Charge dropped in case of man accused of cowardice

[Larry_OHF]

Now I do not know much about law nor the military...but in my opinion from what I read here about this guy and what they were accusing him of, I am left astonished. The article is here, and the part that shocked the hell outta me is this:

However, a few days later, he was shipped back to the United States to face the cowardice charge, the first such case since the Vietnam War. Conviction on the charge can result in the death penalty.

.

What the heck is that! They shoot the guy up full of Lariam which has been proven to cause mental problems, and then when he has a mental problem, they want to charge him for a crime and possibly give him a death sentence?

I just don't understand. Some people faint at the sight of blood, even normal people that have no Lariam coursing through their veins. Those types of people do not become doctors because anatomy is "gross" to them. So if a dude has a big problem seeing the corpse of another, and becomes sick to his stomach and afraid...why would we want to punish that person whether or not he had a mind-altering drug in his system?

I am looking for somebody that has military knowledge from the US to answer this as best as he/she can. Also, is it wrong or unpatriotic of me to question this strange/nonsense trial?

[ 07-16-2004, 09:44 AM: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Djinn Raffo]

Larium is crazy stuff.. a friend of mine taking it ended up having violent seizures.

[Djinn Raffo]

Originally posted by Larry_OHF: Also, is it wrong or unpatriotic of me to question this strange/nonsense trial?

???


Ummm... no.

[pritchke]

Larry I am thinking this is just an example of how outdated the military law can be.

My guess is the original idea is that a coward would be executed to prevent other cowards from acting cowardly and fleeing from battle in a time of war. They used the coward as an example of what happens to those who act cowardly. Kind of like capital punishment being a means to deter criminals.

[ 07-16-2004, 12:46 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]