The Straw That Breaks The Afghan's Back

Just as things calm down from the Koran burning a couple weeks ago, another incident happens in Afghanistan. This time it was outright murder. A US Military Staff Sergeant apparently left a US base in Kandahar in the middle of the night, fully armed and equipped with night vision. He wandered into a village nearby and killed sixteen civilians, including three children. He is in custody after returning to the base and turning himself in, now a full war criminal.

This is going to be a hard one to fix with the Afghan populace. Burning Korans is one thing, but the cold blooded murder of innocent women and children is an atrocity. In my opinion this person should be turned over to Afghan authorities and face trial which will surely result in the death penalty. While I do not support the death penalty, I do support the Afghans receiving fair justice for these crimes, which they will surely not receive if this criminal is tried in American Military Court. We can only look to the examples of the Haditha and My Lai massacres, where nearly all of the charges against the accused were dropped, and the ones they were found guilty for had been reduced to trivial offences.

Right now I'm very glad the bulk of Canadian forces have been withdrawn, because there will be further ISAF blood shed due to this incident.