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John Allen Muhammad, the mastermind behind the sniper attacks that left 10 dead, was executed Tuesday as relatives of the victims watched, reliving the killing spree that terrorized the Washington, D.C., area for three weeks in October 2002.

Muhammad was born John Allen Williams and changed his name after converting to Islam.

He had been in and out of the military since he graduated from high school in Louisiana and entered the National Guard. He joined the Army in 1985. He did not take special sniper training but earned an expert rating in the M-16 rifle — the military cousin of the .223-caliber Bushmaster rifle used in the D.C. shootings.

Killing to show killing is wrong is stupid. Life in Prison, not killing as a societal practice. This makes murderers of us all and is shameful for society as a whole.

What is the point of this post?

zzyzx wrote:Killing to show killing is wrong is stupid. Life in Prison, not killing as a societal practice. This makes murderers of us all and is shameful for society as a whole.

It's not to show that killing is wrong. It's a punishment for the worst kind of crimes.

personage wrote:What is the point of this post?

- accessing weapons in the US is too easy
- there may be correspondence with religious orientation and violent acts
- the civil control of the army is inadequate
- reasonable suspicion against Islam
- all of the above
- any combination of the above

Please take your pick.

I was very much a defender of and believer in capital punishment until I read about the case of Cameron Todd Willingham (see here) just a couple months ago. That case (and that of the West Memphis Three) has caused me to rethink my position and ultimately conclude that, while I may agree with capital punishment in theory, humans are just too stupid a species to be trusted with this kind of power.

While it sickens me to think that cold blooded murderers will get to live out long lives in prison while their victims rot in the ground, it sickens me even more to think of a justice system so flawed that it is capable of executing innocent people.

All this being said, I don't think that the execution of John Muhammad will keep me up tonight.

I am against capital punishment. As you noticed it, I didnät mention it in my comment. It was only about linkages.

Cold blooded murderers should rot in prison, cost what it may, but we shouldn't copy their deeds as redemption/compensation.
Additionally, this way we can't execute innocents.

Paracelsus wrote:

personage wrote:What is the point of this post?

- accessing weapons in the US is too easy
- there may be correspondence with religious orientation and violent acts
- the civil control of the army is inadequate
- reasonable suspicion against Islam
- all of the above
- any combination of the above

Please take your pick.

I hate to have to point out the obvious but you don't have to be Muslim to commit murder. You have the right to bear arms in the United States and that is not going to change so get used to it.
If you are going to post comments every time a Muslim commits a violent act can I assume you will do the same with people of other faiths?

zzyzx wrote: Killing to show killing is wrong is stupid. Life in Prison, not killing as a societal practice. This makes murderers of us all and is shameful for society as a whole.

Spoken like a true Ultra-Liberal!

What about the over 140,000 Abortions that are Performed after the Third Month of Pregnancy each Year??? (1)
What about the over 3,000,000 Million dogs and cats that are euthanized (Put to death) each year??? (2)
And Yet, You want me to actually feel sorry for one cold blooded Murderer that was recently put to death by lethal injection??? (3)


1. http://www.nrlc.org/abortion/pba/pbafact8.html

And:

http://prolifeaction.org/faq/abortion.htm#stages


2. http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet ... mates.html


3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Allen_Muhammad