[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----US MILITARY

[Rick Halperin]

September 2


US MILITARY:

Death penalty urged for soldiers accused of murder in Iraq


An Army investigator has recommended that 4 soldiers accused of murder in
a raid in Iraq should face the death penalty, according to a report
obtained Saturday by The Associated Press.

Lt. Col. James P. Daniel Jr. concluded that the slayings were premeditated
and warranted the death sentence based on evidence he heard at an August
hearing. The case will now be forwarded to Army officials, who will decide
whether Daniel's recommendation should be followed.

The soldiers, all from the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne
Division's 187th Infantry Regiment, are accused of killing three Iraqi men
taken from a house May 9 on a marshy island outside Samarra, about 60
miles north of Baghdad.

Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Pfc. Corey R.
Clagett and Spc. Juston R. Graber have claimed they were ordered to "kill
all military age males" during the raid on the island. According to
statements from some of the soldiers, they were told the target was an
al-Qaeda training camp.

Hunsaker told investigators that he and Clagett were attacked by the three
men, who were being handcuffed, and shot them in self-defense. Clagett
said he was hit in the face, and Hunsaker claimed he was stabbed during
the attack.

Prosecutors argue the soldiers conspired to kill the men and then altered
the scene to fit their story. They contend Girouard stabbed Hunsaker as
part of the killing plot.

Clagett, Girouard and Hunsaker also are accused of threatening to kill
another soldier who witnessed the slayings. Girouard, the most senior
soldier charged, faces several additional charges, including sexual
harassment and carrying a personal weapon on duty.

Paul Bergrin, Clagett's civilian attorney, said he was surprised that
Daniel recommended the case be taken to trial at all.

"I'm extremely disappointed and disheartened," Bergrin said Saturday.
"They are being used as pawns in the war on terror. They followed the
rules of engagement. They were confronted with violence by a known
al-Qaeda training camp member."

Other lawyers in the case, several of whom are deployed to Iraq, did not
immediately respond to e-mail requests for comment.

The soldiers are expected to be tried at Fort Campbell. They have been
jailed in Kuwait since their arrests this year.

The U.S. military has not executed a soldier since the 1960 hanging of a
soldier convicted rape and attempted murder.

(source: Associated Press)