Army officer sentenced in Iraqi drowning (45 days and $12,000 dollar fine)

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.nola.com/newsflash/national/index.ssf?/base/national-40/1110931274244550.xml&storylist=national

FORT HOOD, Texas (AP) — An Army platoon leader was sentenced Tuesday to 45 days in a military prison for his role in forcing three Iraqi civilians into the Tigris River.

Army 1st Lt. Jack Saville also must forfeit $2,000 of his military salary each month for six months, military judge Col. Theodore Dixon ruled.

Prosecutors had recommended Saville, who chose a nonjury trial, be discharged from the Army.

"I hope to use these experiences for greater good," Saville, a 25-year-old West Point graduate, read from a statement.

more

Deer poachers get heftier sentences around here. I guess this will really teach the soldiers not to murder no more Iraqis?

[bahrbearian]

1. That'll teach him ,, he'll have to sign up for another tour to pay

the fine. I hope the victims family is relieved.

[Jacobin]

2. What In the EVERLOVIN' FUCK?

You get a $10,000 fine for shooting a fucking Greater Canadian Goose...even if its ACCIDENTALLY.

guess this will send the message......shoot anything that fucking moves, down brown people, don't worry, if you get caught, we'll slap your wrist

[Inland]

3. I hear Nichols is calling his lawyer nt

[VegasWolf]

4. It it had been a good ole boy from Texas instead of a turban head the

penalties would have been far worse. But hey, were're dealing with
conservative family values here.

[democrank]

5. Talk about a slap on the wrist!

Good thing Saville didn`t didn`t get picked up for a solid line violation or throwing a beer can on a highway. He would have been in real trouble. This is sickening. A West Point graduate...45 DAYS?????

[MASSAFRA]

6. This should answer

the question, "what is an Iraqi life worth?"

[Rose Siding]

7. This is the guy who LAUGHED when they threw him down into the water

GI: Army Officer Laughed at Iraqi Drowning

FORT HOOD, Texas -- An Army lieutenant laughed when soldiers under his command threw an Iraqi civilian into the Tigris River, saying they had a bet with another platoon over who would do that first, a former soldier testified Tuesday at the officer's assault trial.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1314159&mesg_id=1314159

SHAME

[thecrow]

8. Life these days is cheap, my friends

especially if you're not one of "us".

This is one of the most disgusting sentences I've ever heard of.
This man should get life feeding the Iraqi poor.

Justice? Pfffft.

[mom cat]

11. I was thinking the same thing. This should alieanate even more hearts

and minds.

[UpInArms]

9. An Iraqi family's tragedy

because this piece of human slime and his world might (on the off chance) read the letter from this Iraqi mother, I will post it once again:

http://healingiraq.blogspot.com/archives/2004_01_01_healingiraq_archive.html

(about 3/4ths down the page)

Dear Sirs,

I write to you in a very distressed state of mind and that may burst my emotions and passions because of the weighty calamity that struck me and my husband after losing our oldest son who was at the tender age of nineteen years. He was looking forward with eyes full of hope and optimism to a bright and eventful future, especially after being engaged to marry a relative of his very recently. He moved forward with all his energy to build their future life with firm and confident steps. But Fate stood in his way and seized him unexpectedly leaving a bleeding wound in the hearts of his parents, his fiance, and his friends and family. Please allow me to tell you my story...

On Saturday the 3rd of January 2004, my son and his cousin were travelling back to our residence in Samarra, they were driving a small cargo truck belonging to a third party from which they earn their livelihood in a country torn by wars and sanctions. Yes, they were back from Baghdad yet misfortune followed them from the beginning, their car broke down on the road which caused a delay in their arrival to Samarra when the curfew hour was just about to start in the city...And this is where the first chapter of the tragedy takes place. An American army patrol stood in their way, and after they went through the whole procedure of searching my son and his cousin, and inspecting the cargo load, they tied them up both and led them to an area about three kilometres from the scene and...in front of one of the gates of the Tharthar dam where water flows at its strongest rate and to my son and his cousin's horror, they ordered them to jump into the water, it was midnight and the cold was unbearable, when they hesitated, they were pushed by the soldiers. Unfortunately my boy cannot swim, even though swimming at this time of the year wouldn't have helped. Yet my sons cousin survived miraculously after he got stuck in a tree branch to give us his account of this tragic event which could have went untold. He tried saving my son, but the water current was stronger than him...After days of search we found my sons jacket floating with the stream, it shall remain with me as a memory and a symbol of the injustice brought against him by soldiers of the United States of America's army, who came to our country under the banners of human rights and democracy only to send my son to his demise on his wedding days...

To document the incident, my son's name is Zaydun Ma'mun Fadhil Hassun Al-Samarrai, born in the 1st of June 1984...Yes, they killed him and they broke my heart, try to imagine that dear sirs and ask your wives how hard it is for a mother to see her fruit ripen only to be thrown by sinful hands and to be swept away without any mercy or humanity. Those soldiers have turned everything America has ever stood for into one big lie. I was a victim, and there are and will be many more.

...more...

[Judi Lynn]

14. Here's his photo...

American Karma & The River of Tears
by Bill Morgan

......Said one Iraqi mother whose son was recently murdered by the Americans: "Those soldiers have turned everything America has ever stood for into one big lie." This is the reaping of what America has sown, and it is the just result of America's actions. Her 19 year old son, Zaydun Al-Samarrai, was murdered by American soldiers on January 3, 2004. His only crime, apparently, was that the car he was driving in with his cousins broke down near an American convoy. The soldiers tied them up and took them to one of the gates of the Tharthar dam and pushed them into the churning water. Zaydun could not swim. One cousin survived to tell the tale.
(snip/...)

http://www.prahlad.org/pub/american_karma.htm

[pie]

29. there is something unnatural about watching a man drown

It goes against the code of humanity...
watching the water take a man's life.
A beastly, monstrous act.

[vpigrad]

10. 45 days of paid rest!

Where do I sign-up?

[roguevalley]

12. so basically, you can get away with murder.

[NNN0LHI]

13. You can get away with murder...even while laughing about it. Nice

They hate us for our freedoms.

Don

[Zerex71]

15. So that's what the life of a Little Brown Person(TM) is worth?

Meanwhile, the 9/11 victims get much more.

[Bo]

16. We are monsters

45 days for murder is something I cannot fathom

[Gregorian]

17. You'd get more time by drowning a cat for god's sake!

Sickening.

[leesa]

18. Well, I guess there will be a few roadside bombs going off to toast this

travesty. Jack Saville is a low-life murderer.

[lumpy]

19. He will be treated like a hero

"who wears the uniform to protect our freedoms" ; you can bet your bottom dollar on that. Unconsciencable bastards.

[Disturbed]

20. I wonder what sentence he would have recieved if.

he had been part of this in Amerika and the young man that was killed was the President's son?

[DoYouEverWonder]

21. 45 days' jail for US officer who had cousins thrown into Tigris

March 16, 2005

An American army platoon leader who ordered his troops to throw two Iraqi prisoners into the Tigris river was sentenced yesterday to 45 days in military prison and given a $12,000 (£6,200) fine.

Lieutenant Jack Saville, 25, pleaded guilty to assault and dereliction of duty, at Fort Hood, in Texas, for ordering his troops to force two Iraqis into the river in January last year - one of the men was feared to have drowned, though his body was never found.

Marwan Fadil and his cousin Zaidoun Hassoun were out after curfew in Samarra, 62 miles north of Baghdad, when the incident happened.

During an earlier trial Mr Fadil testified that Mr Hassoun had been killed but this was denied by other US soldiers who said his death had been faked.

The fact that Mr Hassoun's body was never found made it difficult for Lt Saville to be charged with manslaughter.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1438746,00.html


45 days for murder (or even attempted murder)? Only in America.

[area51]

22. 45 days?

Ah, yes, this'll really show the world that this is a "pro-life" country.
</sarcasm>

[anarchy1999]

23. UnBELIEVABLE! Yeppers, Don, (NNOLHI), lots of hearts & minds

are going to be won with this decision. 45 days??? WTF?

Maybe the decision has something to do with inability to meet recruiting goals? This is really beyound me, I can't fathom it. 25 years old, Westpoint graduate, kills a 19 year old and gets a f,ing2@#$ fine and 45 days "in jail". There are probably quite a few video game nutzoids into "killing" that will sign the dotted line now. Recruiter gets to say .... "see now..."?

I'm so ashamed and embarrassed for this country. Isn't the UN holding human rights hearings this week. This decision should takes us a long way there.

[moondust]

24. Check this out.

From another thread:

Missouri Executes Man Who Tossed Woman from Bridge

ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - A man who threw a woman to her death off a Mississippi River bridge after stealing her car was executed by the state of Missouri on Wednesday.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=7914212

[DoYouEverWonder]

26. One of the differences here

is that they never found the Iraqi's body. How convenient?

[superconnected]

25. so the US values Iraqis at $4k each.

and if you kill one, you can get a payment plan.

[Rose Siding]

27. His apology (he's "forgiven")- NOTHING of personal tragedy for the family

snip>
Reading from a statement, the West Point graduate said he has learned from his mistakes and has been forgiven by God. His actions, he said, "adversely affected U.S.-Iraqi trust during critical times of reconstruction."

"I hope to use these experiences for greater good," Saville said.
...
Monday's deal included an agreement by Saville to testify against a higher-ranking officer accused of ordering him and other soldiers to execute certain Iraqi suspects if they caught them.

Saville said Capt. Matthew Cunningham, his company commander, gave him the names of five Iraqis who "were not to come back alive" if they were caught during a series of raids in Samarra on Jan. 3, 2004. The Hassoun cousins were not on the list.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-soldiers-drowning,0,7484335.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[NNN0LHI]

28. Will this guys criminal record reflect this conviction back here in the US?

I sure would like to know?

Don

[spanone]

30. What a sham.