Human Shields and Choice

[Occhidiangela]

The international court at Den Hague should investigate and absolve or convict those responsible. Acceptable?

Not acceptable for American citizens. That is a matter of American law and policy. The way it does work, however, is that any negligent activity is by law in our country investigated and adjudicated in our courts, as no American military member gives up his citizenship and those rights when his country sends him or her into harms way. That issue is contentious in our own policy circles. An American Army sergeant in Somalia got courtmartialed and punished for shooting a Somali civilian who assaulted him in Mogadishu, for example. Some who saw that trial were appalled that we would put soldiers in harm's way and then courtmartial them for using their arms in a hostile environment. But, the ruling was that the sergeant violated the Standard Operating Procedures and standing orders on that mission, so he got hammered.

In this imperfect world, the desire for 'justice' is not always answered in court, where both OJ Simpson and the US Marine EA6B pilots who hit the gondola wire in Italy appeared to have gotten less than what many in the public perceive as their 'just' punishment for their acts.

I was amazed at how some simple military flying rules, which were violated, were not considered sufficient grounds to hammer the d!ckens out of the pilot in command of that mission. However, due process is required.

At present, the American political climate is not conducive to trusting "international" courts in such matters.

PS: edit. The censor/auto editor on this forum eats dog feces. :P See d!ckens for why. It came up as some &*%^$ stuff on first typing.