AP: 2nd soldier to plead guilty in Iraq rape

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_re_us/iraq_rape_slaying

From the article:

Spc. James P. Barker, 24, of Fresno, Calif., pleaded guilty to rape and murder in November as part of an agreement to testify against the others. He was sentenced to 90 years in military prison.

Two others — Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, 22, of Chambersburg, Pa., and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, 23, of Huffman, Texas — await courts-martial in the coming months on charges related to the attack.

A fifth person, former private Steven D. Green, 21, of Midland, Texas, faces federal charges of rape and murder. Green, the alleged ringleader in the attack, was discharged from the military before the allegations surfaced in June.

Green will be tried in U.S. District Court in Kentucky.

So who faces the death penalty here?

In light of these revelations, it's hard to believe that American Pvt. Eddie Slovik was executed for desertion during the closing days of WWII.

No matter how heinous the crime, I do not support the death penalty ever.

Executing the five men responsible for this horrific act will not undo what has been done. It will not bring back the dead, nor erase the horror in our minds.

Executing them will not "punish" them, if that is the objective in killing them. Once they are dead, they are beyond punishment.

Executing them will not rehabilitate them, if that is in any way the goal of the proceedings.

Executing them will not stop further incidents being perpetrated by others.

Executing them serves no purpose but to exact revenge ---- and that is EXACTLY what they were doing when they raped and murdered this family. They were exacting revenge for the killing of one of their own. If we do the same, we are no better than they. Indeed, we are worse, for they have at least the extenuating circumstances of having seen one of their own blown to bits; what extenuating circumstances can we claim for calmly ending a person's life?

These are young men. They face the prospect of spending the rest of their lives in prison. They will likely never spend any quality time with their families between now and their own deaths. If they have children, they will not see them grow up, marry, have children of their own. They will not be present when their own parents grow old and die. If single, they will never marry in any meaningful way. They took away the lives of many innocent people. Now they will watch their own lives slowly become as nothing. And they will, if they have any souls at all, remember every day of those lives the incident that put them where they are.

Tansy Gold

Yet, why hasn't the military pursued the death penalty? It appears the Defense Department doesn't want to be seen as executing US soldiers for crimes committed while on duty in Iraq.

If anything, this should bring greater scrutiny to the death penalty, since it appears the very institution that executed 94 US servicemen during WWII for rape and murder and one deserter, refuses to use the death penalty in this case. It appears consistency is not a strong characteristic of those who advocate capital punishment, particularly in the military.

And if they're uncomfortable with it, then abolish it...

defend this group. It was premeditated RAPE of a teenage girl, for crying out loud, and then her family was murdered.

This headline downplays the murder, as if it was an afterthought and everyone would get over it after a while.

I am against the death penalty, even in cases like this, but hope he is in prison a long time. For these questioning why accept a plea bargain and not go to trial: sometimes there is not enough evidence to convict. The word here is "evidence". Sometimes the prosecutor does not think they can get a guilty ruling, and are afraid the accused will get off, so go for a plea bargain. Seems that someone who pleads guilty to rape and premeditated murder will be locked up for a long time. I do hope so. The one I am concerned about is Stephen Green, the "alleged" mastermind who got kicked out of the military and turned loose on the civilian world.