Why They Can Get Away with Murder...

Military 'Justice' is a frigging joke.  I've already mentioned the group of soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Division who are accused of killing civilians for sport in Afghanistan.  I also mentioned the problems with the UCMJ.  Now we get to see it.  Over at Military.com they have an article about one of the soldiers who has now been recommended for trial for one of the killings.  So he's going to go to Courts Martial, right?  Not until the military legal system asks his brigade commander Mother-May-I.

Col. Thomas Molloy found that Spc. Jeremy Morlock should be held accountable for any actions he might have committed. Molloy noted that Morlock was viewed by fellow Soldiers "as an effective, reliable, engaged team leader," rather than the picture painted by defense attorneys of a prescription drug-impaired Soldier who was bullied by his squad leader.
Molloy's recommendation this week does not guarantee that Morlock will go to court-martial, where he could face the death penalty. That decision is up to Col. Barry Huggins, commander of the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, and it is expected within the next few weeks.
"A final decision has not been made," said Maj. Kathleen Turner, an Army spokeswoman at Lewis-McChord.

Though that isn't the only charge against him...

Morlock also is accused of violating a general order by keeping pictures of Afghan casualties, assaulting a fellow Soldier and using hashish while deployed. Molloy determined that there was enough evidence to put Morlock on trial for those charges, as well.

The problem with the process is that the Military Legal System relies far too much on the individual's chain of command, which IS NOT full of people legally qualified nor capable of criminal investigations.  And criminal investigations usually don't happen unless 1) the weak, under-qualified Chain of Command recommends one or 2) MPs or some outside authority somehow accidentally stumbles on it.  In this case it was the latter.  Even though a father of one of the soldiers tried to WARN the Army repeatedly, but the Army did everything it could to ignore him. 

Basically there is nothing uniform about how the Uniform Code of Military Justice is carried out.  It is a defective and antiquated system.  It shouldn't be up to individual units to 'do the right thing'.  It would be like giving employers veto power over criminal cases against their works in the civilian world.  And no one would think of doing that.  All crime should be reported to the MPs and handled by a qualified authority.