Word: calley
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Even before the court-martial was convened at Fort Benning in 1971, fairness loomed as the major problem. The My Lai massacre had been the most widely publicized military atrocity in U.S. history. Lieut. William Calley was the only defendant convicted, though 25 of his superiors and subordinates had been implicated in varying degrees. Had it been fair to single him out? With all the publicity, could he possibly have had a fair trial? Could he have had equitable treatment from a military system eager to purify itself...
September 25: A federal judge, citing intense pre-trial publicity and various irregularities, frees mass murderer William Calley. The army blocks the release by announcing it will appeal...
...them in order to accomplish the planned robbery. This has always been standard operating procedure (SOP) by the military everywhere, in cases of national aggression. This was and is, of course, the reason for sending troops in the first place. It is certainly conceivable, to me at least, that Calley was doing what he was sent to do, as were many thousands of others. Unfortunately for Calley, his crimes were reported, and it was therefore thought necessary for public relations purposes, to make a scapegoat of him. And this, in my opinion, they have done...
...Force and Navy pilots operating in Indochina, including Mr. Nixon's POW pets who were shot down, have murdered, maimed and wounded in indiscriminate bombing, a thousandfold more Indochinese than Calley and his group. This was also true of the acts of other U.S. ground forces. All of these crimes were, of course, in violation of international laws which the U.S. government agreed to obey. This is the primary reason, in my view, why so many concerned Americans consider the trial, conviction and sentencing of Lt. Calley to prison as absurd and literally obscene...
...predecessors and many of their top advisors are now beyond our reach. This makes it even more important that a commission be appointed to expose for the record their crimes so that future generations may know what happened. For this reason none of those indicted for crimes such as Calley committed, or for the Watergate break-in, should be sent to prison. Expose and condemn them, yes, but do not imprison them...