Marines Charged With Murder of Innocent Iraqi Get off on Plea Bargains

[leftchick]

Justice american style. No woncer they hate us....




Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., is shown at Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, Calif., in this Oct. 13, 2006, file photo. Shumate agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges Monday, Nov. 13, 2006, in the death of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania, Iraq, according to his attorney. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15704641/#storyContinued

SAN DIEGO - Another Marine charged with kidnapping and murdering an unarmed Iraqi civilian in the town of Hamdania has agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges, his attorney said Monday. That means four of the eight U.S. troops charged have now struck plea bargains.

Steve Immel, attorney for Lance Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr., said his client would plead guilty to charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He said the original charges, including murder and kidnapping, would be dismissed.

Shumate, 21, of Matlock, Wash., is the third Marine to make a deal in the case. A Navy medic on patrol with the squad has also pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

<snip>

According to court testimony, the troops planned to kidnap and kill a known insurgent and, when they couldn’t get to him, some members of the squad went into a neighboring house and kidnapped Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52.

Prosecutors say squad members tied Awad up, put him in a hole and shot him, then placed an AK-47 in his hands and a shovel in the hole to make it appear he was an insurgent planting explosives.

:puke:

[SouthernBelle82]

1. This makes me sick

How much do you think the reason why he didn't get more charges is because they didn't want to be seen as "troop bashing"? These guys should be held accountable a long with anyone and everyone else involved. I would like to know too if any commanders or generals knew about this or if they did this on their own. No justice for those Iraqi's I guess eh? Ugh.

[UndertheOcean]

2. Shouldn't those murderers get life in prison ?

This is sickening .. :(

[leftchick]

3. they will probably be redeployed

it is the new american way. :(

[Anakin Skywalker]

4. You Are Probably Right. They Are Low on Troops.

So they will use whatever personnel they can.

[JetCityLiberal]

6. Oh lord leftchick

I fear you might be right about this....

This is an abomination. Sickening.

[Avalux]

7. Check out my post below.

x(

[Avalux]

5. About a week ago, there was a story similar to this -

a soldier was set to REDEPLOY to Iraq who had plead guilty to a lesser charge (than murder) and done some hard labor but was still on active duty! At the last minute they decided maybe it wasn't a good idea to send him back. I can't believe some of this shit.

[leftchick]

8. Yes indeed, this guy.....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/11/03/iraq.cardona/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. commanders have blocked the redeployment to Iraq of a soldier court-martialed for using dogs to threaten and harass detainees at Abu Ghraib prison, the Army said Friday.

Sgt. Santos Cardona will be returned to the United States for reassignment, the Army announced.

Cardona left Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on Monday with his unit, the 23rd Military Police Company, for Kuwait en route to Iraq.

But after media inquiries, Army commanders announced they would not send Cardona because the publicity surrounding his conviction could make him and his fellow soldiers a target for insurgents.

Cardona will return from Kuwait to Fort Bragg, where he will be given unspecified new duties that enable him "to be a productive member of the military police corps and the United States Army," the Army said in a statement.




....Why is no one asking why the fuck this guy was not discharged? And yet they court marshal COs. Unfuckingbelievable!!!!!

[Avalux]

11. That's him - thanks.

I cannot believe this guy isn't in jail - still on active duty, still cop. Geez.

[dubykc]

16. Because they need all the cannon fodder they can get!...

It's that simple.

[AlamoDemoc]

9. "Support the Troops" has now different meaning....

I guess keeping them there would mean we support them for their genocidal, murderous, rape and humiliation of the Iraqi people!!!

[Xithras]

10. What was his role in the shooting?

As I understand it, some of the people in the squad may have believed that Awad actually was the insurgent they were looking for and didn't learn the truth of it until afterward. I can understand a plea deal for them, because building an effective case against someone who thought they were taking out an enemy fighter would be very tough. I can also understand the plea for the medic, who apparently didn't participate in the kidnapping or killing at all and who tried to stop it more than once. He will be punished, but only for his part in the coverup. That's how our justice system SHOULD work people, taking into account the roles of the individuals in the crime and punishing them accordingly.

What I want to see are the punishments meted out for the Marines who knowingly grabbed the guy and participated in his execution KNOWING that he was innocent. Everyone in the squad should be punished for their roles in the crime, but the most serious charges should rightfully be reserved for those who grabbed, executed, and then staged the coverup. Those are Hutchins, Thomas, and Pennington. If I had to guess, I'd bet that the main term of these plea bargains is a requirement that the soldiers testify against the three who organized and executed the operation.

[leftchick]

12. I am confused

I thought people you believed were the enemy were grabbed and put in jail to stand trial. Not Executed on the spot, Innocent or not. At least it used to be that way in the olden days.

:puke:

[MadMaddie]

13. That is why the * cabal will held accountable for incidents like

this...by gutting our participation in the Geneva Conventions shit like this happens..They will go in front of the Hague....

Remember the * Cabal said that the Geneva Convention which stood during WWII and Vietnam weren't applicable to 2006......they were wrong....and what they have done is they have opened the door for our soldiers to be murdered, tortured and placed in detention without representation.....

The Dems have to get this straightened out to show the world that we do abide by the laws of the Geneva Convention

[Xithras]

18. Yes and no.

What status do you give the insurgents? If they're simply criminals, they must be arrested and tried. If you grant them the rights of the Geneva Convention and declare them to be soldiers in a guerilla war, they only get protections if they surrender. An enemy soldier who refuses to surrender is fair game in a combat zone.

[leftchick]

19. the "insurgents"are Iraqis

our "friends" we "liberated". Explain that little conundrum to me.

[Xithras]

20. Ironic, but it doesn't change the point. n/t

[Selatius]

14. If an American citizen had done the same thing in the US, he'd get the death penalty

If this person were a minority, then he would have an even higher probability of getting the death penalty.

[Jcrowley]

15. Appalling

This story says alot. Rogue nation cannot be held accountable in the macro so rogue individuals get off in the micro.

[madmusic]

17. Do away with plea bargaining in exchange for snitching.

That's not justice.