Bush becomes the first U.S. president in 51 years to make this shocking decision.
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Recommend this post Bush becomes the first U.S. president in 51 years to make this shocking decision.
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Be still me heart!
ReplyDeleteI can't say that I feel sorry for a man who committed four murders and eight rapes, but with all of the wrongful conviction issues these days, who knows?
Fish, I have added very little. That is how the news appeared.
ReplyDeleteYes this guy committed horrendous crimes and deserves the punishment. However, I will make two points.
1) You take a young person train him/her how to kill then some are going to do this to their own people if there is no other outlet. Especially you train deranged people. I have read media stories that Bush Administration have let go some hardened criminals and sent them to Iraq as soldiers.
2) There were soldiers in Iraq who broke into a family home. Raped a very young girl repeatedly and then killed her, her mother and siblings. Now if there is justice then these bastards must be hung too. Why? Were these people not humans whose lives were taken after raping a very young girl?
You make some good points Ledaro, but he committed those crimes on U.S. soil during peace time! You can blame the U.S government for a lot of things, but the crimes of private Grey can be attributed only to him. I don't think the army is to blame here.
ReplyDeleteIf the American military is so desperate that they're sending psychos to war then it appears that someone out there has seen "The Dirty Dozen" one too many times. (In fairness it is an awesome movie, but not something I would recomend trying in reality!)There will of course be consequences.
As for the other soldiers in Iraq, I don't purport to know the details of that case, but let's say that it happened exactly as you are describing it, and that there are no other significant details. In that case, I could be persuaded that an injustice had been done to the Iraqi victims, but that's no reason to commit another injustice against private Grey's victims.
Having said that, I want to make it very clear that I'm against the death penalty. I don't really have a problem with killing someone who has committed a crime so terrible that no other penalty will suffice, I'm just not convinced that we always catch the right people. Just ask Stephen Truscott!
Fish, we agree then. I am against death penalty too. However, given the crimes of this individual, I am at a loss.
ReplyDeleteIraq case? It was on CNN for days. First US army tried to hide and said it was during a confrontation. Then someone came forward and said that the attack was completely unprovoked and there was no enemy in sight. Of course, the guilty parties admitted the crime. I understand these people are in jail pending some decision by some military court. I will doubt that these people will receive death penalty because the victims were Iraqis - we cannot preach justice to others if our own actions are so horrendous.
lol
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have me at a disadvantage! I've been living in a cave for the last several months dealing with school, bar exams, etc.
I seem to remember having heard about it, but then I wasn't sure if it was the same case or if there had been several. It would deffinately not surprise me to hear that this was not an isolated incident. This is the kind of tragedy that happens all too frequently in warzones.
At any rate, I'm sure we can agree that the accused in this case deserve to be judged based on the circumstances of the case. Since I don't have all the facts, I can't comment intelligently on what that sentence is.
Who knows what their side of the story may reveal? For example, if the court was convinced that the soldiers in question had been suffering from severe PTSD, perhaps the death penalty might be too severe of a punishment.
I mean, that is the point of putting these soldiers on trial... isn't it?
Fish, first I wish you well for your bar exams. I am sure you will do well.
ReplyDeleteI am concerned about PTSD excuse. In the past people got away with murder using drunkenness as an excuse. This excuse could apply to this soldier too if he served overseas such as South Korea. Then recruiter may not have checked his mental problems. Some others may have liability here too.
Anyway I think basically we agree with each other.
Yup, it looks like we're pretty much in agreement here. And thanks for the kind words! I got my bar exam results back a few weeks ago and I passed them both!
ReplyDeleteThere is one last thing I'd like to make clear though. I wasn't trying to suggest that PTSD could in some way "excuse" what those soldiers did, merely that it could POSSIBLY make the difference between a life sentence and the death penalty. And even then I was talking about a severe case.
I don't know enough about PTSD to argue as to whether or not it could warrant an acquittal. Maybe it could or maybe it could not, obviously we would have to consult the appropriate professionals. I do think that it's fair to say that it could be an issue that might have an impact on sentencing.