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Historically, US Presidents only permit military executions when there is a need for it unrelated to the crime.

Very few people are aware that the purpose of the UCMJ is not justice, but “to maintain order and discipline in the military”. For this reason, in the military, punishments are very different from what they are in the civilian world. For example, under some circumstances, even homicide may result in less punishment than say, homosexual rape.

I mentioned the case of Pvt. Eddie Slovik, because it is an odd one.

He deserted his unit, which was not uncommon during WWII, and was arrested. While desertion can be a capital offense, out of hundreds of cases, only Slovik was chosen to be executed. But this was done not directly because of his crime, but because military morale was very low. It was felt that the execution of a deserter would prevent other soldiers from considering desertion.

However, after his death sentence was confirmed, the Battle of the Bulge took place, as well as the Malmedy massacre. The US jumped on this situation to use as a propaganda tool, even bringing in extra bodies to make the photographs more graphic. To this day, the memorial includes the name of a local Belgian man who had died a few days before of pneumonia, but was dressed in a US Army uniform as a massacre victim. His siblings were still alive in the 1980s, and ran a nearby restaurant.

Because of the massacre, soldiers would not want to surrender to the Germans for fear of being killed, which raised morale significantly. In turn, this meant that the execution of Pvt. Slovik was unnecessary.

However, Slovik was a world-class dumbass. The military offered him a deal that, instead of execution, if he would just state that he had been separated from his unit, and would agree to return to his unit, his conviction would be overturned and all would be forgiven.

He was adamant that he had NOT been separated, but had deserted, and would desert again if given the chance. This left the military no choice but to execute him, and they did.

The current case that President Bush has selected is not special. Of the eight prisoners currently on military death row, their crimes are not simple homicide, but truly horrific crimes. And yet, only now, in the last year of the W. Bush Presidency, after having been “executable” for the better part of 20 years, is he to be executed.

Why? One and only one reason. Iran.

If the US, or Israel and the US, are involved in a war with Iran, many soldiers will want to quit. They are tired, and “fatigue makes cowards of us all”.

And you’ll note that before W. Bush approved this execution, he made very sure he had a fresh opinion from the Justice Department of his exact authority in the military judicial system process as to approving capital punishment.

This is very good prior planning.

If we do get into a war with Iran, there are going to be problems in the military, including desertions. And Bush wants everybody to be crystal clear that if he has to execute some deserters to stop desertion, if it become a problem, then he will do it.

“Currently, under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 14 offenses are punishable by death. Under the following sections of the UCMJ, the death penalty can be imposed at any time:

94 - Mutiny or sedition
99 - Misbehavior before the enemy
100 - Subordinate compelling surrender
101 - Improper use of countersign
102 - Forcing a safeguard
104 - Aiding the enemy
106a - Espionage
110 - Improper hazarding of vessel
118 - Murder
120 - Rape and carnal knowledge

Four provisions of the UCMJ carry a death sentence only if the crime is committed during times of war:

85 - Desertion
90 - Assaulting or willfully disobeying superior commissioned officer
106 - Spies
113 - Misbehavior of a sentinel or lookout”