Should military and civilian personnel convicted of treason be executed or given life without parole?

executed

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by Arthur Gibson

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I can think of no crime more heinous than treason, and because it is so terrible and potentially disastrous to a nation; I firmly believe that anyone convicted of treason should be executed. Few criminals throughout history have been more despised than traitors. Treason is such a vile crime, that in the US today, those individuals convicted of treason cannot be placed in general population in a prison. Traitors are considered the lowest of the low in the prison population and are in frequent jeopardy from other inmates.

Quite probably the most famous traitor in history was Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ to the Jewish authorities for 30 pieces of silver. Why, because Judas was looking for an earthly leader, who would remake Israel into a Jewish State, raising his closest followers to positions of great status and wealth. Realizing this was not, and never had been, Christ's goal, Judas committed the ultimate crime for immediate monetary gain. Later, realizing what he had done, Judas tried to undo his betrayal by attempting to return the money. Being refused, he threw the money at Jewish leaders, and committed suicide by hanging.

During the American Revolution, Benedict Arnold had played a leading role in the Continental Army. He had been one of the co-leaders with Ethan Allen in the attack on Ticonderoga, capturing not only the fort, it's British garrison, but large quantities of powder, shot, muskets and cannon. All greatly needed by the fledgling Continental Army. He had been one of the leaders of the Continental Army in the invasion of Canada and had been severely wounded at Montreal. As second in command at the Battle of Saratoga, Arnold had been instrumental in turning a possible defeat into a stunning victory, which eventually led France to recognize the colonies as a new nation. This brought French resources into the war on the side of the rebels and with the assistance of the French Fleet led to American victory and independence. Yet, because he had failed to receive the recognition he felt he deserved and was denied, Arnold was willing to betray his country by selling the plans to West Point and switching allegiance to the British Crown. Arnold eventually fought against his former friends and companions as a British General, achieving little success. Yet the possible damage he could have caused the Continental Army by his betrayal is almost impossible to calculate. Because he was never captured, Arnold escaped punishment and later died despised, outcast, and almost penniless.

More modern traitors like Johnny Walker, his brother Arthur, his best friend, and his son made a cottage industry of treason. Beginning in the late 60s Walker used his position in the Navy to sell large amounts of Secret data to the Soviet Union during the height of the Viet Nam Conflict and for years afterward. Not content just to sell information he had access to, Walker brought the other members into his conspiracy. And was able to avoid detection for many years by falsifying information and reports necessary for his continued Security Clearances. He was finally caught when his ex-wife went to the FBI out of concern for their son. In a prison interview, Walker attempted to downplay the information his group had sold to the Soviet Union, by saying it had not directly caused the loss of life of one American soldier in Viet Nam. His deep denial allowed him to gloss over the knowledge that the Soviets undoubtedly shared information obtained from him with the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. The full extent of the damage to the US and loss of life of American servicemen, caused by Walker and his co-conspirators will probably never be known.

The damage caused to the safety and security of the United States by the Walkers, Pelham, and numerous others who have been caught and convicted of treason since the late 60s is beyond measurement. In many cases, after capture and conviction, these individuals and others have bragged about their betrayal of a nation, how easy it had been for them to accomplish their deceptions, and the financial rewards received for their actions. Almost, always glossing over the actual damage done to the nation. Possibly in an effort to keep from facing the actual ramifications of their actions, and cowardly personal responsibility.

These individuals, men and women alike, deserve no less than the maximum penalty allowed by law which is the death sentence. Their actions place them among the most reprehensible in society, right alongside serial murderers. None of them should be allowed to plea bargain their way into a life sentence in a maximum security prison at taxpayer expense. While it is never easy to know the full extent of the information they've sold, you can have reasonable knowledge of everything they had access to. And in these situations, a nation must err on the side of caution, and assume they've sold everything they had access to. Once an individual has been convicted of treason, he or she should be executed as soon as possible. The costs of their actions to our country literally costs millions of dollars and often years of effort to undo. No one deserves to be executed as much as a traitor.

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