Wartime Prosecutions Come Under Scrutiny

[Judi Lynn]

Wartime Prosecutions Come Under Scrutiny
Dismissals, Short Sentences Highlight Difficulty of Prosecuting Wartime Murder Cases

Jun 5, 2005 — A soldier who admitted executing a wounded Iraqi teenager received three years in prison. His co-defendant got a one-year term. A captain convicted of charges in the fatal shooting of another wounded Iraqi was dismissed from the armed forces, but received no prison time.

In the 27 months since the Iraq war began, at least 10 U.S. military personnel have been convicted of a wide array of charges stemming from the deaths of Iraqi civilians. But only one sentence has exceeded three years, and last month two men a Marine lieutenant and an Army sergeant were cleared entirely of murder charges. Still pending are courts-martial on murder charges for six Army soldiers.
(snip)

"There have been some convictions in which the sentences are amazingly light," said Gary D. Solis, a retired Marine who teaches law at the U.S. Military Academy.

Many of the deaths have been horrific. Prosecutors said one man drowned after Army soldiers forced him into the Tigris River as punishment for breaking a curfew. The lieutenant who allegedly ordered the action received 45 days on an assault conviction.
(snip/...)

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=821397

[Judi Lynn]

1. Wartime Murder Charges at a Glance

Wartime Murder Charges at a Glance

Sunday June 5, 2005 6:16 PM
By The Associated Press

U.S. soldiers and Marines convicted in connection with deaths of Iraqi civilians since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003:

-Staff Sgt. Cardenas J. Alban, convicted in January of killing a severely wounded 16-year-old Iraqi during fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood. He was sentenced to one year's confinement, demotion to private, and a bad-conduct discharge.

-Spc. Rami Dajani was convicted in January of making a false statement following the fatal shooting of an Iraqi translator. He was sentenced to 18 months confinement, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge.

-Spc. Charley L. Hooser was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in January in the same case. He was sentenced to three years in prison, reduction in rank and a bad conduct discharge. He also was convicted of making a false statement to investigators.
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5054031,00.html

[gademocrat7]

2. What has become of the military ?

I can't stomach the murderous escapades. These people can't have a conscience. It is pure evil.

[PSPS]

3. Support Our Troops!

Kind of puts a bad spin on all of those car magnets, doesn't it? The sad fact is that these bush worshippers think these murders are god's work at the hands of our glorious storm troopers.

Just think what it will be like when we have all of these nut case soldiers back here (assuming they ever come back.) It will be the 70's all over again, with snipers and other manifestations of our "glorious soldiers" coming home to wreak their madness on us.

[leftchick]

4. America! Land of the War Crime Enablers....

I find this one particularly galling....







2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano, right, talks with Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., in Wilmington, N.C., on Friday, June 3, 2005. Pantano, who was cleared of murder charges in the deaths of two Iraqis, announced his plans to leave the Marine Corps. (AP Photo/Erin Whittle)

~snip~


WILMINGTON, N.C. -- A lieutenant once charged with murder in the deaths of two Iraqis said he is leaving the Marine Corps because he believes he would be a target if he returned to the battlefield.

Second Lt. Ilario Pantano said Friday that insurgents would seek him out to "capitalize on the publicity surrounding me." Such scrutiny would hurt his fellow Marines and interfere with their work, he said.


Pantano, a former Wall Street trader who returned to the Marines after Sept. 11, 2001, was charged with murder after riddling two Iraqis with bullets and hanging a warning sign on their corpses. Pantano said he acted in self-defense.

A Marine general decided not to bring Pantano to trial, following the advice of an officer who presided over the military equivalent of a grand jury hearing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/04/AR2005060401753.html

[LiberalVoice]

5. When they say "forced him into the Tigris River"...

it should read "Threw him off a bridge into the Tigris river".

Edit: "Military officials say the number of crimes alleged are minuscule compared to the mammoth task of trying to bring peace to Iraq"

Im so happy execution and murder arent that important for them to deal with.

[LiberalVoice]

6. God I hate this fucking country.

"You're not rushing a hill" in Iraq, he said. "You're stopping people who are civilians … who could become insurgents in a matter of seconds."