Court-martialed Solider Sentenced to Death

[fryguy]

(delete/redirect if dupe)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/04/28/akbar.trial.ap/index.html

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina (AP) -- A military jury has sentenced Sgt. Hasan Akbar to death for a deadly grenade and rifle attack on his own comrades in Kuwait during the opening days of the Iraq invasion.

<snip>

The sentence will be the subject of an automatic appeal

<snip>

Prosecutors have said Akbar launched the attack on members of the 101st Airborne Division in March 2003 because he was concerned about U.S. troops killing fellow Muslims in the Iraq war.

<more>

[Todd B]

1. And yet, somehow..

And yet, somehow, Bush and his cronies remain unprosecuted for starting a war which killed THOUSANDS of innocent civilians.

Ah, isn't the justice system wonderful?

[melnjones]

2. I have to wonder though...

"Akbar's father, John Akbar, has said his son complained in vain to his superiors about religious and racial harassment before the attack. The defense never introduced any witnesses to testify about any such harassment."

I wonder if there's more to the story than what we are hearing. Not that anything would excuse what he did, but it makes me wonder.

[fryguy]

4. I wonder too

what would have been the penalty had his name (religion) been something else? no excuse for what he did, just curious if a similarly situated white christian solider would have been given the same sentence.

[Mondon]

26. absolutely

no doubt that ANY soldier that MURDERS his comrades and officers in a war zone gets death. No doubt. He could be Rumsfeld's grandson. Death. End of story. It's not just punishment--it's essential to maintain discipline.

[daleo]

40. When is the last occasion that this was carried out, I wonder.

The Viet Nam era was rife with allegations of "officer fragging", for example. Were there any executions carried out during that time?

[Mondon]

62. Last military execution was 1996

for murder I believe.

Not as much fragging in Vietnam as legend suggests. The question is what happened to the ones who got CAUGHT.

[Mondon]

63. correction--last execution 1961; last death sentence 1996 I believe eom

[maddezmom]

84. over 40 yrs..from today's Houston Chronicle

Languishing cases, including 1 in Texas, may show Army's reluctance
By ANDREW TILGHMAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

After more than 40 years without an execution, the U.S. military could soon resume capital punishment as two death row inmates at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., are exhausting their final appeals and their cases move toward the Oval Office for a death warrant signed by the commander in chief.

The two death sentences — both affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court and under review by the Department of Defense — have languished in recent years, and some say the war in Iraq and domestic politics render authorities reluctant to send two former active-duty soldiers into the death chamber.

"These cases are potential hot potatoes, and this administration may be in no hurry to approve the first military execution in over 40 years," said Eugene Fidell, a Washington lawyer and military-law expert.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1437144

[okieinpain]

47. yeah like the wall street broker turned marine that shot the 2 iragi's

in the back. I wonder what his penalty will be.

[Sherwood]

3. Regardless of how anyone feels about the war...

This guy deserved the stiffest penalty possible.

[shadowknows69]

5. I think his color and heritage totally have to do with it.

I don't see them executing Private Jones or Baker.

[Mondon]

7. uh..maybe because

Privates Jones and Barker didn't murder their fellow soldiers?

[Spiffarino]

8. Bah. He fragged a bunch of fellow soldiers...

...and got fingered by eyewitnesses. I don't see how anybody gets out of that one, black, white or otherwise. That's just plain wrong. If he didn't want to be in the military or fighting against Muslims specifically, he should have tried gaining C.O. status or getting reassigned. If the Army were to refuse that's one thing, but I know of no evidence to indicate he even tried.

He wasn't a spy for the other side. He wasn't a secret soldier fighting for the Iraqi Army or al-Qaeda or the Taliban. He was an American who killed his own countrymen. It was cold-blooded murder.

[shadowknows69]

11. didn't say it wasn't murder n/t

[BrendaStarr]

20. Exactly and if he'd killed some Iraqis

He wouldn't have gotten the death penalty.

Like Americans are better than other people.

[Mondon]

22. no

the difference is killing fellow soldiers, in a war zone no less. Every nation in the world recognizes the heinous nature of such conduct and the need to punish it harshly.

And, if he had fragged some Iraqi prisoners of war in the way he killed his comrades, he probably WOULD have gotten the DP. Give me a source for your contention otherwise.

Sorry, but I'm so tired of the knee-jerk anti-US-military mindset that has infected the left wing of our party.

[Spiffarino]

77. Point taken

This was a war zone. The soldiers on the other side are expecting to be attacked and have an opportunity to take defensive action, shoot back, or run away. The people he killed were sitting around in their tents. They may have been awaiting an enemy attack, but not from somebody they knew and who was wearing the same uniform as them. It's a very different scenario.

Having said that, if he had killed Iraqi civilians, POWs, etc., the military authorities probably would have looked the other way as they have done too many times. That doesn't change my outlook on what the man did, but your point is well taken.

[daleo]

78. There have been cases of killing POWs (or captured 'insurgents')

Basically, two weeks cut in pay type punishment, as far as I recall.

[The Magistrate]

12. For Doing What He Was Convicted Of In Time Of War, Sir?

Absolutely Pvt. Jones or Pvt. Baker would have got that sentence.

[shadowknows69]

Just speculating

I hope I am wrong.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

43. Plenty of G.I.s were convicted of desertion during WWII, but only....

...one was executed.

[The Magistrate]

52. This Fellow, Sir, Put A Grenade In The Unit HQ Tent

That is a horse of a different color from desertion....

[Dawn Quixote]

13. U.C.M.J. allows...

For (FIRING SQUAD) (HANGING) (ELECTROCUTION) (lEATHEL INJECTION) HE can choose one but blindfold hood is manditory! bet he wont choose HANGING?

[hootinholler]

14. That's right...

After all if you're gonna frag someone at least wait for a firefight.

-HOot

[Mondon]

27. Nice.

Not.

[BlueCaliDem]

68. Stiffest penalty possible?? Based on what??

So-called "insider's info" on what he was supposedly thinking??

You believe, without personally seeing any evidence; any proof, what the Military "court" tells you?? Oh yeah...the same military that claims that there were only 6 "renegade" soldiers horsing around at Abu Garaib {sp?} when the embattled female general tells us that there were 32, NOT 12 boots in at least ONE of the photographs; claiming that higher-ups had NO knowledge about the tortures, and what not going on in that prison?

Oh yeah...According to some reporter, this soldier said he "hated America", and maybe he did say that, but was that all he said? Were his writings edited? Maybe he said he hated that America was entering an illegal war? Maybe he was ridiculed, and put-down by his superiors for voicing that?

We don't have the full story, so let's reserve judgment until it all comes out.

I'm against the death penalty period. Unlike a few other posters here, I don't subscribe to being selective with putting people to death no matter how heinous the crime.

Period.

[NVMojo]

6. he's brown, looks muslim, name sounds muslim, he was screwed from the

beginning.

[Sherwood]

16. HE IS A MURDERER

He slaughtered his fellow soldiers in cold blood. I'm willing to guess that Private Joe Smith from North Dakota would have gotten the same penalty.

[lebkuchen]

17. Well, he was trained to kill, wasn't he?

[Save The World]

21. Are you suggesting that all soldiers are murderers?

Because that sure is what it sounds like.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[lebkuchen]

59. Americans are murdered (killed) all the time in the US from guns

Stateside murderers don't receive the same condemnation as this US soldier, who was trained to kill, unlike the typical civlian stateside worker having a bad day with too many years without a two-week vacation.

Why do you think there are so many bar fights off base in heavily concentrated military areas? Or a higher rate of spousal abuse, to include murder? Killing is the soldier's job. What does one expect?

[Save The World]

72. Are you equating U.S. soldiers with murderers?

Yes or no?

[lebkuchen]

82. The US military is not sacrosanct, my friend

That's why a flurry of memos between the WH and its lawyers were written, to exempt our military (and especially its leaders) from the evil and illegal deeds they were about to commit.

BTW, did you vote for this? If so, then you're responsible.

At least 110 people, including 11 U.S. soldiers, have died since Iraq's first democratically elected government was approved on Thursday...

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050501/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

What is your plan to get the US out of this f*cking mess?

[Mondon]

24. and a drunk who runs someone over was trained to drive

what's your point??

I really would like to know your point.

[lebkuchen]

37. I made my point quite clear

Now, explain to me what the point is of being in Iraq a day longer.

[Save The World]

56. You equated U.S. soldiers with murderers

Just to be "quite clear," was that essentially your point?

[lebkuchen]

60. Yes, they murdered well over 100,000 Iraqis

[Mondon]

64. That figure has been debunked thoroughly, and military operations aren't

murder. Where are you from, anyway? Not the US.

[lebkuchen]

69. What do you call dropping 20,000 bombs on the most populated city

in Iraq?

A paintball exercise?

Did you vote for this?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050430/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

[BlueCaliDem]

70. Debunked thoroughly?? When? By whom?

Military operations aren't murder?

Oh, I see.

Call the military killing innocent men, women, and children in war "military operations", and you make it more pallatable for Americans to swallow, and continue to support illegal, unjust wars.

Call the killing of innocent men, women, and children "casualties of war", and soothe your humane, but protesting conscience.

Call the "nuclear option" the "constitutional option" to whip up American patriotism to force your will on the people on behalf of billionaires and millionairs.

Switch from calling "social security private accounts" to "social security personal accounts", and some people will actually believe that crap against their own financial interest because it sounds more "warm and fuzzy".

Call Iraqis fighting occupation of their oil-rich country "insurgents" instead of Iraqi freedom fighters, and it's okay to launch "military operations" and wipe 'em all out...

I.O.W....How can some Americans allow themselves to be so friggin clueless, and gullible?

It's no mystery why the Bush administration is so against education for the majority, but less wealthy in this country, because after all, ignorance is bliss, right?

[Save The World]

73. Were soldiers in Vietnam, Korea, WWI , WWII, Gulf War I, etc.

also murderers?

Were the British soldiers murderers in WWII.

Do you know what the definition of murder is or do you just enjoy libeling U.S. troops?

[lebkuchen]

79. The US never kept track of the millions of Vietnamese it murdered

during its invasion of that country.

Murdered or killed--you can torture it all you want, but the fact of the matter is, those people are dead, and they are dead as the result of the US military invasion of Vietnam. Same deal with Iraq.

The argument for dropping two nuclear weapons on civilian populations, not to mention the carpet bombing of cities like Tokyo and Dresden have been argued ad infinitum. Bottom line: US foreign policy has been wracked with mayhem, and yes, murder.

[Name removed]

80. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lebkuchen]

81. A legal sleight of hand, from "POW" to merely "captured"

and U.S. soldiers cannot be tried for violations of the Geneva Convension because, hey, such international laws have "no binding legal effect on either the President or the military," leaving our military exempt of responsibility for the treatment of captured Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters from Geneva convention provisions.

Torture, murder, anything goes after that. And it has.

[Renew Deal]

19. It's someone elses fault he did that?

I am not sure if I get your point. He's certainly not the only "brown" person, not the only muslim, so what's your point?

[Mondon]

23. Bullshit

Just fucking bullshit. He screwed himself when he murdered his fellow soldiers and officers in cold blood, without warning, in a war zone. He's not a good poster child for racial/religious injustice. To hold him up as a such victim does real damage to the ability of TRUE victims of bigotry to get necessary attention.

[Save The World]

9. I love all of the excuse making for this piece of garbage

According to one report, he wrote in his diary, in 1997 that "My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed."

Yeah, it was all about his name and skin color ...

[Melodybe]

10. I agree if he is guilty then he should be sentenced

Sorry but killing your fellow troops is unforgiveable. If he is guilty of this crime he should be punished, end of story.

[melnjones]

15. And I love the fact that

no one has said there is any excuse for what he did. Did he commit a serious crime? Yes. Should he be punished? Absolutely. Does it hurt for us to ask questions about the circumstances? Nope.

[Mondon]

25. yes it does hurt.

This guy is so clearly guilty, that asking questions about the circumstances comes off as BS--crying wolf--which hurts when someone who has a legitimate claim to railroading or bias tries to get attention.

[roscoeroscoe]

32. ditto!! (*tongue in cheek warning)

seriously, nothing more needs to be said to back this up. believe me it's tough enough going forward into combat worrying about everything back home, the enemy, your stuff getting stolen... etc. let alone what this idiot did. out~

[Media_Lies_Daily]

44. I thought DUers were supposed to ask questions about everything....

...does that no longer apply?

[Skeptic_All]

49. But must those questions be

inane in content, mixed in with a snippet of rationalizing for the poor, lost soldier who clearly hated America?

This case is indeed tragic in that a man who clearly practiced his own version of intolerance was not vetted from our military prior to his deployment.

[Mondon]

65. we're questioning the questioning lol

[makhno]

76. "DUers"

Quotes. Don't leave home without 'em.

[Name removed]

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[NYC]

28. When was the last time someone received

the death penalty for fragging? Just curious.

The last death penalty I know about is Eddie Slovik, firing squad, WWII.

[SKKY]

29. It doesn't matter one bit if this guys name was Hasan, Jonathan...

...Tyrone, or Yoshi, You murder your fellow soldiers in a time of war, you should be put to death. Anyone who suggests otherwise is not accepting of the facts, or hasn't served in the Military. My fellow Soldiers, Airmen, and Sailors are suffering enough by the banter coming back to them from the states. Should we call them all racists as well?

[Jack_DeLeon]

30. Good....

he probably deserves worse than the death penalty, but in the end of the day the world will be better off without him.

[LynnTheDem]

31. And when they murder Iraqis (or Canadian troops), they get a slap on the

wrist.

Oh that's right; Americans = uber menschen.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

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[unhappycamper]

33. The Culture of Life demands we kill him immediately.

Ask any radical cleric!

[theHandpuppet]

34. US 'hate' soldier to be executed

From the BBC News at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4496167.stm

Friday, 29 April, 2005, 07:20 GMT 08:20 UK

US 'hate' soldier to be executed

A US soldier said to have hated America has been sentenced to death for the murder and attempted murder of comrades during the invasion of Iraq.

Sgt Hasan Akbar used grenades and a rifle to kill two officers and wound 14 other personnel at a camp in Kuwait in the opening days of the war.

Prosecutors said the murders were ideologically driven hate crimes....

More...

[Zynx]

35. Good. Total scum

[jasop]

46. So then you are saying...

Just like the Abu Gharaib soldiers and the soldiers who kill anything that moves and the soldiers who kill journalist who record their horrific actions and the soldiers killed by fellow soldiers because they threaten to report war crimes .. etc.. etc.. etc

[Mondon]

66. Killing your comrades with grenades and rifles

isn't the same as making prisoners wear ladies' underwear, and you know it.

[BreweryYardRat]

38. Good.

Prep the firing squad-this bastard deserved it!

[Walt Starr]

39. Hopefully they'll use the traditional method of execution in the military

Death by hanging.

It's the most dishonorable way for a soldier to die, and this asshole deserves it. One NEVER takes the life of their fellow comrades in arms.

[w4rma]

58. I agree, Walt. (nt)

[daleo]

41. A web site with some information about death penalty and U.S. military

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=180&scid=32

"There is racial disparity on the military's death row. Of those on the military death row today, five are African-American, one is a Pacific Islander, and only one is Caucasian. Whereas nationwide, about half of the 3,600 death row inmates are members of a minority, the military has an 86 percent minority death row population."

Number of Executions
135 people have been executed by the Army since 1916 (Source: National Law Journal, 4/5/99)
Date of last military execution
On April 13, 1961, U.S. Army Private John A. Bennett was hanged after being convicted of rape and attempted murder. (R. Serrano, "Last Soldier to Die at Levenworth Hanged in an April Storm," Los Angeles Times, 7/12/94).

[mutus_frutex]

42. Another state sponsored murder.

This just feed from the undercurrent of primitivism that permeates the american society: vengeance is GOOD.

[JLW]

50. I just don't get it.

What would have been the appropriate course of action? What punishment do you feel fits the bill? Do you feel his actions were warranted?

Enlighten me with your wisdom, because it’s quite obvious you’re on another plateau of consciousness.

[Name removed]

51. Deleted message

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[JLW]

53. Thank you...I feel smarter already

We come from two different ideologies. I see this is nothing more than a justified execution. This is not a case where there is possibility of executing the wrong fellow and the punishment fits the crime. So I have no quarrel with the decision.

I could live with life in prison with no chance of parole. I associated your comments with previous comments of those trying to vindicate the soldier’s actions. My apologies…

BTW…I don’t believe in cookie cutter politics. Not every individual with a different view is a “freeper”.

[mutus_frutex]

54. Your Subject line sounds very flippant

But I see from the text that you don't mean it.. :-)

Yes, we obviously come from different "ideologies", although I call them cultures. To me there are no justified executions. The only justification for killing is self-defense. Therefore, a justified execution is logically impossible.

Your apologies are accepted.. :-) I thought that since I was expressing my rejection of the death penalty, it was pretty clear that I'm against killing. The suggestion that you are a freeper came from the tone of your message and from your suggestion that I was in favor of killing american troops.. That seems to be a common MO from the freeps.. :-) And my apologies to you for having thought that.. :-) If you read some of my other message you'll find that most of the time I go against the current here.. :-)

Cheers.

[Dangerman]

48. OK, let me get this straight...

A bunch of guys got cleared for murdering innocent IRAQI civilians, let this guy got the DP for murdering AMERICAN soldiers?

This doesn't make sense.

[Mondon]

67. ....oh forget it....

[Mizmoon]

61. Call him what he is - a vile murderer

No ifs, ands, or buts.

on edit: I am still against the death penalty, but this is military justice. People know when they sign up that they're giving everything to Uncle Sam, including their usual rights. I'm less concerned about the death penalty than I would be if this was a civillian case.

[timtom]

71. Several issues here...

1) Is he guilty? Chances are, he is.

2) Is the death penalty right? That is a matter of choice. Some are for it, others are agin it. I, personally, believe in the death penalty for capital crimes. (But I didn't used to.) A choice like this is basically an act of faith...I believe this or I believe that.

3) Is there equal justice under the law? Hell, NO! * and his cabal are guilty of the most heinous crimes against humanity. These crimes are on a par with those crimes of Nero, Caligula, and others.

4) The soldiers in Iraq are not in a "war zone" as we are not at war. They are part of an illegal military occupation of a sovereign nation. Each and every soldier has the moral duty to question his or her part in that illegal occupation. While saying "no" to violent action has its consequences, so does saying "yes" to violent action.
Existentialism.
Choices.
Responsibility.

[cascadiance]

74. Another interesting article on this topic from uruknet.info

Article points out a number of interesting issues around the case. A notable drop of enlistments by African Americans in the military, such that now there are a lot more black commanders commanding a lot of white soldiers than there used to be. It also discusses paranoia from this case about needing to watch black Muslims every place.

If we have a draft, where more blacks are brought into the military than there are now in the volunteer army, I suspect these issues will grow bigger.

From: http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m11412&l=i&size=1&hd=0

-----------------------------------

Hasan Karim Akbar Death Sentence: Ammunition for the Paranoid Right
Kurt Nimmo, Another Day in the Empire


April 29, 2005

No doubt right-wingers and plastic flag-wavers are jumping for joy now that Army Sgt. Hasan Karim Akbar (a Muslim) has been sentenced to death for killing two soldiers at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait during the first week of the United States military’s illegal invasion (predicated on famous lies) of Iraq. It is said Akbar killed the soldiers because he “claimed that white racists and Nazis had harassed” him “and that drove him to his murderous assault.” Of course, this is no excuse for murder, even with the overriding irony of the fact Akbar and these alleged racist soldiers were sent to Iraq precisely to engage in a blood-and-guts orgy of mass murder that makes Akbar’s homicidal act pale by way of comparison.

If Akbar’s case demonstrates anything, it is that people of color are doing themselves a favor by staying out of the clutches of Uncle Sam’s death machine. As Earl Ofari Hutchinson < http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/21860/ >notes, the fact Akbar is African-American “could have further marked him as a target for persecution,” that is in addition to the fact he was a Muslim. In fact, more than a few African-Americans have already told Uncle Sam to screw off. Hutchinson writes:

The top-heavy number of Blacks in the military has reinforced the public perception that the army is a comparative racial oasis. As one observer noted, “It’s the only place in American life where whites are routinely bossed around by Blacks.” That hasn’t stopped the wholesale stampede of Blacks away from military recruiters. In the past four years there’s been more than a forty percent drop in Black army enlistment. That drop comes despite an astronomically high unemployment rate among young Black males, and a nearly fifty percent high school drop out rate for them in some urban school districts.

Obviously, not only do African-Americans realize the military is infected with white yahoo racists, it is also not a good deal for the poor and unemployed, especially considering Bush expects a large number of them to serve as bullet-stoppers in Iraq. “The perception is that army service is risky business for Blacks,” writes Hutchinson. “That’s the biggest reason many young Blacks give for disdaining the military.” Moreover, right-winger demands for patriotic sacrifice obviously ring hollow to people who live in the large urban economic war zones of America, violent and dangerous hell holes created and sustained by Bush’s ideological and class-oriented “base” (as he fondly calls it). “You’re not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong no matter who does it or who says it,” declared Malcolm X.

...

[SemiCharmedQuark]

75. What we should really do is set up a Colliseum again. Now THAT's fun!

Please. We know that the death penalty is not rehabilitative or a deterrant. The only reason we use it is so we can feel better about ourselves for having "purged the world of evil". We're one of the last backwards countries to do it.

Geez, you think someone does something like that because he feels like it? Do you think he stopped to think before hand "hmm, if I do this, I will be killed..." ? Of course he didn't. But we sure do love to sentence people to death here in America. This is exactly the same as a mob of pitchforks and torches, the only thing that has changed is that we have cleaner weapons to do it. And we only have those so we can feel better about killing people.

[tom_paine]

83. I have no problem with that. None at all.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[Moderator]

85. I am locking this, it has gotten too hostile and unproductive