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Ear to the Ground

U.S. Soldier Gets Life in Killing of Iraqi Prisoners

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Posted on Apr 16, 2009
Rose Barracks
canada.com

An American soldier pedals past the 5th Judicial Circuit Courtroom at the Rose Barracks in Vilseck, southeastern Germany.

He was one of three U.S. soldiers implicated in the execution-style shooting of four Iraqi prisoners near Baghdad in March 2007, but 40-year-old Army Master Sgt. John E. Hatley was also believed to have been the main instigator in the incident. On Thursday, Hatley was sentenced to life in prison for murder.

AFP via Google News:

Hatley, who prosecutors said masterminded the killings he committed with two other soldiers, will begin serving his sentence in Germany before being transferred to a US prison. He will be eligible for parole in 20 years.

During the sentencing hearing, the 40-year-old Hatley told an eight-man army panel that he respected their findings but recounted the stress of dealing with mounting US casualties at the hands of insurgents.

“I understand your decision,” said Hatley, who had pleaded not guilty.

“I’m not perfect, I ain’t no angel” the sergeant said, fighting back tears as he spoke of “policing (cleaning) up the pieces of our soldiers, civilians and friends” following bomb and sniper attacks.

Hatley estimated his company of 150 men had engaged in some 130 firefights, while an army chaplain said they had also suffered a “nightmare” of “easily 250” roadside bomb attacks.

“We knew people were going to die,” Chaplain Seth George added.

But Hatley denied he had cracked under the pressure of relentless attacks, telling the judge “I’m not crazy, sir,” and adding: “I’m an infantryman, sir.”

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By AbuMubarak, June 2 at 6:30 am #

Why is it that the USA can prosecute others and their own, but they do not allow anyone else to prosecute their own?

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By AbuMubarak, June 2 at 6:28 am #

We need wars. Wars are what stop evil people from spreading their evil.  But as with all conflicts, there is definitely, at least, ONE wrong side, sometimes two, but never two right sides. 

In regards to this particular conflict, Uncle Sam has been on the wrong side from day one.  It has dug itself into a hole that it may never recover. Led by a cabal that was hellbent on spreading evil. And supported by a populace that thought their government was working as a force of good.

As for this creep, he deserves exactly what he gave to those people. But, he is not the only one, by far.

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By godistwaddle, April 17 at 1:39 pm #

Real justice would demand that he be turned over to the relatives of the murdered, eh?  He murdered Iraqis, and, we’re told, Iraq is a sovereign nation, and… blah, blah, blah.

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By gerald4, April 17 at 12:42 pm #

Thankx .270WIN - But do not get me started.

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By .270WSM, April 17 at 12:21 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

gerald4:

Oohrah!

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By photoshock, April 17 at 9:51 am #

What can any of us expect from a person, who by training, and preparation is taught to kill and maim the enemy?  Should we not accept the fact that there will be atrocities in the military?
I daresay, NOT!  We are a nation, founded upon the rule of law and not the rule of emotion and fear. We cannot accept this kind of behaviour and misdeeds, from those who swear to protect and defend the Constitution of the US. This is not a nation, where a single person can make their own law and then disregard the laws they have sworn to uphold.
It is high time, America give up its quest for hegemony in the world, and realize that we are not unique and special, because we are not a nation founded upon ‘Christian’ principles and the ideals of
war and not peace.
The ‘military-industrial-Congressional’ complex, which now runs this country for the ‘central banking system’ of the world, has to know, that, we the people, will not stand much longer for the use of our
military for cannon fodder and the practices of empire that are foremost in the minds of those people
who run the ‘central banking system,’  also known as
the ‘Federal Reserve System.’

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By Erroll, April 16 at 7:33 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

American soldiers have to start asking themselves some hard questions such as why they should be allowing themselves to be used as cannon fodder by their most uncaring government and why they should be participating in the illegal, immoral, unjust and idiotic occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. It is long past the point that they realize that there was something called a GI rebellion that took place some thirty five to forty years at or near military bases both at home and abroad during the Vietnam conflict. Those in the military today have the power to bring the occupations to end by telling their superiors that they will no longer be taking part in the subjugation of the Afghan and Iraqi people. They can make sure that the Pakistanis will no longer be bombarded by drone missiles which end up killing scores of innocent Pakistanis.

When will the soldiers of the present begin to finally achieve an epiphany equal to that of former Green Beret Donald Duncan who noted in the powerful and moving documentary Sir! No Sir!:

“I was doing it right but I wasn’t doing right.”

The former Green Beret also wrote an article in Ramparts magazine in the 1960s which was aptly entitled “It was all a lie!” The military personnel today should wake up and realize that they also have been lied to by their government and that if they had anything resembling a conscience they would be finally saying NO to American imperialism.

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By gerald4, April 16 at 6:24 pm #

President George W. Bush 43 “wimped out” because after conquering Iraq for a second time, he did not dictate a Constitution and then did not appoint a government to rule Iraq.  Instead George W. Bush allowed the Iraqis to form a theocracy that includes Islam as a part of the government.  Why fight a war if we win then turn around and surrender to the vanquished?  George W. Bush is also not punishing the Iraqis anywhere in Iraq where more than 4,000 US soldiers have been killed and 40,000 maimed by Iraqi Moslems since we “won” this war.  Almost all of the 40,000 maimed would have died in any previous military conflict.  George W. Bush 43 apparently believes that this is OK with the US citizenry for Iraqis to kill and maim American Servicemen without any penalty.  Why should the Iraqis stop killing USA soldiers (and civilian contract workers) if there is no penalty? 
We need Harry S. Truman and/or General Eisenhower today.  They would have stopped the killing of American servicemen in Iraq as they stopped the killing of American servicemen in Germany after WWII.  After WWII, the defeated Germany had “Werewolf” pockets of resistance who shot one U. S. Soldier in a German town.  The U.S. Army pulled out of that town and subjected it to an artillery barge created great damage to the buildings and infrastructure in that town plus killed many of the men, women, and children occupants of the town who ignored the published 24 hour advance warnings.  This totally ended the Werewolf activity in the American Sector of Germany.  The French had werewolf activity in their sector, and the French took all of the males in the German town where a French soldier was assassinated and executed every tenth male in that village (decimated).  The Russians had werewolf activity in their sector, and the Russians took all of the females in the town where a Russian soldier was assassinated and raped the women multiple times for an extended period of time.  The English ended the activity in their sector in a similar manner.  Today the Germans respect us.  If we do not respect or value the lives of our soldiers, then the Islamic People will not respect us.
Today, little is remembered about the activities of the Werewolves and other groups who opposed the Allied forces during this post World War II period.  While the Nazi resistance effort did eventually fail, many of its methods and the harsh Allied response to them have real world application lessons that are applicable for the present situation in Iraq today. 
Challenges of any sort were met by collective Allied reprisals—especially on the part of the Soviets and the French.  In a few cases the occupiers even shot hostages and cleared out towns where instances of sabotage occurred.  It was standard practice for the Soviets to destroy whole communities if they faced a single act of resistance.  In the eastern fringes of the Greater Reich, now annexed by the Poles and the Czechoslovaks, Werewolf harassment handed the new authorities an excuse to rush the deportations of millions of ethnic Germans to occupied Germany.

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By xypher, April 16 at 5:41 pm #

How many years will George W. Bush get?!

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By JFoster2k, April 16 at 4:11 pm #

This is just so sad for all involved.

No one knows how Master Sgt. Hatley might have lived his life if he never had to go to Iraq, but there is no denying that being in heavy combat affects a man.

We need our servicemen and women home… preferably alive.

“WAR! What is it good for? Absolutely NOTHING!”

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