The most important thing to point out, is that I am not one of those in the "buy Marine A several pints and then throw a flaming pigs head through the window of my local Mosque" camp.
Obviously the Royal Marine in question should be punished, to say that he should be "given a medal" like the stereotypically silly but no doubt enthusiastic Daily Mail readers who enjoy top billing in the best rated comments section is entirely absurd. Killing a prisoner is entirely unprofessional and it cheapens the deeds of all the soldiers that fight on the part of the coalition, to say otherwise tacitly endorses the behavior of the Nazis, who because they were shitting themselves when Marine As forebears were sneaking around cutting their throats and blowing shit up, had Hitler issue a proclamation that all captured commandos were to be instantly executed rather than taken prisoner.
But to refute the words of this lack-witted and typically overpaid "Sir" murder isn't always murder.
Indeed, if he spent any time in Afghanistan he will have been sat so far in the rear that his laundry will have been getting sent forwards. Andrew Marr was sensible enough to point out the glaringly fucking obvious, that the case is nothing like a random killing on the streets of London, but thats by the by. The point is, almost everything Houghton said flys in the face of common sense, and almost everyone who is listening to him knows it.
Indeed, history is replete with instances where the masses collectively conclude that murder isn't murder, it happens regularly and often. Take this one from last year for example.
The man who police in Texas say was killed after sexually assaulting a rancher's daughter was identified over the weekend.
Jesus Mora Flores was reportedly beaten to death on June 9 after a 23-year-old father found his 4-year-old daughter half naked with Flores at their ranch on the outskirts of Shiner, officers told CNN.
Lavaca County sheriff's deputies told the station that the unnamed father had sent his daughter and her brother off to feed the family's chickens. A little while later, the boy returned and told his dad that someone had taken his sister.
The father then found 47-year-old Flores -- who came to the ranch with a family friend -- sexually abusing his daughter and allegedly beat him to death with his fists.
I would like to ask Prize Fuckhead, sorry.... Houghton, exactly how he can make such a black and white decision, when we live in a world of myriad shades of grey.
If murder is murder, why was the Texas father above not sent to prison for life? And he beat the guy to death with his fists. If anyone doesnt know, that takes some serious, sustained effort, if pulling a trigger is easy, taking someone apart with your bare hands is monumentally hard graft. Why was he not charged? Why does anyone ever get less than the maximum sentence for taking another individual's life? Why does the term manslaughter even exist? If murder is murder, surely nobody is ever even remotely justified in taking another persons life, in fact, if Nicolas is so sure that murder is murder, how can it ever be excused? Policemen, soldiers, victims of horrific crimes, the mentally ill, surely all must be judged equally harshly?
It is painfully obvious to anybody that reads about the story that a man who kills a badly wounded enemy combatant in a terribly stressful situation, indeed, in a fucking war, is absolutely nothing like Ian Huntley killing children, or Peter Sutcliffe driving around twatting prostitutes with a hammer. If we lock people up for two primary reasons, rehabilitation and to protect the public, what is the point in caging this man for 25 years, who will he be a danger to if he is released?
That the people who run the show back home can sit and make such stupid comments infuriates me. It shouldn't take a nobody to point this shit out, how can anyone in a position of authority make such a obviously ridiculous statement? He may have attempted to justify his ridiculous fence sitting with the caveat that he wasn't against the judicial process showing some form of leniency, but now is not the time for fence sitting, leaders should lead, not sit on their hands and bow to the norms of political correctness that absolutely nobody likes anyway.
Marine A should be locked up, of course he should. The wider world needs to know that we hold our soldiers accountable, and most importantly, British soldiers need to be motivated to do the right thing, if they are well aware that some jail time would be on the cards if they started executing prisoners, than even the most pissed off soldier will think twice, but life? Surely a couple of years will achieve all of these aims?
The public will know the score, the soldier will be chastened, and everybody takes something away from the whole sorry affair. Consider the alternative if Marine A gets a life term. He will have been judged to be as malevolent and as guilty as the human toilet that decapitated Lee Rigby on the streets of London in cold blood, a truly awful murder that chilled the blood of even a callous battle hardened prick like me.
And if that happens, if he is treated with the same disdain regardless of any and all mitigating circumstances, then up is down, left is right, and this topsy turvy PC world of ours makes even less sense than it does already.
And considering that the TV show "Lost" proved to be popular and won numerous awards, this fucked up world is confused enough already.
