Bury Me Broken

Officer to serve no jail time for Iraqi general's death

From USA Today:

A military jury recommended a simple reprimand Monday for an Army officer who killed an Iraqi general by stuffing him headfirst into a sleeping bag and sitting on his chest during an interrogation.

Welshofer, 43, was charged with murder, but was convicted over the weekend of negligent homicide and negligent dereliction of duty that carried a penalty of up to three years and three months in prison, a dishonorable discharge, loss of pension and other penalties.

The murder charge carried a potential sentence of life in prison. Instead, Welshofer faces no jail time, the forfeiture of $6,000 in salary and what amounts largely to a restriction to his barracks for 60 days.

Every unfortunate incident after unfortunate incident after unfortunate incident that has occurred during the Bush administration is like a quilt whose pieces are interconnected and whose consequences are far reaching, slowly suffocating Lady Liberty just as that sleeping bag suffocated and snuffed out the life of the Iraqi being interrogated.

The disdain for the Clinton administration led to the Bush administration beginning the first term without regard to the warnings of the gravity of the Osama bin Laden security threat. Secy of Defense Rumsfeld a mere five hours after Flight 77 hit the Pentagon was calling for plans to strike Iraq. Without regard to conclusive intelligence, Bush spoke those 16 words his state of the union which made U.S. citizens and the world believe that Saddam Hussein was attempting to purchase materials to make nuclear weapons. Without regard for the international community as well as domestic protest, we launched the war in Iraq while Hans Blix and Mohammed El Baradei were conducting inspections of hundreds of sites for weapons of mass destruction and finding nothing. Without regard for international law and Geneva Conventions, we hold prisoners of 'war' as 'enemy combatants.'

Our rationale for not participating in the International Criminal Court according to Ari Fleischer:

"[President Bush] thinks the ICC is fundamentally flawed because it puts American servicemen and women at fundamental risk of being tried by an entity that is beyond America's reach, beyond America's laws, and can subject American civilian and military to arbitrary standards of justice."

Without regard to the citizens of other nations, guilty or innocent, we will not afford them the same standard as we demand for Americans.

Without regard for international law, we (Atty General Gonzalez) created justifications for torturing prisoners. Without regard for the correct positions of those that opposed the war and with zero humility, we demand the international community get involved by committing troops to be slaughtered because it is in 'everyone's best interest.' Without regard to international perspective or goodwill, some of our radio station djs and TV pundits dismiss the horrendous pictures of Abu Ghraib torture, likened it to college pranks and politicized it saying too much was being made of it.

Without regard to the life of Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush, a U.S. soldier was sentenced to forfeiture of pay and restriction to barracks for 60 days. Without regard to the already sunken international diplomacy, goodwill and trust of the United States by many nations, both their citizens and their governments, for the causing of the death of a prisoner, a U.S. soldier was sentenced to forfeiture of pay and restriction to barracks for 60 days.

I want to rant about the hypocrisy of the 'sanctity of life' in this country but it won't bring back that man's life. I want to rant about the hypocrisy of the sentence amidst a nation that has 'mandatory minimum' sentencing but it won't bring back that man's life.

Six degrees of arrogance. Six degrees of necon, ivory-tower, failed policy. Six degrees of injustice. Six degrees of Bush, suffocating Lady Liberty.

posted by niteskolar @ 5:46 AM