Posted on 03/31/2005 1:27:26 PM PST by El_Doctor
A military court has found a US army captain guilty of killing a wounded Iraqi man in central Iraq last year.
Capt Rogelio Maynulet, 30, said he shot the man, who had been wounded in a clash with US soldiers, in order to end his suffering.
The court based in Wiesbaden, Germany, found Maynulet guilty of assault with intent to commit manslaughter.
The panel will later discuss a sentence for the charge, which carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Maynulet 'played God'
The prosecution had pressed for a conviction on the more serious charge of assault with intent to commit murder, which can carry a 20-year jail sentence.
Karim Hassan, 36, was killed on 21 May last year near the central Iraqi town of Kufa.
(Sorry to those of you who like the not-schiavo threads)
In both cases murder occured.
You beat me to it. The irony is obvious and disgusting.
(2) The deceased had previously been shooting at him, but had been disarmed and wounded before he shot him.
(3) Army professionals I've spoken to have opined that they would have just waited for medical assistance to arrive and have a medical professional assess the situation.
I believe this was the guy who had half his brain hanging out of his skull and there was no hope for him . The soldier in question did the honorable thing by putting him out of his misery . What the hell is going on in the military ???
If only he played God as a certain Judge in Florida, he would have been found innocent...
I want to puke at this... so we're supposed to take it and lick it?
Anyways, the irony is amazing. It reminds me of the time the NYTimes would rant and rave over the Abu Ghraib affair, yet remain relatively calm while Americans were getting beheaded in Iraq.
OK,here's my opinion. He probably shot him because he hated his guts,not to put him out of his misery.He had been shooting at them.
So what! This IS a war isn't it? What a way to treat a member of our military---no wonder recruitments are down.
Nothing is "going on".
The guy screwed up big time.
Like it or not, EVERY soldier, sailor, airmen and marine has been taught that you CANNOT SHOOT AN INCAPACITATED PRISONER, no matter what he was doing before he became "incapacitated". This is very different than the Marine who shot the woulded Iraqi. At that time, he believed the Iraqi to be a threat. Good shoot, IMHO.
I've got no love for the Iraqi terrorists, but we make these rules for a reason and the Army expects them to be followed. This has been in place for quite some time.
This is how Liberals are destroying America. Once again, let us go back in time when America was fighting Japan. When the Marines were in fierce battle with the Japanese that had the same mindset of the "jihadists" (better too die, than too give up) the Marines burned the Japanese out of the foxholes with flame throwers, when the Japanese on fire came running out , the Marines shot them dead. I guess we should start rounding up anyone alive from that era and charge them with murder as well...........
Face it, bottom line, in war, you kill the enemy. Not hug them, coddle them, pray too them, it is too kill them, eradicate them, with all means necessary. If this Iraqi shot at American troops, I have no sorrow for him, and as far as I am concerned all this Soldier should get as far as punishment, is a class on how too better aim his rifle, so he kills the bugger on the first shot. Bullets costs money, this scumbag used up 2 bullets too die.
Jeff
They keep this stupid chit up and we're gonna need a draft. Who would want to volunteer to be shot at and then arrested for shooting back.
These people are walking bombs, they should all be shot and disarmed before our troops get near them.
Well said! - (ex) CPT MortMan
BINGO!!!!!!!
"In both cases murder occured."
If the prisoner in fact had his brain exposed and largely destroyed, it is plausible that the soldier did the right thing - certainly not at all the same as walking up to a healthy prisoner and shooting him.
Agreed. During my 20 years in the Army it was constantly and emphatically pounded into our skulls that a "coup de grace" cannot be administered, no matter the circumstances.
=== professionals I've spoken to have opined that they would have just waited for medical assistance to arrive and have a medical professional assess the situation.===
"So, what do you think, Major Kevorkian?
Hmmm, the way I see it, the Iraqi soldier, did not have the "quality of life" he should have had, what's the problem here? We can kill an American for this, but not an enemy soldier????????????????????/
Jeff
Bingo. This guy broke military rules. Nothing more needs to be said.
Time too change the rules.
Jeff
MEGA BUMP to you, SIR!
Eight years in the USMC and I never had the class explaining
how to decide if a wounded enemy was suffering so much he needed to be put out of his misery.
Couch commandoes make those decisions.
That's a different debate. Though, I doubt you'll find many American soldiers who will agree with you that shooting wounded, unarmed enemies is something that the military should allow.
LOL!
But seriously, his account doesn't hold water.
He says he shot the guy to put him out of his misery, but according to my brother who served over there in the invasion, medical response times were excellent.
In just a few minutes after radioing, a doctor could have got there, triaged him and decided to pump him with morphine to ease his way out or to try and save him.
This soldier made the wrong decision in what was clearly a very hectic and out of control situation.
OMIGOSH .. this world has gone wacky! A soldier shooting the enemy in a war is convicted of murder while murderers and child moslesters walk free in our country where they starve innocent brain-damaged people to death .. wow.
All things can change in time.
Seems to be some resemblence in our homepages.
Shooting unarmed, wounded men is not a practice worthy of our brave servicemen.
And on the practical side this wounded Arab, if he could have been saved, might have supplied useful data as an informant that would have saved American lives.
Ok, are they officially incapacitated OR prisoners if you haven't taken their weapons from them?? This guy could have been armed and moving for his gun.
Do you want our military to routinely shoot unarmed, wounded enemies?
Put another way, if this had been a case where an Iraqi insurgent had shot an unarmed, wounded American soldier, would you be shrugging your shoulders and saying "bad stuff happens in war?"
bttt
Nobody is making that claim, not even this soldier who did the shooting. Everyone agrees that this was a "mercy-killing."
Was he unarmed when he shot at the US Forces? War = kill the enemy, kill them again, kill them some more.
As far as useful information goes, kill the enemy, no more information is needed.
Hooaah, 'cept I never had to play in or around "Jello-land"...central highlands, and I Corp.
Change the "rules" (laws of land warfare, actually).
Just because they're inconvenient (at times)?
No. They served us well EVERY time we've followed them. In WWII, we did our best to follow those rules and they were generally respected by our enemies (particularly the Germans). The Japanese became fond of executing prisoners, but we retained our right to hang them at the end of the war.
Every time our military has violated these laws/standards, we've paid a heavy price. We didn't lose a single battle in Vietnam but we lost the war when the public turned against us. Pictures of dead villages and executed prisoners were one reason why.
There is absolutely NOTHING to be gained by executing prisoners.
Oh, I thought this was the one where they were walking through the building and the guy moved and got shot .. sorry.
According to this soldier's own testimony, this was not the case.
His story is that he shot this wounded, unarmed Arab because the man was in great pain and shooting him was an act of mercy.
And no point did he claim that this man posed any danger to him or his men at the time he was shot.
After the N. Korean finished the cigarette, one of the vets grabbed his ankles, the other his wrists. They then walked him to the edge of a 100' cliff and began swinging him back and forth. By this time there were several people, including a couple of officers, watching.
He told me that he would never forget what they said as they swung him over the cliff: One to get ready, two for the show, three to get ready, now let the f@#%er go. I guess times have changed.
'Cept you supported the "mercy killing" in Florida, but seem to be against it when it happens in war.
Different case. That one had a lot more gray lines. IIRC, the shooter in that case was not charged with anything.
Here, the shooter admits that he shot an unarmed, wounded enemy but that he did so in order to prevent him from continued suffering.
Why the hell are some of you so concerned about this Arab jerk-off that was SHOOTING AT AMERICAN SOLDIERS!!!!!!!!???????????? I don't give one rats a@@ about this idiot, he got what was coming too him, the MORE AMERICANS ALIVE THE BETTER!! You think these sons of bitc#es give a rats arse if our Sons and Daughter die ? They will slaughter us like sheep and scream allahu ackbar!!!! Gdammit some people buy, rent, or steal "A set".
Jeff
Apples and oranges, and you know it. A painful gunshot wound is quit different than being in a PVS.
In any event, if the soldier here had simply done nothing and let this insurgent expire, I would have had no problem with that
Wasting ammo there, sport. You must not have had to carry it on your back. 8^)
Never got to I Corp or central highlands, only the U Minh and Nam Can forests and the 7 Sisters.
My mistake :)
I saw elsewhere it was filmed by a drone overhead.
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