soldier pleas guilty to murder (punishment, creation, America, service)

[robtex]

"James Barker agreed to the plea deal at the start of his court-martial in the US to avoid the death penalty, his civilian lawyer said."

cnn news reports:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6152118.stm

How do you feel about stories like these? Should the soliders be held to the crimminal laws of the USA or Iraq in times of war and if so should the penalities be different or the same as comparied to civilians who commit the same crimes? Should a trial for the death of Iraq citizens by foreign servicemen be conducted in Iraq or the USA ?

[Ozzie]

Originally Posted by robtex

"James Barker agreed to the plea deal at the start of his court-martial in the US to avoid the death penalty, his civilian lawyer said."

cnn news reports:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6152118.stm

How do you feel about stories like these? Should the soliders be held to the crimminal laws of the USA or Iraq in times of war and if so should the penalities be different or the same as comparied to civilians who commit the same crimes? Should a trial for the death of Iraq citizens by foreign servicemen be conducted in Iraq or the USA ?

Crimes committed by US servicemen ought to be tried in an international court. I do not see why US servicemen should be held accountable only in an American jurisdiction. I believe the US system is wonderful and penalties severe etc. But opting out of international arrangements has allowed the creation of Guantanamo Bay, not such a wonderful flipside.

[robtex]

Originally Posted by Ozzie

Crimes committed by US servicemen ought to be tried in an international court. I do not see why US servicemen should be held accountable only in an American jurisdiction. I believe the US system is wonderful and penalties severe etc. But opting out of international arrangements has allowed the creation of Guantanamo Bay, not such a wonderful flipside.

Ozzie that is an interesting proposition. You mean tried by say a UN court or such? If convicted where would the convict serve time (as the UN or international court would very unlikey have a death penalty) and would any members of the host country, in this case Iraq be involved in such a process?

[Ozzie]

UN courts would not work. But countries party to an international process could be signatories to a treaty authorising trial process on war crimes. I see no reason why punishments should not be those of the state the defendent represents at the time of committing the crime and it should be served/carried out there. If the death penalty is the result, this is a domestic matter. The defendent as a citizen of the said country has an opportunity to change this state of affairs by influencing public opinion at home. I do not see countries without modern independent legal systems where law reform is possible being willing signatories to a treaty arrangement that would reform trial process for war crimes within an international framework.

[GloriaPatri]

Originally Posted by Ozzie

Crimes committed by US servicemen ought to be tried in an international court. I do not see why US servicemen should be held accountable only in an American jurisdiction. I believe the US system is wonderful and penalties severe etc. But opting out of international arrangements has allowed the creation of Guantanamo Bay, not such a wonderful flipside.

That's a terrible idea. The US should never concede authority to some international organization.

[Rejected]

I saw this yesterday, but didn't bring it up. I knew it would make its way here sooner or later.

Anyway...

I believe that the US legal system, particularly the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) is more than capable of handling the matter. If he were a civilian I would say let the Government of the victim handle things, but since he was acting as a representative of the US then the US should handle it. However, I don't see any reason why the Iraq Govt. shouldn't be able to go after the US Govt. for issues like this. But I’m not exactly a Foreign Policy expert so I'm going to go ahead and make my ignorance known.

[Pardus]

In which country did these crimes take place?

I think it's a matter of jurisdiction.

[Rejected]

It happened in Iraq
Here's a link. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/16/ira....ap/index.html

[Rejected]

Bear in mind that these guys if (when) convicted will be spending the rest of their lives not in a federal penal institute, but in military prison, which is much, much worse.

[Pardus]

rhetorical question