It looks like the British soldier, Alexander Blackman will be freed soon. As a recap he was accused of the murder of an unarmed, injured Taliban fighter whose legal status at that time would have been 'Prisoner of War'. The video below clearly shows Blackman knew that he had just committed a crime when he asked his colleagues to keep it to themselves.
Would be interested to know people's thoughts on whether you think he should have had his original sentence significantly reduced, or not? There aren't many people who will shed a tear for a dead Taliban soldier, however there are those (me included) who do think that soldiers who commit extrajudicial killings are obviously doing wrong. Their actions bring shame to the army and potentially put other soldiers in harms way. We have to hold ourselves to much higher standard than the enemy otherwise we have no moral high ground whatsoever, and in that sense are no better than mercenary cunts from US firm 'Blackwater'.
What prompted me to post this was watching the cheering, jubilation and popping of champagne corks after the ruling by his supporters. This wasn't some grave miscarriage of justice, it was a marginal ruling by judges who still uphold that what he did was wrong.
The sentencing remarks, however, make it clear that the judges did not absolve him of all responsibility.“This was a deliberate killing of a wounded man,” the judges said. “Although the appellant’s responsibility is diminished … he still retained a substantial responsibility for the deliberate killing.”
They said aggravating factors included “the effect of the appellant’s actions on the reputation and safety of HM armed forces”. The judges continued: “There can be no doubt that the way in which the appellant acted, knowingly in contravention of the Geneva conventions … has had a material adverse effect on the views many hold about the conduct of HM armed forces.
“The appellant’s actions can be used by the insurgency and others as evidence that the killing … was in breach of the values proclaimed for which the international security force and HM armed forces had been sent to Afghanistan.”
The judges also flagged up the “vulnerability of the insurgent”, the decision by Blackman to make sure the killing was not witnessed by a British helicopter that had been circling and the attempt to cover up what had happened.
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