To Marines, Justice Is Rotten to the Corps

A Marine found guilty of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit larceny, housebreaking, kidnapping, false official statements, and murder for his involvement in his squad's grabbing a 52-year-old Iraqi from his house, marching him 1,000 yards to a nearby ditch, and shooting him 11 times was given a bad-conduct discharge but no further jail time beyond the 519 days he has spent in the brig while awaiting trial. Some of the squad members testified that they decided to kill an Iraqi out of frustration with an Iraqi legal system that lets suspected insurgents roam free. Prosecutors said squad members tried to cover up the killing by planting a shovel and AK-47 by the victim’s body to make it look like he was an insurgent planting a bomb. The convictd Marine did not express remorse.

His lawyer said a long sentence would mean that Marines have abandoned one of their own despite the Marine Corps dictum that no Marine is left behind on the battlefield. Both prosecution and defense said that the sentence will send a message to troops serving in Iraq.

And that message would be—if you get frustrated with the government you are there to defend, it’s OK to kidnap and murder at random, confident that your fellow Marines will consider it dishonorable to hold you to account for your actions.