soldiers have been scavenging for equipment on battlefields from the time of the Romans to the present day. ... Yes, they made a mistake, but it was not so someone could get rich; these soldiers were trying to protect their unit and accomplish their mission."
...
Six reservists, including two veteran officers who had received Bronze Stars, were court-martialed for commandeering two tractors and two trailers left in Kuwait by other U.S. units that had already moved into Iraq and for stripping a third vehicle for parts they needed to repair their trucks.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0412220367dec22,1,6513060.story?coll=chi-news-hed

[w4rma]

1. I bet * won't pardon them since it was a Democrat who asked him to.

Just out of spite.

I also bet that once big media realizes he won't pardon them, they'll never write another major story on this again, thus sweeping it under the rug.

[Paleocon]

2. Gotta save those pardons for those that really deserve them...

:mad:

[OldLeftieLawyer]

4. From this morning's Washington Post:

(this was tucked away very discreetly on page 8, down at the bottom, almost hidden by a huge department store Christmas ad.

Where do you think the Post would have placed it if Bill Clinton were still President?)


New Pardons Raise Bush's Total to 31


Associated Press
Wednesday, December 22, 2004; Page A08

President Bush granted four pardons yesterday, bringing to 31 the total of pardons and sentence commutations he has issued during his first term, the Justice Department announced.

The clemency orders issued by Bush are far off the pace of most modern presidents and less than half the 77 granted by his father, President George H.W. Bush, according to statistics collected by the University of Pittsburgh's law school.

Bush pardoned Kristan Diane Bullock Akins of Raleigh, N.C., convicted of embezzlement by a bank employee; Ronald William Cauley, East Providence, R.I., misapplication of bank funds by an employee; Stephen Davis Simmons, Austin, possession of counterfeit obligations; and Roger Charles Weber, Northridge, Calif., theft from interstate shipment.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company

[Paleocon]

9. U N B E L I E V A B L E ! ! !

The hypocrisy gets deeper and deeper...

[Ganja Ninja]

3. These guys were stealing from Halliburton!

Off with their heads. Nobody takes a piece of Dick Cheney's pie.

[arkie dem]

5. They would have received a lesser sentence if ,

they'd abused or tortured Iraqi prisoners...!!!

[Vidar]

6. Obviously property is more important than human life after all.

[Skittles]

7. he is too busy pardoning is thieving white-collar friends

nt

[merh]

8. Support our troops - pardon the poor soldiers that were

court martialed for taking government equipment that was needed to complete their missions, but had not been assigned to them. Nah, too much brain power needed to consider the request, let alone understand it.