Hutchins convicted of murder -- again

Marine Sgt Lawrence Hutchins III was again found guilty of murdering Hashim Ibrahim Awad, a 52-year-old Iraqi policeman, in Hamdania in 2006, and then doing a weapon drop to cover it up. it's the second time he was convicted -- earlier convictions were overturned twice -- and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces had earlier ruled that his rights were  violated when he was originally held in solitary confinement for 7 days without access to a lawyer. Reportedly, others in his squad were reluctant to testify again out of shame.

Hutchins has already served 7 years of an 11-year sentence. The military jury sentenced him to time served the next day, which means that he will go probably home. "This is not about killing. This is about murder," said the lead prosecutor. "This is about the wholesale abandonment of moral prowess." Yep.

Boot camp overload/overlord?

Staff Sgt. Dustin Barker faces a general court martial, the most severe legal punishment, for tormenting marines under his command at Guantanamo and Camp Allen in Norfolk, VA. Barker is from Kentucky and has been in Iraq and Afghanistan since he joined up in 2002.

Marine finds out she's trans, goes ballistic, goes to trial

This sad story certainly puts all the bad apples in one basket: gender violence, homo & trans phobia, performance anxiety, vulnerability of prostitutes, too much booze, and, of course, what are U.S. marines doing in the Philippines anyway?

Ex-marine kills familly, self

Bradley Stone, a veteran of the Iraq war, killed his former wife and members of her family, then himself.

Soldier Suicides

A soldier barricaded herself inside an office at Fort Lee, causing a lockdown, and then killed herself. This sad story raises at least a few questions:

Is it soldier-on-soldier murder when the soldier you kill is yourself?

Does it make a difference that the gun she shot herself with wasn't a service weapon, but was available to her through other sources?

And, the obvious one: What brought her to such a state of despair?

Once again, it's being reported as a individual problem, someone who was "upset and outraged," though it's a good bet we'll never know what she was upset about and so, never had to come to terms with what is a systemic problem.

not the crime of the century

Robert Richard, one of the Marines videoed pissing on -- excuse me, "urinating on" -- dead Afghans, has died at 28.  Young, sad. His obit made news because of that act, which I assume is not what anyone wants to be remembered for.

His lawyer called the act, "a temporary lapse of discipline" and not "the crime of the century," both of which are probably true.  And isn't that the problem? Something like that reprehensible behavior was much more common in Iraq and Afghanistan than we want to acknowledge -- and don't have to because most of it didn't end up on YouTube. Contrary to contemporary belief, that doesn't mean it didn't happen.
The dehumanization of "the enemy" is basic to war; the dehumanization of "our guys" is too. Both are tragic. The AP obit ends, "Mr. Richards will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors." Nothing more be said.

not murder, but predatory

Staff Sgt. Angel Sanchez, (clearly misnamed) stands accused of sexual assault against a dozen women soldiers over the past 3 years.  He deployed to Iraq & Afghanistan & got a Bronze Star.  I have no idea if there are any connections there.

former Army linguist convicted of murdering her kids

This isn't exactly what this site is about -- this woman didn't kill "enemy combatants" or other soldiers, but you do wonder what toll her life in the military and as a military spouse may have played.

Sgt. Anthony Peden sentenced

Soldiers at Ft. Stewart, who formed an anti-government militia group, murdered a former soldier and his girlfriend in December 2011.  Peden got life, the other three did plea bargains to avoid a potiential death penalty.

the new rotten one in the bunch

So -- I had good intentions to gather all the info available about all the "bad apples" in the U.S. military who killed Iraqis, Afghans, and each other with no apparent justification or even minimal provocation.  I was going to cross-reference it and make this the go-to site for such research.  It didn't happen.  Maybe never will.  So I'm just going to post links whenever a new incident comes to light or new developments are reported. 

Army Staff-Sergeant Michael Barbera case reexamined; preliminary hearing, with former Spc. John Lotempio as witness, at Lewis-McChord

little pee in punishment

The punishment for Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola, one of four Marines who videotaped themselves pissing on three dead Afghans in July 2011, will probably amount to all of his being bumped down a rank.  The military judge in the case apparently wanted a stiffer sentence after Deptola pleaded guilty on 16 January 2013, but he had copped a plea and the judge had to abide by the agreement.  Another ssgt. in the case, Jospeh W. Chamblin, also got a demotion and a small fine last month, while three other Marines got only administrative punishments; i.e. bad marks on their record.

picture perfect

This story from NPR (every outlet is covering it) focuses on the shock! shock! of generals, diplomats and the Secretary of Defense over this story in the LA Times, where they find that soldiers take pictures of themselves with their "kills." The photos are a couple of years old and were given to the paper by an unnamed soldier in the 82nd Airborne to blow the whistle on what he said was a breakdown in the military which endangered the troops.  Pardon my sangfroid, but my only surprise is that I thought it was considered bad form to pose with "kills" which aren't your own, as appears to be the case here.

Panetta apparently asked the LA Times not to publish the photos and expressed "disappointment" that they  did it anyway.  The problem, of course, is that Afghans will see the photos, not that the killing is celebrated in this way, right?  But that's probably accurate, since U.S. soldiers (and most likely their Afghan adversaries) have been taking photos like this throughout the hostilities there and in Iraq.  See reports from the Winter Solider hearings held in March 2008, not too far from the Pentagon, but roundly ignored by politicians and vastly underreported by the mainstream U.S. press.