He is NOT Guilty of Murder
Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2009
by Patricia Johnson
Articles and Answers.com
The U.S. military announced today that Sgt. John M. Russell of the 54th
Engineer Battalion was charged in the shooting deaths that killed five members
of the U.S. military in Iraq on Monday, May 11, 2009.
This man is NOT guilty of murder and I cannot imagine how he could possibly
be charged with any crime. Sgt. Russell was on his third deployment in Iraq and
had been asked by his commanding officers to seek counseling at the Combat
Stress Clinic at Camp Liberty Iraq. His commanding officers were so concerned
about his mental state they took it upon themselves to remove his weapon.
Soldiers weapons are only removed when the soldier is considered capable of
either taking his own life or taking the lives of others.
When a person is considered to be suicidal and/or homicidal they need to be watched due to the fact that it only takes a minute to kill themselves or harm others. Russells commanding officers were concerned enough about his mental health to take his weapon away, but apparently they did not obtain an escort to take him to the Combat Stress Clinic. If Sgt. John M. Russell is guilty of anything, he is guilty of spending three separate tours in Iraq and not being able to control the stress associated with multiple deployments, but he is NOT guilty of murder.
In this instance five soldiers are dead and three others wounded and although someone is to blame for this tragedy, it is not Sgt. John M. Russell.
140 Army soldiers committed suicide in 2008. This is a 21% increase over the number of soldiers that committed suicide in 2007. In April of 2009, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, Army Vice Chief of Staff, stated year-to-date 2009 there have been 35 confirmed suicides and 29 deaths still being investigated. This is an unacceptable rate of suicides.
Our soldiers do not need to be charged with crimes, they need to be taken out of Iraq/Afghanistan and anywhere else where they are in harms way and returned home. They cannot continually be subjected to the devastation encountered in a war zone, for multiple deployments,and not react.
Its very possible Sgt. Russell was in a dissociative state of mind and did not realize what he was doing when he shot the other soldiers. If that is the case, once he realizes what he has done the horror of his actions will come back to haunt him day and night. Sgt. Russell will need the help and understanding of all of us to get through the next several months.
Its easy to accuse someone of murder, it is another to walk in their shoes.
Patricia L Johnson is a former special assignment writer/photographer and co-owner of the Articles and Answers News and Information sites.
When a person is considered to be suicidal and/or homicidal they need to be watched due to the fact that it only takes a minute to kill themselves or harm others. Russells commanding officers were concerned enough about his mental health to take his weapon away, but apparently they did not obtain an escort to take him to the Combat Stress Clinic. If Sgt. John M. Russell is guilty of anything, he is guilty of spending three separate tours in Iraq and not being able to control the stress associated with multiple deployments, but he is NOT guilty of murder.
In this instance five soldiers are dead and three others wounded and although someone is to blame for this tragedy, it is not Sgt. John M. Russell.
140 Army soldiers committed suicide in 2008. This is a 21% increase over the number of soldiers that committed suicide in 2007. In April of 2009, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, Army Vice Chief of Staff, stated year-to-date 2009 there have been 35 confirmed suicides and 29 deaths still being investigated. This is an unacceptable rate of suicides.
Our soldiers do not need to be charged with crimes, they need to be taken out of Iraq/Afghanistan and anywhere else where they are in harms way and returned home. They cannot continually be subjected to the devastation encountered in a war zone, for multiple deployments,and not react.
Its very possible Sgt. Russell was in a dissociative state of mind and did not realize what he was doing when he shot the other soldiers. If that is the case, once he realizes what he has done the horror of his actions will come back to haunt him day and night. Sgt. Russell will need the help and understanding of all of us to get through the next several months.
Its easy to accuse someone of murder, it is another to walk in their shoes.
Patricia L Johnson is a former special assignment writer/photographer and co-owner of the Articles and Answers News and Information sites.
This Article has been viewed 58 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.