Army medic gets life in prison
- Thread starter daedalus
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Fragger
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Good info thanks :wacko:
AJ Hidell
Forum Deputy Chief
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I am not. It's a philosophical argument, not a legal one.
AJ Hidell
Forum Deputy Chief
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You're attempting to apply concepts of Western law to a third world country, where their citizens enjoy no such protections.
the ethics of war.
before trying to apply peacetime civillian justice of a western culture, some background on the specific nature of war must be considered. Because this semester is being quite merciless, I cannot sped the hours it would take to touch on the topic but suggest looking into:
The Prince, Machiavelli
The art of war, Sun Tzu
For those that need a more modern approach:
On War, Clausewitz
War is hell. Hell is the impossibility of reason. All is fair in love and war (contraction of people older than me)
before trying to apply peacetime civillian justice of a western culture, some background on the specific nature of war must be considered. Because this semester is being quite merciless, I cannot sped the hours it would take to touch on the topic but suggest looking into:
The Prince, Machiavelli
The art of war, Sun Tzu
For those that need a more modern approach:
On War, Clausewitz
War is hell. Hell is the impossibility of reason. All is fair in love and war (contraction of people older than me)
mycrofft
Still crazy but elsewhere
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LOAC and the American serviceperson
Law Of Armed Conflict, our folks get that training before they are allowed to fire for combat qualification. medical personnel also receive their own version of Geneva Convention which is that medical persons fight only to save their lives, their patients lives, and to safeguard their facility and materials. (If you happen to be around the rest of your unit, who are all potentially your patients...just don't take the chain gun and go postal).
(And yes, I know, that red cross makes a dandy sniper target).
Neither LOAC nor Geneva allow for summary execution, nor to allow a prisoner to be summarily executed by others (i.e., put them down handcuffed outside the gates and wait), and that goes double for medical personnel. It's the law, our law.
Law Of Armed Conflict, our folks get that training before they are allowed to fire for combat qualification. medical personnel also receive their own version of Geneva Convention which is that medical persons fight only to save their lives, their patients lives, and to safeguard their facility and materials. (If you happen to be around the rest of your unit, who are all potentially your patients...just don't take the chain gun and go postal).
(And yes, I know, that red cross makes a dandy sniper target).
Neither LOAC nor Geneva allow for summary execution, nor to allow a prisoner to be summarily executed by others (i.e., put them down handcuffed outside the gates and wait), and that goes double for medical personnel. It's the law, our law.
el Murpharino
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We have seen this type of behavior from many people in this capacity both in the US and abroad...as recently as Abu Ghraib to the Zimbardo Study (Stanford Prison Experiment) in the 70's, and probably way back to the dark ages. Combined with the fact that the Army has lowered their enlistment requirements over the past few years - this guy could have been a loose cannon from the get-go.
The horrors and stresses of war may lead these men to do things they may normally do. Look at the My-Lai massacre during Vietnam. Retribution is a powerful motive...
I can understand why this soldier would have done this having personally seen the atrocities of the war in Iraq, but I just can't condone it. I'll be going to Afghanistan in the fall, let's see if things improve there by then.
The horrors and stresses of war may lead these men to do things they may normally do. Look at the My-Lai massacre during Vietnam. Retribution is a powerful motive...
I can understand why this soldier would have done this having personally seen the atrocities of the war in Iraq, but I just can't condone it. I'll be going to Afghanistan in the fall, let's see if things improve there by then.
I still think the question is how far up the chain should responsibility for this go?