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British soldier Alexander Blackman - better known as Marine A - was today sensationally cleared of murdering a Taliban fighter in Afghanistan and could be a free man by next week.
His wife Claire grinned and there were loud gasps and then cheers from his family, ex-Marines and other supporters as five top Court of Appeal judges quashed the conviction and reduced it to manslaughter.
Sergeant Blackman, who has already been in prison for three years, will face a new sentencing hearing in the next week but his legal team will argue he should be freed because of time served.
Kind of long but well worth reading. In short, a British Marine killed a subhuman Taliban person and got sent to prison due to idiots that care more about evil people than anything else.
I just LOVE this part:
Quote:
The judges said it was 'clear that a consequence was that he had developed a hatred for the Taliban and a desire for revenge'.
Gee...YA THINK?!?!? Why the HELL do you even ask these men to fight these subhuman scum if you aren't willing to let them completely and utterly annihilate them? They sure as hell don't have any such reservations. Really sad to see what cowards the west has become. The west needs less Merkels and Obamas and more Alexander the Greats and Vlad the Impalers.
Gee...YA THINK?!?!? Why the HELL do you even ask these men to fight these subhuman scum if you aren't willing to let them completely and utterly annihilate them? They sure as hell don't have any such reservations. Really sad to see what cowards the west has become. The west needs less Merkels and Obamas and more Alexander the Greats and Vlad the Impalers.
I think there is a recruiting office somewhere near you.
Kind of long but well worth reading. In short, a British Marine killed a subhuman Taliban person and got sent to prison due to idiots that care more about evil people than anything else.
I just LOVE this part:
Gee...YA THINK?!?!? Why the HELL do you even ask these men to fight these subhuman scum if you aren't willing to let them completely and utterly annihilate them? They sure as hell don't have any such reservations. Really sad to see what cowards the west has become. The west needs less Merkels and Obamas and more Alexander the Greats and Vlad the Impalers.
The incident took place in Helmand Province during Operation Herrick, part of the British effort in the War in Afghanistan. Blackman, of 42 Commando, Royal Marines, was part of a Marine patrol that came across an Afghan fighter in a field wounded by Apache Helicopter gunfire.
Blackman ordered the Afghan to be moved out of sight of the British Persistent Ground Surveillance System, a camera on a balloon above British Forward Operating Base Shazad, Helmand, covering the area Blackman's patrol had been sent to.
Video evidence played at the Marines' subsequent trial shows some of the patrol dragging the man across the field and then kicking him.
Blackman ordered Marine B and C to stop administering first aid to the insurgent and eventually shot the man in the chest with a 9 mm pistol, saying: "Shuffle off this mortal coil, you ****. It's nothing you wouldn't do to us." He then added: "I just broke the Geneva Convention."
Whilst I am pleased he will be freed, it should be noted that the Courts Martial didn't have that much choice, as currently Britrish Forces must adhere to both the Geneva Convention and the European Convention on Human Rights (Article 2 - The Right to Life), in terms of the latter it's been fully enshrined in British Law since 1998.
There is some debate as to whether the Armed Forces should be immune to the ECHR and other such legislation. He was initially given a life sentence but only with a reccomendation that he serve 8 years and be allowed out on licence, however he has now been found guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility caused by the trauma of war, so will be most likely freed very shortly.
well, I suppose every Marine and soldier knows the rules of engagement, it is not a licence to kill. But...
Identified Combatant? Yes. Unarmed? Debatable. Get naked and prove it, or get shot at a distance.
It's not Western Society that created this dynamic.
This is a difficult question not because of the proscription against killing unarmed adversaries, but because of the way that Middle Eastern Warfare has changed the concept of "unarmed".
When he said, "There is nothing you wouldn't do to us." He wasn't lying, ya know?
My question is that, if murder is murder, then what is the proper punishment should be given to the people who sent him there?
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Originally Posted by lilyflower3191981
well, I suppose every Marine and soldier knows the rules of engagement, it is not a licence to kill. But...
Identified Combatant? Yes. Unarmed? Debatable. Get naked and prove it, or get shot at a distance.
It's not Western Society that created this dynamic.
This is a difficult question not because of the proscription against killing unarmed adversaries, but because of the way that Middle Eastern Warfare has changed the concept of "unarmed".
When he said, "There is nothing you wouldn't do to us." He wasn't lying, ya know?
My question is that, if murder is murder, then what is the proper punishment should be given to the people who sent him there?
It was a difficult case, for a start it was all caught on video which was presented to the Courts, secondly he shot an unarmed dying man on the ground, after other soldiers dragged him across a field whilst kicking him.
I do however agree this was a war situation that people have to make difficult situations, that the Taliban would not have showed a British Soldier any mercy, and that the man would have probably just lay dying anyway and if anything he was just putting him out of his misery, indeed it was possible the kindess thing to do.
What you get at the Courts whether in the UK or US is not Justice, you get the Law, and the Law currently states that this breaks Human Rights and the Geneva Convention, although I am pleased the Marine is to be released and that there may be some debate in terms of reform of the law in relation to the Armed Services.
The recent striking off of Lawyer Phil Shiner who had made fase and malicious allegations regarding British Soldiers was also a step in the right direction, as is the Government looking again at some Human Rights in relation to combat situations.
I assume nobody can really imagine a real war, unless you were there yourself.
As a civilian, I certainly wouldn't judge. He aint a murderer, this much I do know.
His wife said he was a calm, very kind, generous good man; and his mother was absolutely right when she said, "I am not ashamed of him, he served his country." agreed agreed agreed
The so called "dying man" had a grenade hidden, I guess nobody talked about that, huh
I think there is a recruiting office somewhere near you.
Typical liberal.^^^ Support the Taliban and radical Islam.
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