Abandoned brothers: Afghan murderer gets just 7 years for killing Marines

The Marines issued a statement late last night which is included at the end of the article.

They tried Khudairaham in Afghanistan before a military court as a juvenile, because he said he was only 15. Medical records from a military unit in Helmand Province show that bone marrow tests were done that indicated Khudairaham is actually 18 or 19. After he shot the three unarmed Marines multiple times each, in the gymnasium while they were working out, he danced around and shouted "I've committed jihad! I've committed jihad!" Khudairaham was one of a unit of Afghan militia being trained to take over the fighting when the U.S. military leaves the country.

As side issue to this, but in line with the Marines' unaccountable mishandling of this entire incident, is the report of an Afghan police chief who allegedly molested the shooter as a child. Marine reservist Jason Bezler, on active duty in Afghanistan four years ago, gave a warning about the police chief to his superiors. It was ignored. Brezler did pass his own report -- which had been classified -- to news media. That got him court-martialed for relaying the information through unsecure channels.

This is not the military I know. I was Army, but this is not the Marines I know, either. If it was 20, 30, 40 years ago, these injustices never would have been done. I don't understand what is going on in our armed forces, but I do not like it.

 

He still gets to go home. He gets to see his family again. He has a chance at a life, such as it is. The Marines don't have any of that. Neither do their families.

 

Justice. Seven years for killing three Marines, lying about his age to avoid adult penalties and the Marines willingly becoming complicit in the lie -- that's not justice.

 

That's why I posted links. So you could know those things and I would not use up excessive space, thus making a post too long for anyone to want to read.

The old adage about what happens when we "assume" is proven true again.

He would have been beheaded. Perhaps executed within a matter of days.

This was murder. Plain and simple. He could have done the same thing in a health club in downtown Kansas City. What do you suppose the penalty would have been then? You might remember before answering, Missouri is the third leading state in the nation in executions.