Canadian officer charged in killing of insurgent to face court martial

This article can be found here.

September 19, 2009

While on tour in Afghanistan on October 19, 2008, Canadian Captain Robert Semrau shot an "unarmed Taliban insurgent". He is now facing charges of second degree murder in addition to three other charges relating to poor conduct of a military official. The shoot-out was initiated when the Captain and his troops, with the support of the Afghan National Army and the US Air Force, began to fend off Taliban insurgents. When it was apparent that one of the soldiers of the attack that was left behind was not going to survive, the captain shot and killed him. He has had no previous blemishes on his record.

The ultimate question of this article concerns why the Captain shot the man, as the author does an excellent job in leaving the topic open-ended and unbiased. Did Captain Robert Semrau shoot the man to end the suffering of having to wait for medical support when it was more than likely the man was going to die, or did he do it out of sheer anger? And if it is for the first reason, should the Captain go to prison at all? Some would argue that it is even more ethical and compassionate to put a man out of his sufferings when death is certain. Others would argue that death is never certain and that allowing one man to shoot another, even if the act was not out of malice, but rather compassion, goes against the law and should be punished as an example of being tough on crime in the military. Still others believe that the Captain should be allowed to shoot the insurgent because he was our military enemy, putting all acts of kindness aside.

In the end, no matter the outcome, the Captain's clean record will be splotched. When war has not taken a soldier's life, it has taken a soldier's personal life.