War is war. Locking somebody up and then killing them is a completely different scenario.
Would you say that it was wrong to execute the Nazi war criminals responsible for the Holocaust and other atrocities at Nuremburg after WW2?
Would you say it was wrong to hang Saddam Hussein?
What about Bin Laden, for that matter?
I have absolutely no problem with paying evil unto evil.
What makes us hypocrites is when we condemn other countries for using methods such as stoning and then turn around and execute. The method is NOT what matters.
To be fair, there is a bit of a difference between slowly bludgeoning someone to death with thrown stones for something so minor as an extramarital affair, and more or less painlessly killing someone guilty of going on a pre-meditated murderous rampage responsible for the deaths of dozens of innocent people.
I also do not necessarily see life in a cage as being any more humane than a quick death.
That's a reasonable point, but it suggests one has been phlegmatic and accepting of the tens of thousands of deaths
War ultimately has to be a cold and rational affair. Emotions will get you killed, and misplaced gallantry often causes more problems than it solves.
The issue here has nothing to do with symbolism or diplomacy or PR, but with justice and there are many people who feel that the death penalty has no part to play in it.
Perhaps. However, I would still argue that a strong case can be made in favor of the death penalty here.
What good does it do anyone to save one worthless psychopathic excuse for a human being if it might possibly winding up costing the lives of dozens of other people who are not guilty of any crime whatsoever in the long run? What good does it do if it only really serves to help destabilize a nation with a population of millions?
Lofty ideals are well and good, but they must ultimately take a back seat to simple pragmatism. Bales' actions were heinous, and he really should have been made an example of.
Personally, I almost think it would have been better if we had simply turned him over to Afghans.