Spot on!

[whotheheckami]

I would like to say that I'm pleased and relieved at the result of this trial. To me the individual's issues about the legality of the war in Iraq are utterly irrelevant to the case. He refused to carry out lawful orders from his superior officers - end of debate. He is more than welcome to have personal feelings about the conflict and I admire him for taking such a strong moral stance. However, he was a volunteer memeber of a fighting force and is being justifiably punished for disobeying orders.

Forgive my cynicism, but I only hope his moral purity continues to the point where he donates any profits from subsequent book deals to charity.

Comments

[whotheheckami.livejournal.com]

Whether I acquitted or not would depend on the circumstances and the conflict. However, if you accept a concentration camp as being somewhere where civilans are detained in times of conflict then there may not be a war crime being committed. Britain ran a number of concentration camps for various classes of civilians during the second world war. They were not "death camps" and to the best of my knwledge no-one was accused of war crimes.

The whole of Queen's Regulations are long overdue a major overhaul, but it is an area that I am woefully oout of date with and no longer have a copy of QRs or the Manual of Air Force Law to refer to. Consequently, I am surprised that the penalty for disobeying a lawful order is not already life imprisonment.

I think it will have very little impact on those who are likely to volunteer to serve