Staff Sgt. Gibbs: Is he really guilty?

Staff Sgt. Gibbs

I don’t know why, but I feel this is an issue I must write about. I want to discuss the sentencing of Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, of Billings, Mont.

If you haven’t read the story, here is a link for it. Read it and then read the rest of this—because I said to and because it’s an important part of history and the news.

So, a lot of comments were posted on this story on major news websites; many condemned Gibbs to hell, many were sympathetic and many blamed desensitization for why Gibbs did what he did—I don’t think this is completely right, especially in this situation.

Here are some of the comments, one is from the Washington Post, "When you take a kid out of his normal environment and turn him into a killing machine by returning him to this hell hole known as active duty, numerous times (vs national draft and one tour), what do you expect? "

Or from the Huffington Post

" Every soldier responds to death in wars differentl­y. Some are simply overwhelme­d when confronted with the carnage of human life and loss of friends in combat. Every man has a breaking point and some men are much more fragile than others and respond differentl­y. We read about war and watch it on TV however, when you are participat­ing, it is a most terrible experience­."

Yes, I feel that men are scarred from war. They will be prone to violence, to anger, to sadness, to depression.

But I do not feel that this endorses a soldier to target and kill an innocent civilian for no reason except sport.

I give this example, if you were in the United States and you shot a woman walking down the street, because she was a woman and you didn’t like women, you would be tried and likely given a life sentence.

This is how I see Gibbs and his sentence. Plus, if you factor in that not only did he kill these people and set the scene up so that they looked as if they were a threat (by planting weapons on them or saying they fired at him) but he also chopped off their fingers, pulled out a tooth and took photos with the victims to use as trophies.

I believe a person can become desensitized but this goes beyond desensitization, this is full out premeditated, blatant killing.

I will point out that these people aren't the majority, and so I would like to pay tribute to those who don't get satisfaction in killing but know that they are defending their life, their liberty and their family. God bless you for your sacrifices.

Also, what are you feelings on all of this?