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| Iraq |
| US soldier gets life for murder of Iraq inmates |
| 2009-04-17 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] A senior U.S. soldier was jailed for life Thursday for the murder of four bound and blindfolded prisoners in Iraq two years ago, a court martial here said. Four Iraqi detainees, unarmed, handcuffed and blindfolded, were shot dead near a canal in Baghdad in March or April 2007. Four soldiers have already been convicted of crimes linked to their involvement in the incident. U.S. Master Sergeant John E. Hatley was also found guilty Wednesday of conspiracy to kill the unidentified men, but was acquitted of a fifth charge of premeditated murder and of obstruction of justice. He will be eligible for parole in 20 years, Hatley's defence lawyer David Court said Thursday. During the sentencing hearing, 40-year-old Hatley told an eight-man army panel that he respected their findings but recounted the stress of dealing with mounting American casualties at the hands of insurgents. "I understand your decision," he said. "I'm not perfect, I ain't no angel" the sergeant said, fighting back tears as he spoke of cleaning or "policing up the pieces of our soldiers" and friends following bomb and sniper attacks. Hatley was the highest ranking of three soldiers tried for killing the prisoners, who were shot "execution style," according to army prosecutors. The bodies, which witnesses said were dumped into a canal, were never found. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #10 Thank you, dear Besoeker. Daddy actually had a bad heart condition predating his marriage to my mother, so he'd assumed he wouldn't see his children graduate high school. He overshot by a bit, which brings us comfort. In the next few days I'm going to ask one of the O Club regulars who knows how to do such things to post a photo I have of Daddy's medals from Israel and his stint in the British Army. If you'd poke your head in and see if you recognize any of them, I'd be grateful -- Mama hasn't a clue, because he somehow managed never to really tell the stories about them. |
| Posted by: trailing wife in Buffalo 2009-04-17 23:40 |
| #9 Sorry to hear of your father's passing TW. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-04-17 22:15 |
| #8 Sometimes when I dear the person, it is because I'm terribly fond of him or her, 49 Pan -- truly! I dear Mr. Wife and the various trailing and temporary daughters all the time... and mostly they aren't in any sort of trouble at all. Separately, I think we've got things in order for my mother, well enough that I'm comfortable about heading home tomorrow. She is taking Daddy's death pretty well at this point, but we did celebrate his 90th birthday a few days before he died, and had clearly been declining for some time. My mother is a tiny whisp of a woman who loves the beautiful things in life, but tough as nails where it matters. |
| Posted by: trailing wife in Buffalo 2009-04-17 17:56 |
| #7 That we find this man guilty speaks volumes. The armies he was fighting would have considered such an act honorable. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2009-04-17 15:59 |
| #6 Yes she did, and she used that "dear" word again! We hope your doing well TW. P4K you should be very carefull of your shameless smears on our soldiers. They have defended your freedom, wherever you are, so you can be a POS and spout false statements about America's finest. This soldier committed a crime, the US military has no patience for people like this and justice was served. You on the other hand slander our great Americans while hiding behind your silly name. Grow up. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2009-04-17 14:55 |
| #5 Hey there, Play4Keeps, it looks like a girl (trailing wife in Buffalo) just, unsurprisingly, kicked your a$$! |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2009-04-17 13:03 |
| #4 There is no other country in the world fighting as big of a war as the U.S. is One would think the other countries would be ashamed to let the U.S. and Israel -- and Britain, France, the Netherlands, Canada, Poland, and a few others on a smaller scale -- fight the world's battles, while the rest lounge about ordering yet another pot of hot cocoa with extra whipped cream and those lovely little cream cakes that Cook does so well, losing muscle tone and adding another few rolls of fat round the middle. And yet, as you prove so thoroughly, dear Play4Keeps, their indolence is exceeded only by their ignorance. Perhaps when you can actually do a few push-up and sit-ups, and walk to the end of the drive without stopping to catch you breath, you will be capable of researching the opinions you parrot so smugly, and learn the difference between fact and fiction. I shan't hold my breath, though. |
| Posted by: trailing wife in Buffalo 2009-04-17 10:06 |
| #3 The American forces are one of the very few in all of history who clean their own house. As this clearly demonstrates. Are the Russians pursuing crimes committed by their personnel in Georgia? Are Serbs, Croats, Bosnians pursuing their own for crimes in the Balkans? How about the Sudanese for their crimes in Dafur? Did Saddam prosecute his people for crimes committed by his uniformed enforcers during his reign? Where's the outrage? /rhetorical question. Sorry, dude, move your guilt game along to your echo chamber. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-04-17 08:33 |
| #2 the U.S. and Israel are the only armies killing hundreds of thousands of civilians Why you litter troll, we killing millions not your pussified thousands. Hell the Coast Guard kills 20,000 before noon every damn day - and that's just in the Bermuda sector. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2009-04-17 07:31 |
| #1 There is no other country in the world fighting as big of a war as the U.S. is, I mean what would anothercountry's soldiers be put on trial for? Being late to an assignment? the point is the U.S. and Israel are the only armies killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, therefore they should be made responsible. |
| Posted by: Play4Keeps 2009-04-17 06:12 |