[monday]

From post #25; "The Marine allegedly failed to yield at an intersection and hit a taxi Friday night in Bucharest,"

If this is true, it doesn't matter if he had been drinking or not. He is guilty of vehicular manslaughter.

you say; "Would you agree to have a serving member of our armed forces tried and sentenced according to sha'ria law, for instance?"

Absolutely. If you go to a country, by your presence you agree to observe the laws of the land, and be tried accordingly if you break those laws. You think you are above the law because you are American?

you said; "To do otherwise is to set a very dangerous precedent."

The usual procedure is for US military to be tried in the country in which they commit a crime. It happens in Germany, Japan, Korea, etc. routinely. If this marine escapes justice in Romania THAT will set a new and dangerous precedent.

If that happens, you can expect the US will lose a very loyal Ally in the Romanian people. Public opinion is already turning against the US. What are the chances of the US building ANY new bases in Romania if there are protests outside the US embassy on a daily basis?

[xone]

'If you go to a country, by your presence you agree to observe the laws of the land, and be tried accordingly if you break those laws. You think you are above the law because you are American?'

If you are stationed in a foreign country, there is a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that governs these cases. If we have a SOFA with the Romanians, we should abide by whatever it says.

In Japan, SOFA gave the Japanese jurisdiction when Japanese law was stricter than American as I recall. Had a Marine who robbed tombs and stole skulls. Japanese law was obviously gonna be more restrictive. Handed him over, he's doing 99 in Naha. Visited once a week for an hour by consular personnel. Rest of the time solitary, no TV, no talking an hour/day for exercise by himself.