And they face the dealth penalty:
The military on Wednesday charged seven Marines and a Navy corpsman with premeditated murder and other crimes in the April 26 killing of an Iraqi civilian in a village west of Baghdad, the U.S. Marine Corps said on Wednesday.All eight men face the possibility of the death penalty if convicted. They were charged with premeditated murder, larceny, conspiracy, housebreaking, making false official statements, assault, kidnapping and obstruction of justice.
“The Marine Corps takes allegations of wrongdoing by Marines very seriously and is committed to thoroughly investigating such allegations. The Marine Corps also prides itself on holding its members accountable for their actions,” Col. Stewart Navarre told reporters at Camp Pendleton, California.
As I mentioned in an earlier post the death penalty is highly unlikely even if (that’s a big if) the soldiers are convicted.
Michelle Malkin links some of the soldier’s family members:
Pfc. John Jodka
Marine Corps wife
Navy corpsman’s wife
Stop the ACLU asks:
Now that they have been charged, who thinks the ACLU will be defending them? Maybe if they convert to Islam, and become conscientious objectors the ACLU might get interested. Tell me again why they are called “American” Civil Liberties Union.
The folks at Democratic Underground are piling on as expected:
Does this answer the question about how many marines does it take to murder an Iraqi civilian?
Greg at Rhymes with Right makes an important point about these charges:
I do not begin to claim knowledge of the truth of these charges. I do, however, have faith in the system under which they have been charged and under which they will be tried. It works — I’ve seen it work.There are those out there who are kicking up a fuss about these charges, claiming that they should not have been brought and that American servicement should not be punished for any action they commit in the theater of war. That goes against every American tradition — and would make us no better than the jihadis we fight. We punish those of our troops who commit inhuman acts against the laws of war and civilized society — it is our jihadi enemy who glorifies and rewards such barbarism.
I think a lot of patriotic Americans will agree with Greg. It’s the rush to judgement and politicization of these events, especially by fellow Americans, that really irks so many of us. I hope that these men are ultimately found to be innocent but most importantly justice must prevail.
I’ll be following this closely.
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June 22nd, 2006 at 4:38 am
Troops Charged –A Proper Decision
It pains me to type those words. Having grown up in a military family, I would like to believe that each and every soldier is a hero in uniform, flawlessly following the rules and orders laid out for them. But…
June 22nd, 2006 at 9:52 pm
My thoughts are here. As far as I am concerned, the boys get the benefit of the doubt until and unless there is compelling and overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
http://www.captainsjournal.com/2006/06/22/the-camp-pendleton-8/