Marine Convicted in Abuse Gets Clemency

[Rose Siding]

TOLEDO, Ohio -- A Marine convicted of abusing an Iraqi prisoner was granted clemency last week and has returned to his base in North Carolina, according to his father.

Pfc. Andrew J. Sting, of Bradner, sought clemency after pleading guilty in May to giving electric shocks to an Iraqi prisoner he was guarding. He said he was following his sergeant's order.

Sting was sentenced to a year in prison, a reduction of rank, forfeiture of pay and a bad-conduct discharge.

His father, Jeffery Sting, told The Blade that the commanding general of the 1st Marine Division issued the clemency order.......

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-brf-prisoner-abuse-clemency,0,454612.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[punpirate]

1. One of a soldier's general orders is...

... to disobey an unlawful order. Yes, that can cause some temporary difficulties, but it's the lawful thing to do. It's defined by the UCMJ and by the Geneva Convention of 1949, and is a precedent in international law after Nuremberg.

What does this say to all soldiers? What does this say to Iraqis? *sigh*

[Rose Siding]

2. The same thing it says to the rest of the world-

"Here's how seriously we take this"

[steely]

3. You're right of course, and it was brought to light again after

My Lai - but Awol and Rummy have made an abominable mockery of it.

[Poll_Blind]

6. A document worth reading....

A DUTY TO DISOBEY ALL UNLAWFUL ORDERS by Lawrence Mosqueda, Ph.D., The Evergreen State College.

PB

[mike_c]

4. self deleted the subject several times...

...because the depth of my disgust for these swine overcomes my civil discourse.

[Dhalgren]

5. American soldiers, following orders - any orders - are

beyond the law. Let every enemy we ever come up against know, we will not be governed by law or civilized rules of conduct. If you fight with us, do not follow any rules or laws, because we won't. We have insured that our soldiers will be horribly mistreated if any are ever capture by a future or current adversary. This is the action of a government who has absolutely no concern for the welfare of its solders. "Support the troops"? Nah, use 'em and discard them like toilet paper - because as far as the US government is concerned that's what soldiers are - toilet paper.

[REVOLT823]

7. What was the fucking point of trying him

if they are just going to cut him loose. He screwed up and followed an unlawful order, he has to suffer the consequences.

[JSJ]

8. come on!- you must support the troops- the troops are only...

...followink orters, mein fuhrer.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

9. easy for us to say

anyone know what it's like to be in the same situation?
Remember, chickenhawk in chief said: "you're either with us or against us"

[JSJ]

10. intelligent, well-rounded people don't join the US military...

...but there may be an exception here and there.

[Tansy_Gold]

11. No, well-rounded, well-educated people with good prospects

may not be enlisting in the military, but there are probably many poor and working class kids who, with no money for education beyond what their second- or third-class high school can give them, with no prospects for a decent job, with no way out of their narrow world, enlist because it represents more than what they've ever known.

I'm not offering this as an excuse for anyone to get off with no punishment for what they did. I'm offering it as an explanation.

Not everyone in this country thinks torturing Iraqis is a bad thing. Not everyone in this country thinks people of color are people. As Rogers and Hammerstein told us, you've got to be carefully taught to hate. Indeed, you've got to be carefully taught to be ignorant.

And if hate is the only thing you're ever taught, how are you to know any different?

[JSJ]

12. only about 21% of post-service troops use the gov's education benefits nt

[DS1]

14. Hi!

:hi:

[w4rma]

13. I'm interested in what happened to the Sergeant who gave the order.

That information is conspicuously missing from this very short article.