Crime and Punishment in War Zone

[earth_as_one]

Human behavior in a war zone cannot be judged by the same standard as in a peace zone. Soldiers cannot second guess themselves or they wind up dead. No soldier should fear serving their country with honor and distinction. They should fear dishonor.

A soldier's actions must be judged according to a strict military code. A military tribunal should consist of experienced, objective veterans. In the case of international wars, juries should also be international.

Sentence should be based on degree of dishonor resulting from factors like malicious intent, negligence, incompetence...

Cases before military tribunals:

US soldier admits killing family after raping girl

[FONT=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]· Body of 14-year-old was burned to conceal atrocity
· Defendant pleads guilty to avoid death penalty[/FONT]

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday November 16, 2006
The Guardian

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[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]An Iraqi ID card issued in 1993 to Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. US specialist soldier James Barker has pleaded guilty to taking part in her rape and the murder of her family in March this year, when she was 14. Photograph: Reuters
[/FONT]

An American soldier yesterday pleaded guilty to the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of three members of her family in a village near Baghdad in March in one of the most brutal examples of attacks on civilians in Iraq.


The soldier, Specialist James Barker, also agreed to testify against three other accused soldiers. He agreed to the plea in return for a guarantee that he would not face the death penalty, his lawyers said.
The murders took place on March 12 in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Baghdad. Prosecutors allege that five soldiers stationed at a checkpoint there raped the girl, Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, then burned her body to hide the evidence, and killed her father, mother and six-year-old sister...

Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1948755,00.html

U.S. Marine urinated on dead Haditha victim5/10/2007



A U.S. Marine involved in the 2005 Haditha massacre, in which more than 24 unarmed Iraqis were murdered by American troops, admitted that he urinated on the body of one of the civilians killed by his comrades.

Sgt. Sanick Dela Cruz, who has immunity from prosecution after murder charges against him were dropped, also said he watched his squad leader shoot dead five Iraqi civilians who were trying to surrender.
He was speaking at a hearing for one of four officers charged with dereliction of duty for failing to report and investigate the Haditha massacre, which took place on 19 November 2005...

Aljazeera
http://english.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_id=13363

Few soldiers approve the above alleged behavior. Malicious intent, incompetence and negligence appear to be factors in these cases.

If these soldiers are judged guilty, an appropriate sentence might be community service... as directed by Mahmoudiya and Haditha's civilian leadership.

 

[Cobalt_Kid]

Community service for rape and murder? Seems a tad on the lenient side.

The criminal behaviour of American soldiers in the last few years is indicative of a force in crisis. Many of its best and most experienced members have left due to the Iraq war and the standards have been lowered to maintain personel levels.

Instead of trying individuals for crimes in combat zones maybe it would be best to start laying charges on their political leaders. Putting Sec Def Gates or even Bush on trial would soon end this disgraceful behaviour.

 

[earth_as_one]

If these soldiers are judged guilty, an appropriate sentence might be community service... as directed by Mahmoudiya and Haditha's civilian leadership.

I imagine the leaders of these towns where the events took place would be creative...