U.S. troops charged with murder of Afghan civilians

gimmesometruth27

who wants to bet these sick bastards get minimal sentences if convicted?...based on similar cases they might even get off.....

U.S. troops charged with murder of Afghan civilians
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100910/wl_ ... sa_charges

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Twelve U.S. soldiers have been charged with gruesome crimes in Afghanistan ranging from murdering civilians to keeping body parts as war trophies -- revelations that the Pentagon said on Thursday damaged America's image around the world.

The infantry soldiers from the 5th Stryker Brigade based in Washington state deployed to Kandahar province a year ago and the murders occurred between January and March, according to charges by army prosecutors made public this week.

"Allegations like this are ... very serious," Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told a news briefing.

"Clearly, even if these allegations are proved to be untrue, it is unhelpful. It does not help the perceptions of our forces around the world."

Morrell declined to comment on the specifics of the charges because the case is still in the military justice system.

Five soldiers were charged in June with the murder of three Afghan civilians in Kandahar province.

But new charges disclosed to the media on Wednesday show seven others have also been charged in the case and face accusations that include conspiracy to cover-up the crime.

An Army spokeswoman said four of the soldiers have been charged for keeping body parts, which beyond finger bones and a skull include leg bones and a human tooth. It was unclear where the remains had come from based on the charge sheets.

Morrell said the allegations had yet to be proven, but were "serious nonetheless."

"They are, I think you all would agree, an aberration in terms of the behavior of our forces, if true, around the world," he said.

"We've got 150,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now whose mission is to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people," he said. "They are risking their lives to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people.

"So I don't believe the allegations here against those few individuals are representative of the behavior or the attitudes of the entire force," Morrell said.

The charges, whether ultimately proven true or not, had already damaged the U.S. military's reputation, he said.

redrock

Well... I guess one can only wait and see if the US military justice is any better than the Israeli one.

War is war as some would say. Of course. But there are rules of engagement - it's not a 'free for all' where all goes, like so many seem to think it is.

dimitrispearljam

redrock wrote:

Well... I guess one can only wait and see if the US military justice is any better than the Israeli one.

War is war as some would say. Of course. But there are rules of engagement - it's not a 'free for all' where all goes, like so many seem to think it is.

yes,but when u wear uniform,carry a gun,its easy to play the sherrif..there is no right or wrong in war.
the solution is only one
NO WAR.....

redrock

dimitrispearljam wrote:

redrock wrote:

Well... I guess one can only wait and see if the US military justice is any better than the Israeli one.

War is war as some would say. Of course. But there are rules of engagement - it's not a 'free for all' where all goes, like so many seem to think it is.

yes,but when u wear uniform,carry a gun,its easy to play the sherrif..there is no right or wrong in war.
the solution is only one
NO WAR.....

Agree - especially for the reasons one is at war.

Play the sheriff... yep - they do that. Uniform + gun and some think they can take any liberty they want with 'the enemi'. Sad but true. No 'honour' in battle in this day and age.

appie

dimitrispearljam wrote:

redrock wrote:

Well... I guess one can only wait and see if the US military justice is any better than the Israeli one.

War is war as some would say. Of course. But there are rules of engagement - it's not a 'free for all' where all goes, like so many seem to think it is.

yes,but when u wear uniform,carry a gun,its easy to play the sherrif..there is no right or wrong in war.
the solution is only one
NO WAR.....

A world without war would be great,but as long as we are the dominant species on earth and we cant brought up solutions without picking up the guns,there will be always be a war somewhere,but killing men is always wrong,war or not.Ed has given us his opinion on het Imagion dvd and that would be a good start...

OnTheEdge

dimitrispearljam wrote:

redrock wrote:

Well... I guess one can only wait and see if the US military justice is any better than the Israeli one.

War is war as some would say. Of course. But there are rules of engagement - it's not a 'free for all' where all goes, like so many seem to think it is.

yes,but when u wear uniform,carry a gun,its easy to play the sherrif..there is no right or wrong in war.
the solution is only one
NO WAR.....

So you feel like these soldiers shouldn't be charged? I don't know about you, but i'm not so sure I want these guys wandering the streets near my house when they get home. Sad thing is, sounds like they might have gotten a few loose screws during all the battles they have had to face. Enough already.....bring em all home, except for these guys.

Godfather.

these boys are trained to kill any perceived threat to their fellow solders or them selfs and are in a war situation
99% of you have NO idea what they were up against every Day so before you pick and choose what you decide to believe in a news article try and imagine what these guys are dealing with 7/24 away from home, IED'S ,SUICIDE BOMBERS, TALI BAN what GIVES ANY OF YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM you haven't got any idea what they are going through....what happened to supporting our troops.

""We've got 150,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now whose mission is to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people," he said. "They are risking their lives to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people."

and getting shit from civilians for it :?

Godfather.

Shawshank

IF the allegations are true, and they were indeed killing civilians for sport, and collecting fingers for trophies, etc. they should be executed. Without a doubt they should pay the highest possible price for their crimes. Not only for the act itself, but also for the residual effect it could have on other soldiers that are there just doing their duty. Based on what is being reported so far, this was not like other civilian casualties that occur in the fog of war, these were cold-blooded, calculated, civilian executions just for fun.

This has nothing to do with supporting troops or not. I live near the largest military base in the world, and I know hundreds of people that serve in the military. In one of my businesses I deal directly with soldiers on a daily basis. I can tell you that not all of them are the stand-up hero types. There are scum bags in the uniform, and some of them are some of the most vile human beings I've ever known. It has nothing to do with them being trained to kill, or their war experiences. That's really no excuse. They were assholes before they joined, and they were still assholes after they put on their uniform. Nothing changed.

OnTheEdge

Godfather. wrote:

these boys are trained to kill any perceived threat to their fellow solders or them selfs and are in a war situation
99% of you have NO idea what they were up against every Day so before you pick and choose what you decide to believe in a news article try and imagine what these guys are dealing with 7/24 away from home, IED'S ,SUICIDE BOMBERS, TALI BAN what GIVES ANY OF YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM you haven't got any idea what they are going through....what happened to supporting our troops.

""We've got 150,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now whose mission is to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people," he said. "They are risking their lives to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people."

and getting shit from civilians for it :?

Godfather.

I support our troops godfather. I do not support shooting a child at close range multiple times and keeping body parts for show and tell.

UpSideDown

Godfather. wrote:

what GIVES ANY OF YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM you haven't got any idea what they are going through....what happened to supporting our troops

If they are knowingly killing innocent civilians and collecting body parts for amusement, then they won't see an ounce of support from me. These guys weren't drafted.

gimmesometruth27

Godfather. wrote:

these boys are trained to kill any perceived threat to their fellow solders or them selfs and are in a war situation
99% of you have NO idea what they were up against every Day so before you pick and choose what you decide to believe in a news article try and imagine what these guys are dealing with 7/24 away from home, IED'S ,SUICIDE BOMBERS, TALI BAN what GIVES ANY OF YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM you haven't got any idea what they are going through....what happened to supporting our troops.

""We've got 150,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now whose mission is to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people," he said. "They are risking their lives to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people."

and getting shit from civilians for it :?

Godfather.

you say whatever happened to support the troops....do you support murderers like these?

Godfather.

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

these boys are trained to kill any perceived threat to their fellow solders or them selfs and are in a war situation
99% of you have NO idea what they were up against every Day so before you pick and choose what you decide to believe in a news article try and imagine what these guys are dealing with 7/24 away from home, IED'S ,SUICIDE BOMBERS, TALI BAN what GIVES ANY OF YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM you haven't got any idea what they are going through....what happened to supporting our troops.

""We've got 150,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now whose mission is to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people," he said. "They are risking their lives to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people."

and getting shit from civilians for it :?

Godfather.

you say whatever happened to support the troops....do you support murderers like these?

no and I will not judge these guys either,arnt you one of the people that dose not trust the media ? I think we should wait to hear their story and have a better idea rather than aligations of these crimes thats all,
what did you think of the video footage on the news a while back(about 2 years ago) when the civilians in iraqe where butchering our solders in the street and dragging their dead bodies like trophys through the streets
then the media plastered it all over the tv for their familys to see, i'm not saying it's right but this war and all other have a way of changing even the most compassionate of people.. in my opinion.

Godfather.

Jason P

Shawshank wrote:

IF the allegations are true, and they were indeed killing civilians for sport, and collecting fingers for trophies, etc. they should be executed.

They should be turned over to the Iraqis for trial. Probably won't happen because it would bad press . . . or maybe not.

gimmesometruth27

Godfather. wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

these boys are trained to kill any perceived threat to their fellow solders or them selfs and are in a war situation
99% of you have NO idea what they were up against every Day so before you pick and choose what you decide to believe in a news article try and imagine what these guys are dealing with 7/24 away from home, IED'S ,SUICIDE BOMBERS, TALI BAN what GIVES ANY OF YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM you haven't got any idea what they are going through....what happened to supporting our troops.

""We've got 150,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now whose mission is to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people," he said. "They are risking their lives to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people."

and getting shit from civilians for it :?

Godfather.

you say whatever happened to support the troops....do you support murderers like these?

no and I will not judge these guys either,arnt you one of the people that dose not trust the media ? I think we should wait to hear their story and have a better idea rather than aligations of these crimes thats all,
what did you think of the video footage on the news a while back(about 2 years ago) when the civilians in iraqe where butchering our solders in the street and dragging their dead bodies like trophys through the streets
then the media plastered it all over the tv for their familys to see, i'm not saying it's right but this war and all other have a way of changing even the most compassionate of people.. in my opinion.

Godfather.

this has been reported on several news outlets all over the world, and they are pretty much facts instead of accusations at this point. you did not say if you support these murderers or not. and i do not trust my country's media....why should i have to read papers from other countries to find out the truth about things like this?? because people care more about some chick getting hit in the head with a watermelon on reality tv....

and yeah it sucks that some of our soldiers got their bodies dragged through town on tv....blame the government that put them in the position for it to happen to them...and i am sure that if your city was being occupied by a foreign invader you might want to take out a few of them, would you not? i would...

i have an easier time defending what these iraqi civillians did against an occupying force instead of what an occupying force did to afghan civillians...

dimitrispearljam

OnTheEdge wrote:

[

So you feel like these soldiers shouldn't be charged?

from what i wrote how did u understand that?when i explain i situation doesnt mean i like it or want it..

OnTheEdge

dimitrispearljam wrote:

OnTheEdge wrote:

[

So you feel like these soldiers shouldn't be charged?

from what i wrote how did u understand that?when i explain i situation doesnt mean i like it or want it..

misunderstood.sorry. it just came across to me as a defense to the post. you did say....there is no right or WRONG in war.

Godfather.

OnTheEdge wrote:

Godfather. wrote:

these boys are trained to kill any perceived threat to their fellow solders or them selfs and are in a war situation
99% of you have NO idea what they were up against every Day so before you pick and choose what you decide to believe in a news article try and imagine what these guys are dealing with 7/24 away from home, IED'S ,SUICIDE BOMBERS, TALI BAN what GIVES ANY OF YOU THE RIGHT TO JUDGE THEM you haven't got any idea what they are going through....what happened to supporting our troops.

""We've got 150,000 men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan right now whose mission is to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people," he said. "They are risking their lives to protect the Iraqi and Afghan people."

and getting shit from civilians for it :?

Godfather.

I support our troops godfather. I do not support shooting a child at close range multiple times and keeping body parts for show and tell.

I couldn't find the baby(child) killing part of the story, maybe this story is getting a little blown out of purportion... like most things on INTERNET news.

Godfather.

gimmesometruth27

Godfather. wrote:

I couldn't find the baby(child) killing part of the story, maybe this story is getting a little blown out of purportion... like most things on INTERNET news.

Godfather.

the killing kids at close range was from the other thread.

if ron burgundy said it would you believe it?

because
"if ron burgundy says it, its the truth"....

channel 4 news team

gimmesometruth27

and, i don't think cold blooded murder of civillians and taking their body parts as souvineers is "getting blown out of proportion"...

Boxes&Books

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

and, i don't think cold blooded murder of civillians and taking their body parts as souvineers is "getting blown out of proportion"...

Come on! That's being way blown out of proportion .......that's simply a keep sake.. .... .... it's really not as bad as you think.... :roll:

who could possibly defend these actions, really?

Godfather.

tonifig8 wrote:

gimmesometruth27 wrote:

and, i don't think cold blooded murder of civillians and taking their body parts as souvineers is "getting blown out of proportion"...

Come on! That's being way blown out of proportion .......that's simply a keep sake.. .... .... it's really not as bad as you think.... :roll:

who could possibly defend these actions, really?

you must be board are you here to bring up my faith in this topic.

Godfather.