Ringleader of U.S. army unit jailed for life for killing Afghan civilians

story can be good movie .........

And now, from the American atrocities carried out in Afghanistan we can now see that it is necessary to launch a series of bombing raids to counter the hostility felt by the civilian population at large.

God bless America for bringing truth,justice and freedom to those less blessed!

typical coward americans soldiers. all they do is slaughter innocent people. bunch of disgraceful warmongers.

This guy deserves every bit of this and more. Only 3 years? How about the death penalty? 3 murders = life?

If the next US president is a republican, these guys will be pardoned! Remember Nixon pardoned those MeiLai perpetrators?

typical coward americans soldiers. all they do is slaughter innocent people. bunch of disgraceful warmongers.

Hundreds of thousands of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and the deeds of one or two are what the news.

You can be sure that the same people calling US soldiers 'cowards' here are too cowardly to tell us where they are from.

I have the highest regard for men/women in uniform. These acts by a few tarnish the brave service of the majority of US military. I have an American friend who has been deployed in Afghanistan as an eod tech. I really hope he will come home safe to his family back in the U.S.A.

I think that when you have US Army prosecutors prosecuting as strongly as you saw them in this case, US Soldiers who are accused of horrible War Crimes it makes it very hard for the anti-US zealots to make their case that the US military does nothing but cover up one crime after another. There is now also an ongoing investigation for another horrible crime so the argument that this was atypical seems less and less plausible. The US military, like all militaries, is full of humans. When humans are put under the stress of war, especially combat troops, bad evil sick stuff happens. A point that I think the Japanese people can appreciate. The difference is that the US is able to confront this and not pull any punches on holding those who cheapened the honor of their units and armed forces accountable. We are seeing the US, despite its many flaws, at least tries to abide by the rule of law. I for one am happy about that.

The military jury sentenced Army Staff Sgt Calvin Gibbs to life in prison, but he will be eligible for parole in less than nine years. THIS IS A JOKE!! This bastard in uniform kills 3 INNOCENT Afghan CIVILIANS for SPORT?? I am MEXICAN and I know what my sport would be with this evil fool! And don't get me started about not loving the USA etc..my cousins, uncles, etc..have all SERVED in AMERICAN wars since even before WW1!! I have no idea what the hell this idiot Gibbs was thinking, making Afghans look like deer?? Be nice to let him parachute back into Afghanistan and let the family of the victims dish out there own JUSTICE.

Hundreds of thousands of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and the deeds of one or two are what the news.

I have no doubt that this is the tip of the iceberg in an unjust war that never should have happened.

Although he is Canadian, I am reminded of Arron Perry, who is credited with the second longest sniper kill in history in Afghanistan. He was also accused of desecrating corpses for trophies in Afghanistan and an investigation followed. But there was not enough evidence. How could there be? This a war zone for crap's sake! But to give a clear idea of the character of the man, he told his own mother he killed four Serbs in Yugoslavia in 93 single handed to save a woman from being raped. It was a total lie, and when the media found out, he had to write off letters of apology.

This is basically my impression of volunteer soldiers who go off to fight purely offensive wars. Chock full of men who are not brave, but rather, evil scum with murder on their minds. Not to say they are all are, but this is not men signing up for something like the Battle of Britian, is it?

Then we have the killings of two pregnant women and a teenage girl on February 12, 2010, when US and Afghan special forces stormed their home in Khataba village. To cover up the deaths, the courageous American soldiers dug the bullets out of the bodies and cleaned them with alcohol.

And I am not even getting into the bombings, the killings by predator drone and the use of sniper rifles from safe distances, all of which are either cowardly or at least, not at all brave.

I am glad to seeGibbs get punished. But I would not be so concerned that he is stealing the show. In fact, he is taking attention away from his fellow soldier's misdeeds if anything.

Heheh, now let's see the Taliban prosecute their own for killing Afghan civilians. Would never happen.

It sure is a good thing Faceless1 doesn't command the forces opposing the Taliban, if so, the Taliban would be victorious.

I think Faceless1 has very good comments, I did not know about these other war atrocities, and just makes me believe more in more in PEACE, and more and more that we should support peace, not barbaric wars, but at the same time I am not so naive as to believe that the Taliban are just nice country folk and will just go away, no no, they need to be hunted down, they are brainwashed and are maybe the worst face of Islam, IMHO.

This is a prime example of a war crime. There are many good servicemen in uniform, but this should come as no surprise when a few either through PTSD or because some men become just plain evil and think they can get away with this in a war. This is the second small group that have been convicted of commiting murder and firing on un-armed civilians intentionally that has been reported. Things like this happen sadly, and nothing condones the actions of these men, but this has been going on as long as there are evil people thinking they can get away with certain things. Vietnam's Mai'lai massacre, in Iraq a few years ago 3-4 soldiers were arrested for firing on unarmed civilians as well (mostly attacking men), and now this.

I remember watching a documentary about this and one of the men convicted in Iraq stated that it was hard to not become trigger happy because of the way the "enemy" combatants mixed in with unarmed civilians and you couldn't tell they were a combatant until they fired on you, so in the end both him and the others that were guilty started shooting Iraqi men on sight. His was caused by battle stress. These guys on the other hand were doing it for "sport" when they started taking these so-called trophies, and thats a whole different kind of sickness.

As much as some people here like to point fingers and say, "If one is like this, then they all must be like this..." they need to keep in mind that all human beings are capable of such evil, no matter what country, civilization, or society they live in. The good news is that at least there are some soldiers that are willing to report such crimes when they see it happen. We only know this happened because some one brought it to everyone elses attention, and that is at least why they will be punished.

Serrano, why not try reading with more attention to detail? I would not be caught dead commanding forces in Afghanistan because the mission is preposterous.

Further, you speak as if the Taliban have lost or are losing. Where have you been the last 5 years? Confidence against all odds and reason is not going to win this fight.

Do you have any idea how many protests have occurred in Afghanistan against foreign forces? In the middle of the following page you will find about 15: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_casualties_of_the_War_inAfghanistan(2001%E2%80%93present)

The Taliban will be victorious or it will end in stalemate. Its got nothing to do with me leading or not. Its got a hell of a lot to do with foreign soldiers butchering civilians, and never mind that the Taliban also does it. They are Afghans and there is a double standard. And its the same double standard you would employ if you had foreign troops killing your people in your country.