Disgraceful: Shorter sentences handed down in criminal cases arising out of Iraq

[cali]

This is the first I've read of this, and it makes me furious. Read the whole article. Here's the snip:

U.S. service members convicted of unlawful killings of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving far shorter sentences than those handed down for similar crimes committed by troops during the Vietnam War, according to a military justice expert.

At least 21 American troops have been convicted of various offenses in cases linked to the deaths of Iraqi civilians since 2003, but the vast majority are receiving light sentences, with some getting no jail time at all, according to a recent analysis by Gary Solis, a retired Marine legal officer who now teaches military law at Georgetown University.

The sentences seem out of sync with those seen by Marines convicted of killing Vietnamese noncombatants, said Solis, who penned the Marine Corps' official history of military justice in the Vietnam War. Of the 27 Marines who were convicted of unlawfully killing Vietnamese civilians, 15 were handed life sentences. An additional three Marines got sentences of more than 20 years, and two others were sentenced to 10 years.


The longest sentence served by any of those Marines convicted was 12 years and one month, according to Solis' research.


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http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/12/03/news/top_stories/21_55_2112_2_06.txt