The guy who shot his wife and her lover in the heat of the moment did not do it because he is/was “vermin”, but because he is a human being and humans do mistakes- however tragic these may be….

Yes, regarding the amount of victims- No, regarding the cold systematic procedure

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“Killing someone during an armed robbery isn’t the result of an accident. A series of decisions had to be made that lead up to that point.”

Yes, but if some greedy mercenaries come to a country without some patriotic motivation and scythe away a dozen civilians- that’s probably an accident…

However, I don’t want to discuss the question of guilt of real criminals or people who kill people because the willingly (for personal benefit) choose to live in an extreme situation and don’t stand the pressure and therefor “accidently” commit a crime. The question is, how to deal with such people and how to punish them.
And punishment has several aspects beyond the payback to somebody who (as you think) deserves it at the same level of damage. I personally cannot stand the idea of humans killing eachother, neither as victims of a crime nor as the victim of an execution. Civilized people don’t do that to eachother.
My gut feeling denies that, my christian education denies that and my 21st century western cultural background denies that. It is like seeing “Saw” and turning away when Carey Elwes saws off his foot- I simply don’t bear the idea of somebody killing somebody else!

I apologize for this, Ted- my fault!

If you cannot discern the difference then you are not worth debating with.

The difference is that the person being executed made a conscious decision to put their life at risk by committing a crime for which the possible penalty could be death. If they choose to not commit the crime, they do not put their life at risk. Look at it like parachuting, as long as you don’t jump out of the plane, you’re at minimal risk of dying from the fall. Once you make the decision to step out that door, you’ve made the decision to risk your life and have to accept the responsibility if you lose it.

Killing someone during an armed robbery isn’t the result of an accident. A series of decisions had to be made that lead up to that point. If the criminal had made any decision different than they did, the murder would probably not have occurred. I love the moron who screams that he didn’t intend to kill the person, the gun “Just went off”. That’s a complete lie. The gun couldn’t have possibly gone off if the moron hadn’t loaded it in the first place, so for him to say he didn’t intend to shoot anyone is a bald faced lie. He made the decision to commit the crime, he decided to use a gun, he decided to load the gun, he decided to point it at the person, and he decided to pull the trigger. He was willing to take someone else’s life to commit the crime. For him to refuse to accept responsibility for that action is pure BS.

As for the moron who is sitting in the jail awaiting trial for multiple murders, he didn’t just rape and brutalize the woman he went to prison over. He held her prisoner and raped and beat her for 3 full days. Exactly why was he EVER allowed back out of prison, let alone 7 years early.

“So Robert, Ted and all those idiots on this site, who tend to simplify their hate by verbally turning human beings into animals…”

Show me where I have ever done this. Quote me and link to the thread with the post number, Matthias.

I will not allow such unsubstantiated slander go unchallenged. I will defend my good name. If you can not support your claim (as I am absolutely positive that you can not), then I will request one of two things:

1) An apology in this post admitting your error.

2) A ban of you from this site.

The choice is your.

Ted

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“Intentional killing is dealt with in the U.S., just as the arms deal was.”

So by contract, Iraq outlaws each man, woman and child of its people- sounds like an enourmous improvement towards the former Saddam reign…

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“High on conviction, and low on facts in order to get a conviction.”

Which is seldom a barrier for cases in the US to get a death verdict, right?