"American GIs & The Uniform Code of Military Justice"
"American GIs & The Uniform Code of Military Justice"By politicaltheatrics
"We’ve shot an amazing number of people, none has proven to have been a real threat to the force."
- General Stanley McCrystal
"Wikileaks released a 17-minute video on April 5th which depicted an Apache helicopter opening fire on a group of innocent Iraqi’s in New Baghdad in 2007; two of those killed were Reuters Journalists carrying their camera bags over their shoulders – Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22 and Saeed Chmagh, 40. On Monday evening, the Pentagon acknowledged and verified the legitimacy of the video. There was no exchange of fire, no gunshots from the ground, nor were any weapons seen – in other words there was no threat; anyone who contends that this event was an “exchange of fire” or a “firefight” has neglected to watch the video or has decided to blatantly ignore reality for the sake of callous nationalism.
Illegality and the UCMJ: The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) is a Congressional Code of Military Criminal Law applicable to all military members worldwide.
UCMJ § 918 Article 118 – Murder: “Any person subject to this chapter who, without justification or excuse, unlawfully kills a human being, when he—”
(1) has a premeditated design to kill;
(2) intends to kill or inflict great bodily harm;
(3) is engaged in an act that is inherently dangerous to another and evinces a wanton disregard of human life; or
(4) is engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of burglary, sodomy, rape, robbery, or aggravated arson; is guilty of murder, and shall suffer such punishment as a court-martial may direct, except that if found guilty under clause (1) or (4), he shall suffer death or imprisonment for life as a court-martial may direct.
Elements:
(1) Premeditated murder.
(a) That a certain named or described person is dead;
(b) That the death resulted from the act or omission of the accused;
(c) That the killing was unlawful; and
(d) That, at the time of the killing, the accused had a premeditated design to kill.
(2) Intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm.
(a) That a certain named or described person is dead;
(b) That the death resulted from the act or omission of the accused;
(c) That the killing was unlawful; and
(d) That, at the time of the killing, the accused had the intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm upon a person.
(3) Act inherently dangerous to another.
(a) That a certain named or described person is dead;
(b) That the death resulted from the intentional act of the accused;
(c) That this act was inherently dangerous to another and showed a wanton disregard for human life;
(d) That the accused knew that death or great bodily harm was a probable consequence of the act; and
(e) That the killing was unlawful.
(4) During certain offenses.
(a) That a certain named or described person is dead;
(b) That the death resulted from the act or omission of the accused;
(c) That the killing was unlawful; and
(d) That, at the time of the killing, the accused was engaged in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of burglary, sodomy, rape, robbery, or aggravated arson.
What American GI’s did in Baghdad and have been doing since Iraq was first occupied, illegally, falls under at least two of the given elements: premeditation and intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm.
Under the UCMJ premeditation is defined as: “… murder committed after the formation of a specific intent to kill someone and consideration of the act intended. It is not necessary that the intention to kill have been entertained for any particular or considerable length of time. When a fixed purpose to kill has been deliberately formed, it is immaterial how soon afterwards it is put into execution. The existence of premeditation may be inferred from the circumstances.”
When it comes to intent to kill or inflict great bodily we have two definitions which must be acknowledged, as provided in the UCMJ, – Intent and Great Bodily Harm:
(a) Intent “…if a person does an intentional act likely to result in death or great bodily injury, it may be inferred that death or great bodily injury was in-tended. The intent need not be directed toward the person killed, or exist for any particular time before commission of the act, or have previously existed at all. It is sufficient that it existed at the time of the act or omission…”
Example: a person committing housebreaking who strikes and kills the householder attempting to prevent flight can be guilty of murder even if the householder was not seen until the moment before striking the fatal blow.
(b) Great Bodily Harm “… serious injury; fractured or dislocated bones, deep cuts, torn members of the body, serious damage to internal organs, and other serious bodily injuries. It is synonymous with the term “grievous bodily harm.”
Now that we know the crimes we should also take into account the punishment as outlined in the UCMJ,Article 118; Murder :
(1) If one commits an act found under Article 118 under (1) or (4) – the maximum punishment is death. Mandatory minimum: Imprisonment for life with eligibility for parole.
(2) If one commits an act found under Article 118 under (2) or (3) -such punishment other than death as a court-martial may direct.
Again, The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) applies to all members of the Uniformed services of the United States: the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps, and Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. There are many people who argue that there are no laws during war – well, apparently there are."
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