Iraqi soldiers who desert their units now face execution, according to a decree by the country’s Presidential Council.
The penalties are also applicable to the cadets of military academies in the country.
Turning desertion into an offense punishable by death comes amid mounting criticism from human rights groups that Iraq has become one of the world’s highest users of death penalty.
http://www.azzaman.com/...
It will be up to the judge if the execution is done by hanging or firing squad. They took out beheading which was an option under the previous regime.
The idea that Iraq is going to become a Jeffersonian democracy in most people's lifetime is laughable. Iraqi politics today is where Rome was 100BC with a parliment of the elite families with their own goon squads.
That doesn't mean Iraqi can't be stabilized, as Saddam proved by putting down revolts and insurgencies supported by 80% of Iraqis. Those that say America can't help in stabilizing Iraq are full of it. What it does mean is that America no matter how much it gives can not change the political and social culture of a nation like Iraq.
Real change must come from within.