US Soldier Sentanced in Baghdad killing

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Originally Posted by CNN.com

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier has been sentenced to three years in prison, forfeiture of all pay and a dishonorable discharge after he pleaded guilty to the killing of a severely wounded Iraqi civilian, the U.S. military said in a statement.

Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr., 30, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, accepted a plea bargain Friday to one specification of murder and one specification of conspiracy to commit murder, the military said.

The convictions stemmed from Horne's killing on August 18 of the civilian in Baghdad's Sadr City, where fighting raged at the time between U.S. troops and militia loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The killing took place in Baghdad's Sadr City, during widespread fighting.

The pleas occurred during a general court-martial on the Camp Al-Tahreer in Baghdad.

A panel of seven senior service members passed the sentence Friday at 11:30 p.m. (3:30 p.m. ET), after hearing testimony from the prosecution and the defense.

They deliberated for approximately four hours before reaching their decision.

Horne is a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, Fort Riley, Kansas.

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http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/12/11/ir...ier/index.html

From what I heard of the story he shot the guy because he was dying and was badly wounded and didn't want him to lay there suffering while he waited to die. If that's the case then this is just plain screwed up, in my opinion shooting a dying person who is in agony and really has no chance of survival is the right thing to do, I wouldn't want to lay there with a severe wound while people just walked by me and I was just waiting to die. The US Army is become one big PR group, there's no reason at all this guy had to be put in jail and given a dishonorable discharge (which basically strips your rights as a US citizen) for doing a mercy killing. At least the Marines stood by their guy who shot the person in Fallujah. The US is becoming way too worked up everytime they hear a person has been shot by US personal in conditions other then all out combat.

Thoughts, opinions?

The SNIPER gasps, whimpers.

DONLON stares at her.

DONLON
What's she saying?

JOKER

(after a pause)
She's praying.

T.H.E. ROCK
No more boom-boom for this baby-san. There's
nothing we can do for her. She's dead meat.

ANIMAL MOTHER stares down at the SNIPER.


ANIMAL MOTHER
Okay. Let's get the fuck outta here.


JOKER
What about her?

ANIMAL MOTHER
Fuck her. Let her rot.

The SNIPER prays in Vietnanese.

JOKER
We can't just leave her here.

ANIMAL MOTHER
Hey, asshole... Cowboy's wasted. You're
fresh out of friends. I'm running this squad
now and I say we leave the gook for the
mother-lovin' rats.

JOKER stares at ANIMAL MOTHER.

JOKER
I'm not trying to run this squad. I'm just
saying we can't leave her like this.

ANIMAL MOTHER looks down at the SNIPER.

SNIPER

(whimpering)
Sh . . . sh-shoot . . . me. Shoot . . . me.

ANIMAL
MOTHER looks at JOKER.

ANIMAL MOTHER
If you want to waste her, go on, waste her.

JOKER looks at the SNIPER.

The four men look at JOKER.

SNIPER
(gasping)
Shoot . . . me . . . shoot . . . me.

JOKER slowly lifts his pistol and looks into her
eyes.

SNIPER
Shoot . . . me.

JOKER jerks the trigger.

BANG!

The four men are silent.

JOKER stares down at the dead girl.

RAFTERMAN
(laughs)
JOKER ...we're gonna have to put you up for
the Congressional Medal of...Ugly!
(laughs)

JOKER looks at RAFTERMAN, blankly.


DONLON
Hard core, man. Fucking hard core.

I'm sure we're not getting the story, but they're seriously messing his life up over a judgment call made in the midst of combat. I mean, on one hand, if I were lieing there dieing, I wouldn't want to be shot in case they could save me, but maybe someone else would, you know? And on the other hand, the soldier most likely felt bad for the guy and decided to make it easier for him. Now, maybe the soldier was wrong, but he probably wasn't acting out of malice or anything. He either made a good choice or made a mistake.

Does he deserve that punishment for a mistake, if it really was an act of mercy?

awful... I wonder, what can he honestly do after he gets out of prison with that dishonorable discharge hanging over his head... move out of the country I guess, start fresh somewhere else.

What a fucked up system where you're sent out to kill people and then are punihsed for it afterwards.

Thoughts - Catching shit, let alone THIS much shit for a mercy killing is sickening. I can't say as I'm shocked by this though.

Gohron, I have a question for you.

As a military man, someone who has to potentially die and/or kill, could you actually say that you could give a man a lethal blow? If your life was in danger, I mean?

It sounds like the govt. just wanted to make an example of him for the Arabs/Iraqis keeping track of the situation to try and show that we still are 'Peacekeepers' or something. I do remember watching the video a while back and to me it didnt seem like a mercy killing,but I do think that he had his squads best interest in mind when doing what he did, given the suicide bombers and who had just recently killed troops in that area and stuff.

Yeah, that dishonorable discharge is gonna hurt.He'll be cutting grass or washing dishes for the rest of his life :( maybe he can contest it or something later on.

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Originally Posted by Gibbits

What a fucked up system where you're sent out to kill people and then are punihsed for it afterwards.

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I like the quote from Apocalypse Now - Shit... charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets in the Indy 500.

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Originally Posted by Jetman

It sounds like the govt. just wanted to make an example of him for the Arabs/Iraqis keeping track of the situation to try and show that we still are 'Peacekeepers' or something. I do remember watching the video a while back and to me it didnt seem like a mercy killing,but I do think that he had his squads best interest in mind when doing what he did, given the suicide bombers and who had just recently killed troops in that area and stuff.

Yeah, that dishonorable discharge is gonna hurt.He'll be cutting grass or washing dishes for the rest of his life :( maybe he can contest it or something later on.

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Like i said, better he just move out of the country and try to start fresh somewhere else, maybe even get someone to sponsor him citizenship somewhere.

I love Animal Mother.

P-O-L-I-T-I-C-A-L M-A-R-T-Y-R

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Originally Posted by MVS

Gohron, I have a question for you.

As a military man, someone who has to potentially die and/or kill, could you actually say that you could give a man a lethal blow? If your life was in danger, I mean?

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I think in the thick of things, combat that is, I would have no problem aiming my rifle at somebody and killing them, after that first kill it supposedly becomes a much different and easier affair to kill somebody. If I was faced with a situation where bullets wern't flying and I wasn't pissing my pants it would be much harder, but if it was my life or the life of my fellow Marines in danger I still think it wouldn't be that hard of a desicion. I honestly don't know for sure though. I should be back into the Marines this summer or early fall (that's when I'll be cleared for re-enlistment...was trying to go in January but it was a no go) and will likely end up in the MidEast. I hope I can just be strong where I need to be and keep my guys safe.

Hmmm, interesting. Another question then. What if the guy was coming really hard at you, would it be easier to take him out face to face (sounds dangerous), or would you prefer to take him from behind? Granted, you don't choose what happens, but I'm wondering if you have a preference one way or the other.

Is there any official story on what happened with the guy? Like, what exactly he did and what exactly convicted him?

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Originally Posted by MVS

Hmmm, interesting. Another question then. What if the guy was coming really hard at you, would it be easier to take him out face to face (sounds dangerous), or would you prefer to take him from behind? Granted, you don't choose what happens, but I'm wondering if you have a preference one way or the other.

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Another nomination for POTY.

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Originally Posted by MVS

Full Metal Jacket

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Good catch.

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Originally Posted by MVS

Hmmm, interesting. Another question then. What if the guy was coming really hard at you, would it be easier to take him out face to face (sounds dangerous), or would you prefer to take him from behind? Granted, you don't choose what happens, but I'm wondering if you have a preference one way or the other.

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best TV show EVAR.

What exactly does a dishonorable discharge do that is so life-ruining? I don't see what the gov't could possibly do, short of imprisonment, that could prevent someone from working and enjoying a comfortable living.

If I were a soldier that got treated like that by my own gov't, I'd totally go merc and run away to become a diamond pirate in africa.

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Originally Posted by arjue

best TV show EVAR.

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Wow, GG, Lee...

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Originally Posted by kedawa

What exactly does a dishonorable discharge do that is so life-ruining? I don't see what the gov't could possibly do, short of imprisonment, that could prevent someone from working and enjoying a comfortable living.

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From everything I've heard, he just wont be able to find work.Not many jobs will hire you with a dishonorable.His best bet would be to start his own business,..... or do the diamond pirate thing.

I like the way almost everyone who's posted so far has related this incident to their own wisdom of films and TV shows - Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now and The Office! When asked if we've seen any action we could say: "I've seen a little...on TV."

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Originally Posted by MVS

Hmmm, interesting. Another question then. What if the guy was coming really hard at you, would it be easier to take him out face to face (sounds dangerous), or would you prefer to take him from behind? Granted, you don't choose what happens, but I'm wondering if you have a preference one way or the other.

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Respect +

I'm impressed at the number of people who caught this reference.

Its too bad this bit got spoiled... it was going great places.

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Originally Posted by kedawa

What exactly does a dishonorable discharge do that is so life-ruining? I don't see what the gov't could possibly do, short of imprisonment, that could prevent someone from working and enjoying a comfortable living.

If I were a soldier that got treated like that by my own gov't, I'd totally go merc and run away to become a diamond pirate in africa.

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From what I've heard you're no longer able to vote, you have little chance of getting hired at somewhere other then McD's, you're unable to own property (not really sure about that one), it doesn't leave you too well off.

To answer MVS's question, assuming it was serious (seems like it was taken from Apoc Now which I've never seen) I would take him head on.

Fucking baby eaten by dingo bastards...

:(

hahaha

I think that's from The Office, a BBC comedy. There's a guy in the office who always brags about his participation in the military reserves, and two of his co-workers were making fun of him.

It's Garreth who was in the Territorial Army.

If you've never heard of that Army, you are not alone.

He's the assistant regional manager.*

*Assistant to the regional manager.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/gareth/

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Originally Posted by Gareth Keenan

A lot of people think that those in the Territorial Army are not real soldiers. We are. We are well trained, highly disciplined fighting machines ready for war. We're just not available during the week.

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I could kill a monkey.