The defence said Akbar was mentally ill at the time of the attack
A US soldier said to have hated America has been sentenced to death for the murder and attempted murder of comrades during the invasion of Iraq.
Sgt Hasan Akbar used grenades and a rifle to kill two officers and wound 14 other personnel at a camp in Kuwait in the opening days of the war.

Prosecutors said the murders were ideologically driven hate crimes.

Defence lawyers do not dispute the attack but argue Akbar was too mentally ill to have planned the attack.

The death penalty was announced a week after he was convicted by a military jury at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

It was the first time since the Vietnam War that an American had been prosecuted for murdering a fellow soldier in wartime.

'Maximum carnage'

Last week, a 15-member jury took just two and a half hours to convict Akbar, but sentencing on Thursday came after a further seven hours of deliberations.


The widow of Capt Seifert described his killer as a 'nonentity'

The attack occurred in the middle of the night as the 101st Airborne was preparing to move into Iraq in March 2003.

Capt Christopher Seifert, 27, and Maj Gregory Stone, 40, were killed.

Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he had launched the attack because he was concerned that US troops would kill fellow Muslims in Iraq.

He attacked "with a cool mind" to achieve "maximum carnage", they said, pointing to a 1997 diary entry in which Akbar wrote: "My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed."

"He is a hate-filled, ideologically driven murderer," said the chief prosecutor, Lt Col Michael Mulligan.

'Paranoia'

Akbar, 34, delivered an apology before members of the jury began considering the sentence.

"I felt that my life was in jeopardy and I had no other options," he was quoted as saying by The Associated Press said in a low voice.

A defence psychiatrist had testified that although Akbar was legally sane and understood the consequences of his attack, he suffered from forms of paranoia and schizophrenia.

John Akbar, the soldier's father, also argued that his son, a black man, had been subjected to racial harassment.

The sentence is subject to an automatic appeal. If Akbar is eventually executed, it will be by lethal injection.

Tammie Eslinger, the woman Maj Stone had planned to marry, said the killer had robbed her of her "love, family, dreams and future".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4496167.stm

What I want to know is what was he doing in uniform to begin with? Surely if he had been writting things like "My life will not be complete unless America is destroyed." then there would've been some signs as to his attitude? Also, I think the fact that he consciously targeted officers shows that he knew what he was doing. If he had been insane he'd have killed anybody at all near him. Picking a target is a rational choice though in this case, monstrous. The needle's too good for him. I'd prefer he be returned to Iraq - from 10,000 feet without a parachute. Better yet, give him a parachute - just don't tell him it's been shredded with a grenade.

Stick this POS in a Conex Box. Toss in a WP grenade followed by a Frag.

do you ever wonder if you can trust your comrades after stuff like this?

Of course I can trust my comrades! One scumbag doesn't phase my faith in my fellow soldier one iota.

Mod Edit: Think before you type. Putting little yellow smilies holding weapons does not lend credence to already poorly written comments.

i think were too nice to criminals here in America. too many IMO there are too many humane groups. people who dont appreciate humanity should not be treated humanely. some people just need to be tarred and featherd, then drawn and quartered.

not only is why was he in the military, but how did he make sargeant?

I still think a firing squad is more appropriate for military executions.

I would pull the triger turning on your comrades undermines every thing the military is built on. I agree lethal injection is too soft.