The Iraq thread 4

[Balschoiw 0]

Another "funny" sentence :

Marine gets 18 months in Iraqi's death

Quote[/b] ]CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine private who pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the killing of an innocent Iraqi civilian was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in custody. "You have a very fortuitous pretrial agreement," the judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, told Pfc. John J. Jodka III.

Jodka III was part of a squad of seven Marines and a Navy corpsman accused of kidnapping 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad in the town of Hamdania, taking him to a roadside hole, shooting him and then trying to cover up the incident.

The military judge wanted to hand down a five-year punishment, but was bound by the terms of the plea deal. Prosecutors had sought 11 years.

As part of a plea deal, Jodka pleaded guilty Oct. 27 to charges of assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice, and prosecutors dropped other charges including murder and kidnapping. The deal required Jodka to testify. The judge said that if Jodka cooperates, he can receive a general discharge.

"I decided to plead guilty because in the end it was the right thing to do," Jodka said. "I had to weigh in myself the need for truth as opposed to the loyalty to the squad I had bonded with in

Iraq."

The judge ruled after reviewing evidence including a video, made by the squad two days after the killing, in which the 20-year-old private participated in profane jokes about killing more people and car bombers.

The video showed Jodka and others atop a personnel carrier, possibly at dawn. It is not clear who is speaking at specific times.

A voice that appears to be the camera operator's says, "J.J., say what you know," and then, "You gonna kill some more (expletive) today?"

"Yeah," is the answer, apparently by Jodka.

Jodka earlier apologized to Awad's family, to his own family and to "my Marine Corps whose highest ideals I have failed to uphold."

Prosecutors say the troops intended to kidnap a known insurgent, but when they couldn't find him they seized Awad instead.

Under questioning by his civilian attorney, Jane Siegel, Jodka said he thought the man who was shot on the night of April 26 was a known insurgent. Asked if he would have fired had he known the man was not, Jodka replied: "Absolutely not."

Jodka described how, as the youngest and lowest ranking member of the squad, he looked up to fire team leader Cpl. Trent Thomas and squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III for guidance and advice while in combat.

He said he had received little counterinsurgency training and said his squad's Arabic language interpreter had quit, leaving them unable to communicate with Iraqis.

Jodka was the first Marine in the case to get a plea deal. The Navy corpsman and two other Marines also have made plea agreements. The corpsman, Petty Officer 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, was sentenced to 10 years in prison but will only serve one because of his plea agreement.

Jodka's mother, Carolyn Jodka, testified about the anguish of seeing her son brought to her in the brig in shackles, and asked the judge to consider her son's youth when sentencing him.

"I know this will shape his life," she said. "I hope it doesn't define his life."

Lets sum it up:

- kidnapping

- murder

- coverup

And all he got are 18 months ?

You get more for shoplifting in some countries...

If noone can see the flaw with sentences handed out for capital crimes committed in Iraq I loose my faith in jurisdiction at all.

[SPQR 0]

Now he's sure to get out and stay alive in safety, out of Iraq, for 18 months

You want to get out of Iraq ? Murder an Iraqi civilian

[billybob2002 0]

Now he's sure to get out and stay alive in safety, out of Iraq, for 18 months

You want to get out of Iraq ? Murder an Iraqi civilian

Oh, really?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/us/16pleacnd.html

Quote[/b] ]

Soldier Pleads Guilty to Iraq Rape and Killings

One of four Army infantrymen charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in Iraq last March and then killing her and her family pleaded guilty today to all charges in a military court at Fort Campbell, Ky.

The plea came on a day when a marine is scheduled to be sentenced at Camp Pendleton, Calif., for his part in the kidnapping and killing of an Iraqi man in a town to the west of Baghdad.

The legal actions are part of the fallout of the fighting in Iraq, where insurgent fighters blend in with the civilian population, frustrating soldiers who are subject to roadside bombing and other attacks.

In a third case, a Marine Corps reservist was sentenced to six months in a military jail after pleading guilty at Camp Lejeune, N.C., to a charge of negligent homicide in the shooting of a fellow marine last year at their barracks in Iraq.

In Kentucky, Specialist James P. Barker, 23, pleaded guilty to charges of rape and murder in one of the most gruesome cases of illegal killings of Iraqi civilians. Specialist Barker is the first of a group of four soldiers to resolve the charges.

Specialist Barker and three other members of Company B of the First Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Division, were charged with raping the girl and killing her, her parents and her 7-year-old sister in the family’s home in Mahmudiya, southwest of Baghdad. It is a volatile area known to American soldiers as the “triangle of death.â€

Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, Pfc. Bryan L. Howard and Sgt. Paul E. Cortez are also charged with rape, premeditated murder and arson; military prosecutors accused the men of burning the girl’s body using kerosene in an effort to conceal evidence. A fifth soldier, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is charged with dereliction of duty for failing to report the crimes.

Sgt. Cortez was in the court today, but deferred entering a plea, saying he would enter do so at a later date. Both soldiers were wearing dark green dress uniforms.

Specialist Barker’s plea bargain means that he will not face the death penalty, his lawyers said Tuesday. Although he will probably be given a life sentence, the lawyers said, he could be released on parole in 20 years.

[EiZei 0]

Well, I suggest doing it in a less media sexy way. So no under sixteen-year-olds or raping.

[TrevorOfCrete 0]

another sick vidio taken by sick US soldiers.  they treat iraq like there playground.  US boast a proffessional army, but i really question that.  People justify there autrocites with , "it happens in war", yes it does when you have a citizen army.  but the US say there armys proffessional! the sort of attrocities in iraq shouldnt happen with a proffessional army! there all just a bunch of kids only there to get scholorships.  hardly any US soldiers are there for the long haul.  Not even romans concidered soldiers in the army for a short period of time as proffessional soldiers.  They no nothing or little about hearts and minds, you cant just buy iraqis support.  And then americans have the audacity to question why kids like these will grow up to be terrorists?

[Baff2 0]

Here's another one to get you ranting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv0g52eiRtI

(Apologies if you've seen it before).

[TrevorOfCrete 0]

Here's another one to get you ranting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv0g52eiRtI

(Apologies if you've seen it before).

well thats just harless fun and actually quite funny. but it does show what i mean by there just kids.  and they dont want to be there.  they dont understand the culture or there way of life.  Giving 19 year old kids the most high-tech equipment in the world in a country without proper rules or regulation is always going to be a disaster.  Now if these kids were in it for the long haul, and had been given proper training in not just blowing shit up, but re-building and actually communicating with the local population,  it wouldnt be such a problem.  that the US in iraq's biggest 2 problems,  Lack of reconstruction, and an army uncapable of peace keeping.  Im not trying to degrade the US army as a fighting unit, cus if shit needs to be blown up there no army i would rank above it.  but at occupation and peace keeping, lets face it, the US army is hopeless at best.

[quicksand 0]

After the slap in the face the Senate and House ellections were,the wake up call to reality the Iraq Study Group conclusions represented I don't understand the mentality Bush(funny jokes aside) curently has.

While I do not condone anything this president has ever done I can understand his stubbornos about staying in Iraq.Right now would be a perfect oportunity to do something positive.

Americans finally fed up at the the mess Iraq has become and if you don't want to heed the growing withdrawl calls he should atleast do the right thing to stabalize the country.

Double the forces currently in Iraq.Double the patrols.Put the soldiers into the line of fire until they sort the crap out.Sure US casualties will skyrocket,but it would be the only way to save the country from it's impeding collapse while actually getting the job done.

[EiZei 0]

Obvious:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6203727.stm

Quote[/b] ]

UK army raids 'rogue' Iraq police

Hundreds of British troops backed by tanks have seized seven Iraqi police officers suspected of corruption and leading a death squad in Basra.

Should come as no surprise considering even TBA have abandoned the "when they stand up, we will stand down"-mantra.

[Baff1 0]

I don't think they have abandoned it. This is supposed to br the last big push, cleaning out all the unwanted influences so that a sanitised Iraqi government can stand up on it's own.

We want them to stand up, but we are still being particular about who does the standing. America calls the shots. We follow their Iraq policy even unto hell.

If we deployed 100,000 more troops of our own we would have more say in the matter.

It's America's show. Put or or shut up, and we've shut up.

[BlackScorpion 0]

According to BBC, Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is possibly going to be hang before 6am local time (03:00 GMT) Saturday 30 Dec.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6218245.stm

At the moment it's about 23:30 GMT, Friday 29 Dec.

[Sophion-Black 0]

And just how many people want to see it? I was talking to a few of my squad mates and they all feel that it will make its way to YouTube... somehow. But, by God, they are really excited to see it though!

It's safe to say at least one tape out of... lets just say many, will leak out to the public.

[Garcia 0]

I won't hold my breath. Been report that he won't be executed until mid januar or something. Though I hope they just hang him now while they still can. Even though I didn't support the Iraqi war due to the dodgy way it was initiated, there's no doubt that the guy is a bad guy. If he decerves to die...I'm not a fan of death penalty, but that's mainly because you often can't be too sure about the guilt...but in this case...so do it now before he finds a way to kill himself like Slobodan did (dunno if I spelled the guys name right).

[Balschoiw 0]

Quote[/b] ]It's safe to say at least one tape out of... lets just say many, will leak out to the public.

It has already been announced that the execution will be taped and shown on TV to mute those who will be doubting the execution.

You better get your facts updated and tell your "squadmates" to do the same. They should know by now as US forces are on alert all over iraq, europe and the US embassies are shaping up their perimeters.

An interesting note is that Saddam is still in US custody as he never was handed over to Iraqui prison authorities and is still held by US forces, which entitles him to have a go at US courts :P

Right now Iraqui politicians are debating with US representatives about the execution. On one hand the Shias want to have it this morning as the religious event of "donation" , don´t know the expression for it is ahead and Saddam´s death would be really cool for them. On the other hand we have the Sunnis who see a chaotic improvised execution as a pushed US act of influence. Over the pond there is GW , who doesn´t reallly care as he got no brain.

If Saddam is executed this morning it will please some and piss of alot others. If he´s not executed today, for whatever reasons, it will not look like a rushed out chaotic decision just to please some of the interest holders in Iraq.

I guess noone really cares if Saddam is hung after the "hot" islam season.

[denoir 0]

Meet the new boss..just like the old boss.

Traditional banana republic behaviour: change of government = execution of former government.

Uncivilized, but hell, I guess that when dozens of people are killed in Baghdad every day +-1 death is within the margin of error.

They should have locked him up and thrown away the key. This way he can become a martyr - he has quite a few supporters left. I don't think his life is worth more civilian deaths.

[EiZei 0]

The sooner he's sharing a bunk with Pinochet, the better.

[shinRaiden 0]

Well this is a hot potato(e if you insist on digging up old political skeletons). If they give the body to the shiites, it will be diced up so many ways and the the streets will run red in revenge. If they give the body to the sunni's, there will be a massed martyr's street funeral the likes of which have not been seen in ages. At any rate, they have 72 hours for a proper Islamic burial without upseting the Imam's apple cart with a late burial, except there's the inconvenience of a holiday tossed in to boot.

If they duct tape all the scuds together, strap his coffin on top, and launch it into outer space, maybe that will keep all parties happy. First Iraqi into space, nobody get's him, no more scuds, and let the martian sort out if they want to do a proper burial of a re-entry cremation.

[feersum.endjinn 6]

BBC World is saying he's dead. Good riddance.

[Florida_Guardsmen 0]

BBC World is saying he's dead. Good riddance.

*Begins cheering*

Good. One less asshole tinpot dictator in the world....many more left to go.

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

Yep his dead

[chipper 0]

Yeah he's dead alright. Every news channel is talking about it.

[Duke 0]

He carried a koran and held it with him to the end, also demanded no face cover. I can't wait to see this video. Something I've wanted to see for a long time, Him stiff.

[Duke 0]

Here's another one to get you ranting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv0g52eiRtI

(Apologies if you've seen it before).

well thats just harless fun and actually quite funny. but it does show what i mean by there just kids. and they dont want to be there. they dont understand the culture or there way of life. Giving 19 year old kids the most high-tech equipment in the world in a country without proper rules or regulation is always going to be a disaster. Now if these kids were in it for the long haul, and had been given proper training in not just blowing shit up, but re-building and actually communicating with the local population, it wouldnt be such a problem. that the US in iraq's biggest 2 problems, Lack of reconstruction, and an army uncapable of peace keeping. Im not trying to degrade the US army as a fighting unit, cus if shit needs to be blown up there no army i would rank above it. but at occupation and peace keeping, lets face it, the US army is hopeless at best.

You must think a few soldiers committing crimes in the US Military, has to do with every single being in the Military yes? That seems typical of somebody. Everyone seems to think that as soon as a few people in our Service committs crimes, then our Forces are, "No good" or something similar to that. Please, take consideration for the MAJORITY, of men and women serving. They do not committ such acts.

[Florida_Guardsmen 0]

You must think a few soldiers committing crimes in the US Military, has to do with every single being in the Military yes? That seems typical of somebody. Everyone seems to think that as soon as a few people in our Service committs crimes, then our Forces are, "No good" or something similar to that. Please, take consideration for the MAJORITY, of men and women serving. They do not committ such acts.

Unfortunately, we are incapable of winning this war. We are fighting not an army, but a people. We aren't trained (extensively) in handling rebuilding and peacekeeping operations.

While yeah, the National Training Center does do this to a degree, not everyone goes through the NTC, and many never are in a position which involves handling a local population. That almost exclusively involves the MPs, while few units above the company level ever are set in garrison duty. The rest are off training for conventional war, using MILES and fighting tanks as though they were battling at 73 Eastings again (To those of you who do not know what this is, it was a Armor battle fought between the Americans and the Iraqis in Operation Desert Storm, and the fiercest tank battle since WWII).

Another problem in addition to lack of training, is the lack of popular support at home. This may seem minimal, but its impact is infact enourmous. Not necessary to the individual soldier, as we only see things on the neighborhood level when there. But rather the strategic and executive levels of the operation are strained as a result, such as our dear leader's insistance on not sending more troops. Now, it is too late for this, and sending more troops would only make more targets for the insurgents, but had our leadership not been absolute morons and trying to fight the war cheaply, we might have accomplished something and not had 3000 dead boys coming home on those C-130s and C-17s wrapped up in plastic bags. No, had we not had a bloody buisness man trying to engage in matters of war, and had we taken the advice of people such as Tony Zinni (and not fired him for not being Bush's yes man) or any of the others who stood up (oh how few there were..) we may have actually had an effect other than merely stirring up a hornets nest.

500,000 soldiers couldn't end a war in South Vietnam, which is about the size of half of California, so how in the hell is 125,000 troops going to handle a country larger than California by approximately 11,000 miles! How? Sure, the Iraqi Army itself was not much of a threat, though I gotta hand it to them, they put up a brave and stalwart battle for Al-Basra in the face of those Marines and the British 2nd Armor, but still, they couldn't defeat us. But when the take off their uniforms and blend in with the population, and then the population becomes the enemy, because you never know who you're fighting. Same problem the Russians had in Afghanistan: Fighitng a conventional war against an unconventional force is never going to work, without contributing the proper amount of force, will, political knowlege of the people and ability to work with them, rather than against them, and finally troops skilled in handling this kind of situation.

So ultimately, we cannot win: We've already lost. But every soldier is merely buying time with his life waiting for the executive leadership to finally own up and accept that we have on our hands another Vietnam. Perhaps they'll finally learn a lesson, else we're doomed in any of our pursuits throughout the world.

[Florida_Guardsmen 0]

I'd like to add that I am not flame baiting by saying the above, merely stating my opinion. The politicians are not giving our troops what they need to win, and as such, we aren't.

If you do not like what I have written, please debate me on it in a civilized manner, no name calling etc (Basically be a cool dude, and lets not let this become a flame war, ok?)