One year? ONE YEAR?

[KrazyRabidSheep]

Amazing. A country where murder is worth one year, while three puffs is worth life.
__________________________________________________ ___________________

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4175563.stm

US soldier jailed for Iraq murder

A US soldier has been jailed for a year for the murder of a severely wounded 16-year-old Iraqi.

Staff Sgt Cardenas Alban was convicted on one count of murder and one count of conspiracy to murder at a court martialin Baghdad.

Besides his jail term, Alban was sentenced to a reduction in rank to private and discharged.

He is the second American soldier to be court martialled over the incident in the Iraqi capital's Sadr City district.

Staff Sgt Johnny Horne was sentenced last month to three years in jail, a reduction in rank and discharge from the military after pleading guilty to the same charges.

'Out of his misery'

The charges date back to 18 August last year when US-led forces were locked in fighting with supporters of radical Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr.

Horne's trial heard that a US army patrol fired on a rubbish truck they suspected of laying roadside bombs in Sadr City.

However, inside the lorry was a crew of teenage boys hoping to make some extra money on a night shift.

The soldiers tried to rescue one of the injured youths, according to witness testimony.

Several witnesses described the injured Iraqi as having severe abdominal wounds and burns.

Some thought the casualty was beyond medical help, and witnesses say Horne shot and killed him.

The US soldiers decided that "the best course of action was to put [the Iraqi] out of his misery", a criminal investigator told the court.

Abu Ghraib trials

This is one of several trials in which American soldiers are accused of killing or abusing Iraqi civilians.

They include those of US military police reservists charged with abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib jail near Baghdad.

The charges came amid international outrage at the publication of photographs showing naked, hooded and bound prisoners being taunted and humiliated.

[FriedFrog]

Hmm. This is a difficult one, im my opinion.

I'm not saying I condone with what he did, but you have to put yourself in the situation of a soldier.

If you're best friend was shot and injured "Beyond medical help" ie, he would suffer and die if you just left him, would you end his pain before the suffering?

But, to give the other side to this arguament, a year in prison is not nearly long enough if this was proven to be murder. If he was'nt Staff Sergeant and just a Private, I bet the term would have been longer.

[Rage Against the Right]

I agree it's ahrd to investigate anything when it happened during a war.

[Latifa]

Its a tough call. I wouldn't exlude the possibility the kid was shot for 'sport' though.

[bolshevik butcher]

yeah, this is a hard one, I can see the argument that the guy was just putting him out of his misery.

[KrazyRabidSheep]

As I see it, whether or not it was a mercy killing has nothing to do with the issue.

He WAS found guilty. . .of murder.

Whether or not it was, is a different issue entirely.

What THIS issue is:

1. The soldier was found guilty
2. The soldier was sentenced for one year
and
3. A one year sentence hardly compensates for a murder. Really, does it even come close?

I know that men walk free after 10 years with parole, while others are sentenced to death. Consistancy leaves much to be desired, but does anyone here honestly believe that one year is enough for murder?

therefore:
4. The death of an Iraqi is seen as less then that of an American.

We've all realized this, but is has now been decreed so in court.

therefore:
5. Iraqis are seen as sub-human.

It is a worse offense to be found guilty of:
possesion on drugs, theft of an automobile, breaking and entering, etc.,

then to be found guilty of:
murder of an Iraqi kid

[Commie-K]

Very true, krazyrabidsheep. But seriously though, is it really a surprise that our judicial system is unfair and prejudice? It's definitely happened before Iraq. It's sad when we come to EXPECT these kind of problems. If it was another American, this soldier would have recieved a real sentence. I think the 'Iraqis being less than Americans' point is pretty well illustrated by the fact that I have only once, in the entire duration of the war, seen a report about Iraqi deaths. Just about every day I recieved an update about how it is tragic that 1,000 US soldiers are now dead ( don't get me wrong, it is sad ), but that is far less severe than the reported ( one time ) 12,000+ Iraqi deaths. Obviously, they are of little concern to our country. Peculiar, isn't it, how we don't care whether the people we are 'freeing and liberating' die for illegitimate reasons or not. But who cares, right? They're Iraqis afterall; they are less than us, remember? Seriously people, come to the realization of what we are doing. I honestly don't see how this country's citizens are oblivious to this stuff. WAKE UP.