Abandoned brothers: Afghan murderer gets just 7 years for killing Marines

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Fox News: Family of murdered Marine blasts 7-year sentence in letter to Gen. Amos, feels 'abandoned'http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/30/family-murdered-marine-blasts-7-year-sentence-feels-abandoned/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/07/30/family-murdered-marine-blasts-7-year-sentence-feels-abandoned/

Relatives of a murdered U.S. Marine have written a scathing letter to the Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, blasting the seven-year sentence given to the juvenile shooter.

Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley Jr. was killed alongside two other Marines in 2012 at a forward operating base in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. The shooter, Ainuddin Khudairaham, was tried last week before a panel of three Afghan judges and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, the maximum sentence for a minor offender under Afghan law. Attorneys for the family now claim they’ve been “abandoned” by the Marine Corps.

Click here for more coverage from "The Kelly File"

“The Marine Corps wants to provide no information about these murders,” the July 29 letter, obtained by Fox News, reads. “It wants to conduct no investigation. It wants the entire ‘incident’ to go away.”

The Marines issued a statement late last night which is included at the end of the article.

They tried Khudairaham in Afghanistan before a military court as a juvenile, because he said he was only 15. Medical records from a military unit in Helmand Province show that bone marrow tests were done that indicated Khudairaham is actually 18 or 19. After he shot the three unarmed Marines multiple times each, in the gymnasium while they were working out, he danced around and shouted "I've committed jihad! I've committed jihad!" Khudairaham was one of a unit of Afghan militia being trained to take over the fighting when the U.S. military leaves the country.

As side issue to this, but in line with the Marines' unaccountable mishandling of this entire incident, is the report of an Afghan police chief who allegedly molested the shooter as a child. Marine reservist Jason Bezler, on active duty in Afghanistan four years ago, gave a warning about the police chief to his superiors. It was ignored. Brezler did pass his own report -- which had been classified -- to news media. That got him court-martialed for relaying the information through unsecure channels.

This is not the military I know. I was Army, but this is not the Marines I know, either. If it was 20, 30, 40 years ago, these injustices never would have been done. I don't understand what is going on in our armed forces, but I do not like it.

 

[Don]

I don't like it either.

On the other side, though: ever thought about what an Afghan prison, run by Afghans, is like?

Think Mexico -- but worse.

Now consider: the guy was tried as a juvenile, and will be treated as a juvenile--in a system where a police chief has already molested him as a juvenile.

7 years may not sound like much--until you remember we're not talking about the American prison system.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Now consider: the guy was tried as a juvenile, and will be treated as a juvenile--in a system where a police chief has already molested him as a juvenile.

7 years may not sound like much--until you remember we're not talking about the American prison system.

He still gets to go home. He gets to see his family again. He has a chance at a life, such as it is. The Marines don't have any of that. Neither do their families.

 

[go2church]

What did the family want, for him to be killed?

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

What did the family want, for him to be killed?

Justice. Seven years for killing three Marines, lying about his age to avoid adult penalties and the Marines willingly becoming complicit in the lie -- that's not justice.

 

[Bro. Curtis]

What did the family want, for him to be killed?

Typical go2church self-piety. they probably wanted justice.

Edited to add, sorry TNID, you said it before me.

 

[Earth Wind and Fire]

What did the family want, for him to be killed?

Why not?!?

 

[go2church]

Easy there, I save my self-piety for much deeper discussions, just asking a question. I didn't know if the families had actually said that is what they wanted or though would have been appropriate.

Justice would have been what, 10 years, 20 years? I'm not sure short of executing this guy that they would have been happy, if indeed they have said such.

It would be interesting to see what the penalty would have been had the young guy killed an Afghani of high rank.

This situation highlights the almost unthinkable layers of complexity involved in going to war - I can't even imagine. Seems like you would spend a lot of time make "least bad" choices.

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

I didn't know if the families had actually said that is what they wanted or though would have been appropriate.

That's why I posted links. So you could know those things and I would not use up excessive space, thus making a post too long for anyone to want to read.

Justice would have been what, 10 years, 20 years? I'm not sure short of executing this guy that they would have been happy, if indeed they have said such.

The old adage about what happens when we "assume" is proven true again.

It would be interesting to see what the penalty would have been had the young guy killed an Afghani of high rank.

He would have been beheaded. Perhaps executed within a matter of days.

This situation highlights the almost unthinkable layers of complexity involved in going to war - I can't even imagine. Seems like you would spend a lot of time make "least bad" choices.

This was murder. Plain and simple. He could have done the same thing in a health club in downtown Kansas City. What do you suppose the penalty would have been then? You might remember before answering, Missouri is the third leading state in the nation in executions.

 

[Revmitchell]

The death penatly, life at minimum.