This punishment doesn't suit the crime

[thedrifter]

This punishment doesn't suit the crime

By: North County Times Opinion staff -

Our view: Verdict in Holmes case was an affront to justice

The lenient wrist slap for former Lance Cpl. Delano Holmes for the murder of an Iraqi soldier sends the wrong message to both Iraqis and his fellow Marines.

On New Year's Eve 2006, Holmes killed Munther Jasem Muhammed Hassin, a private in the Iraqi army, after the two quarreled over a cigarette lit by Hassin. Fearing that it might attract sniper fire, Holmes knocked the cigarette out of Hassin's mouth. In the ensuing confrontation, Holmes says he thought the Iraqi was reaching for a gun. When the melee was over, Hassin was dead after having been stabbed 17 times.


Unlike the incidents in Haditha and Hamdania, it is very difficult to make the case that the actions of Holmes were justified because they occurred in the face of a tough insurgent enemy or resulted because of the fog of war.

However real the threat of snipers, it's hard to believe that Holmes, a foot taller and 65 pounds heavier than his victim, could not have found other means to convince his guard duty companion ---- a supposed ally ---- to extinguish his cigarette.

On Thursday, a military jury at Camp Pendleton agreed that Holmes had committed murder, and had lied to cover it up, but chose to convict him of negligent homicide instead of unpremeditated murder (a more serious charge) and let Holmes walk out of court a free man. Prosecutors had asked for a five- to seven-year sentence. He was given a bad conduct discharge and reduced in rank to private.

The unwillingness of a military jury to hold Holmes fully accountable for the crime perpetuates the idea that Iraqi lives are worth less than American lives. That perception can't be good for our war efforts as we try to hand off more responsibilities to Iraqi regulars.

There's also the issue of internal military discipline. While the actions of our military forces must often be fierce, they should never be arbitrary. Marines shouldn't be given the idea that the cost of mistreating an Iraqi is worth the risk.

Of course, this is not to paint Holmes as a hardened criminal. Few can fully understand the stresses and fears Marines in Iraq face as they confront a hostile populace in a foreign land. There have been plenty of reports about Iraqi soldiers who aren't completely trustworthy. Cpl. Holmes was justified in being suspicious, and even angry, about Hassin's careless actions.

But of all the recent cases to be tried at Pendleton, this one presented the most clear-cut example of wrongdoing. For as sympathetic as we may be, Delano Holmes deserved a harsher sentence for his crime.

Ellie

[chili77bowl]

wow...I was suspicious of a few of them too...but I didn't feel the need to stab them 17 times.

[outlaw3179]

oh well ....

[Sgt Leprechaun]

"Few can fully understand the stresses and fears Marines in Iraq face as they confront a hostile populace in a foreign land. There have been plenty of reports about Iraqi soldiers who aren't completely trustworthy. Cpl. Holmes was justified in being suspicious, and even angry, about Hassin's careless actions."

Writes the fat azzes sitting behind a nice, safe desk in California. Bite me.

They don't know, can't know, and will never know. Until one of the 'editorial staff' is in that same situation, they would do well to simply shut the hell up.