US soldier to be court-martialed in Iraq deaths

[Coventina]

Source: Associated Press

VILSECK, Germany (AP) — A 26-year-old U.S. Army sergeant will be court-martialed on charges of murder in the deaths of four Iraqi prisoners who were bound, blindfolded and shot before being dumped into a Baghdad canal.

Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr. on Wednesday waived his right to an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a civilian grand jury hearing, during a short session at the Army's Rose Barracks courthouse.

No immediate date was set for his court-martial on charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and obstruction of justice stemming from the killings in spring 2007. He faces a possible life sentence without parole if convicted.

Witnesses have testified at various hearings that the prisoners were killed in retribution for attacks against the soldiers' unit.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hYtcV7GUHRC88uGXnQ8Hl6I5lvbAD94DCI5G0

[gratuitous]

1. This isn't just murder, it's a war crime

If these killings were indeed retribution against civilians for attacks on Leahy's unit, this rises to the level of a war crime or crime against humanity. He is therefore not subject to the jurisdiction of his comrades-in-arms, who have been notably lenient in judging their own, but to an international tribunal. If we don't take the proper action against our own criminals for international crimes, someone else surely will. And they just might use extra-legal means to do it.