Bush OKs military execution
US President George W. Bush approved the execution of an Army private, the first time in over a half-century that a president has affirmed a death sentence for a member of the US military.
With his signature from the Oval Office, Bush said yes yesterday to the military's request to execute Ronald A. Gray, the White House confirmed. Gray had been convicted in connection with a spree of four murders and eight rapes in the Fayetteville, North Carolina, area over eight months in the late 1980s while stationed at Fort Bragg.
"While approving a sentence of death for a member of our armed services is a serious and difficult decision for a commander in chief, the president believes the facts of this case leave no doubt that the sentence is just and warranted," White House press secretary Dana Perino said.
