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Haditha massacre - Marine Sergant sentenced for..

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alstein

Member
A maximum of three months , and two-thirds forfeiture of pay!!

The military plea bargains work is that you agree to the punishment when you agree to plead guilty. The judge can go under it but not over. Slight difference from civilian trials in the US- where you plead to the charge and the judge can go up to the max on that charge.
 

SyNapSe

Member
How can you plead guilty to those charges and not be discharged?
It's all pretty disgusting but I suppose it's a part of war. We can't admit that thousands come home with PTSD and not assume that there are people out there on the verge of snapping.
 

TheSeks

Blinded by the luminous glory that is David Bowie's physical manifestation.
The military plea bargains work is that you agree to the punishment when you agree to plead guilty. The judge can go under it but not over. Slight difference from civilian trials in the US- where you plead to the charge and the judge can go up to the max on that charge.

WTF!? Someone screwed up the rules here for that.

My he looks pretty happy at that result.

Why wouldn't he be? This is nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Disgusting result, the theory is that the prosecution fucked up.

I don't get how you can justify shooting blindly into several houses when none of your squad was even shot at. The only casualties were from the IED. Everybody they actually shot at was innocent.

To play Devil's Advocate: When that bomb went off, they were in a "combat situation," and didn't know if they were going to be fired upon. Generally, you check you'd check your target(s) to make sure they were enemy combatants, but I think in the rush/confusion of the IED going off they just went into "shoot first, ask questions later" mode.

Unfortunate, but I can understand the defense's reasoning behind it. I don't think you'd simply go "oh, a bomb went off and killed a squad-mate. Maybe we should see if anyone in these houses is a friendly..." first in that situation. And you going "oh, I totally would!" is a hind-sight-20/20 thing.
 

alstein

Member
How can you plead guilty to those charges and not be discharged?
It's all pretty disgusting but I suppose it's a part of war. We can't admit that thousands come home with PTSD and not assume that there are people out there on the verge of snapping.

If you get demoted from an E-6 to an E-1, you're not staying in. He's out, with a bad discharge that will at least haunt him some the rest of his life, and he loses most of his benefits.
 
If you get demoted from an E-6 to an E-1, you're not staying in. He's out, with a bad discharge that will at least haunt him some the rest of his life, and he loses most of his benefits.

He should be losing his freedom too if he's guilty.
The outside world would probably laugh if it weren't so unfunny and obvious that the coalition forces in Iraq have corrupted themselves beyond reproach with things like this. I don't mean the actual event, sometimes horrible shit happens in war... but defending them and cutting a deal that sees him only get three months...

It's just fucking sad.
 

jaxword

Member
What happened to those Blackwater guys who did essentially the same? I remember them being charged but not sentenced.

I'm more reminded of the Mahmudiyah killings, where US Soldiers rape, kill and then burn the family's bodies to cover it up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_killings

One gets life, the others mostly get 10 years or less. Some of them will be out in 6 years.

There's a reason why the rest of the world hates us, and it's because of travesties of justice like this.
 
I'm more reminded of the Mahmudiyah killings, where US Soldiers rape, kill and then burn the family's bodies to cover it up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_killings

One gets life, the others mostly get 10 years or less. Some of them will be out in 6 years.

There's a reason why the rest of the world hates us, and it's because of travesties of justice like this.

You are looking at the dates they are eligible for parole, not with their actual sentences.
 

Mohonky

Member
No one caught the film Battle for Haditha then? Go get it, its on dvd and BD.


Problem is command approved their actions then washed their hands of the incident later. The other problem is this is exactly the sort of reaction these asshats wants. They'll sacrifice the lives of their own people to continue fuelling the hatred.

Clusterfuck all round.
 
That doesn't lessen the disgust in the slightest.

It should because you are getting upset over a prison sentence that may or may not be that length. It is obvious that there were differences between the men convicted since some were not allowed parole at that length or at all.
 

jaxword

Member
It should because you are getting upset over a prison sentence that may or may not be that length. It is obvious that there were differences between the men convicted since some were not allowed parole at that length or at all.

In my original post I made allowances for the differences in some of the sentencing.

Secondly, the possibility of parole AT ALL in 10 years after committing rape and murder should disgust you.
 
Hmmm... a bit different reactions from certain members, whom I swear have claimed one needs absolute, definite proof for each individual to convict such people (for life in prison/death penalty)... though I'm not surprised.
 

Helscream

Banned
After reading the OP I can't help but think of Metallica's ".....and Justice for All". Even though the song was more directed to internal issues in America's judicial branch of government. The song did a great job about describing its corruption. I don't like to make broad generalization's. But the more I read about this kind of shit the more I wonder if the definition of Honor has been lost.
 

YoungHav

Banned
I am moving the fuck out of NYC within a few years. I don't want to be around when the U.S. feels the blowback from their actions of the past decade. I was in Times Square when that stupid asshole with a van tried to blow it up.
 

tafer

Member
I am moving the fuck out of NYC within a few years. I don't want to be around when the U.S. feels the blowback from their actions of the past decade. I was in Times Square when that stupid asshole with a van tried to blow it up.

... past decade, seriously?

UPDATE: the guy is not going to prison:
Although the reduced charge carried a maximum sentence of three months in jail, which the military judge said he would have imposed, The Associated Press reported that as part of the plea deal, prosecutors had agreed that Sergeant Wuterich would receive no jail time. He had faced up to 152 years in prison if convicted on the charges of manslaughter and assault on which he stood accused.

More at: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/w...er-haditha-killings.html?_r=1&ref=global-home
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2017324181_haditha25.html
 

YoungHav

Banned
LOL. Just counting from the 9/11 victim card shit the U.S. has been pulling. Now that more people feel we don't belong in the Middle East I wonder if they will be more understanding when blowback hits, or will it be America the innocent all over again?
 

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
All this in a war we never should have fought.

1030-02.jpg
 

lexi

Banned
And Bradley Manning will be lucky to get away with less than 30 years, Nobody died as a result of his actions.
 

Zzoram

Member
Iraq made a stand, they refuse to allow US troops to stay in their country without being subject to their laws, specifically because of incidents like this where US soldiers commit war crimes then walk free. That's why the US is leaving Iraq, and why the GOP wants to re-invade Iraq already.
 

DarkKyo

Member
Man, should at the very fucking least kick him out of the goddamn military. Guys like that just give others a bad rep.

He killed 24 innocents. He should be dishonorably discharged and then put to death.

The US' idea of justice is so fucking laughable. Some people who are caught selling weed get more time than this piece of shit.
 

Kisaya

Member
This story is so fucked up, its a shame that the people who have suffered from this have to deal with this result. These marines are really an embarrassment to Americans.
 
Hopefully when he comes back home after his sentence and he'll be seen as the murderer he is as opposed to a hero. People can't let him forget that shit, even if his government is glad to.
 
Haditha residents react to the news

“There are orphans, widows and old people who are still suffering and hurting. Isn’t Iraqi blood worth the same as American blood?”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...residents-outraged-as-Marine-avoids-jail.html

I don't think anybody on this planet should be mistaken that US military believes the blood of foreign nationals is same as the blood of US military personnel.

What a joke of a military justice system. This is why the military should not be in charge of any prosecutions. It runs like an old boys club.
 
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