Should criminals that are in jail be sent to fight in the frontlines of wars?

seven, have you by any chance migrated from a political forum, the last 5 questions you have been spewing out over the last hours are all just political questions, what’s your aim with this ?

and no, it would be a bad idea, they’re not fit for society in the first place, right?

No. Look at the damage done by events such as Abu Ghraib and Haditha. And that was what happened with our supposed best.

Couldn’t they just run away? And anyway, why should some one be forced to put their life in danger because they were selling pot or something?

It makes perfect sense to me. When someone breaks the law, we give them guns and other weapons, and then we teach them how to be efficient killers. Once we’re satisfied with their ability to kill, we ship them abroad to help keep the peace in a socially/culturally/politically delicate area. What a genius idea. You don’t happen to work in the Bush administration do you?

No, but the thought of sending them to our enemy’s prisons instead of ours could be a whole other deal…

Fighting to defend our country is a privilege and honor to those who serve; it could be easy for a person who misunderstands the concept of defending freedom to see this as a punishment versus an honor, especially given the morale of our country in this particular day and war.

IMO it is a mistake to equate (and de-value) the valor and virtue of serving your country to the political rationale and philosophy of invading our “enemies” in the name of freedom.

I think it depends on the crime… Sending someone to the front line who is a murderer or a rapist or an anarchist or something is a sure fire way to start a whole lot more crap for our troops that actually want to be there to fight for their country… like I said it depends.

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You mean like in the movie, the Dirty Dozen?

Nope. Serving time for a crime is different than enlisting to fight in a war (bogus as it is, if we’re talking about Iraq).

When they’re out, they can sign up if they want to.

No
why would a person fight for a government’s beliefs if that very same government put them behind bars? A good soldier is somebody who is loyal to their county and more importantly somebody who wants to be a soldier. The mere unmotivated mindset of the prisoner would defeat the purpose.

nope its not a good idea…. Its a recipe for disaster.

No that’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard. (Not to get into detail) Sorry.

This practice is (thank goodness) outlawed by Article 52 of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949.
So it’s a war crime.

@Harp, you’re awesome. I wish I could great answer you more than once.

no you’re combat soldier is a highly trained professional. And the dirty dozen were all soldiers before they were prisioners.

I think this a practical and a political question. Politically this will NEVER EVER HAPPEN as long as bleeding heart liberals are anywhere near the White House…

Practically, I think it would be great to send murders and felony assaulters to do what they do best. Why ruin the minds and psyches of our young minded men??

However, circling back around… I take great pride in our Armed Forces. Many of my friends and family members served during active and non-active times in history. I wouldn’t want to take the honor away from them, by sending thugs to do something like defend our country.

Would they be loyal to our country? Would they be chickens and run? They would probably go AWOL and then we would have done nothing but unleashed criminals on the world.

Probably not a great idea.. but if some prisoners were determined to be willing and able to go to war (like how they determine some prisoners to be “reformed” and fit to go home), I at least think it’d be interesting to set up a training facility with prisoners who have proven themseves willing to go and do something with themselves. I mean, hell, if I was sentenced to consecutive life terms, sure… I’d probably rather go help in the war. But I’d probably also do everything to try and escape while fighting.. . but thats just me.

How about re-instating Roman Gladiator fights with death row prisoners. Fight to the death for your freedom… or at least a nicer cell. Imagine the gambling involved with that!

not if their in there for life (they will probably commit suicide or run away)

No, fighting in defense of one’s country is an honor and priviledge, hardly things criminals deserve.

I for one would not be ok with having a criminal near me if I was also serving. They cannot be trusted ever. Criminals by their very nature are selfish individuals, who would not do well in a team setting

NO. put a weapon in the hands of a convicted criminal would be like placing the weapon in the hands of a child. the weapon would be used in the criminals best interest and not the war effort. like, escaping. bad idea.