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Headlines : IraqFive soldiers charged in Iraq rape-murder case
In shades of Vietnam’s uglier side, we see more and more evidence that the stresses of war, coupled with the product of the Army’s less-than-selective selection process, are resulting in rape, murder, and cover up. Note in the final paragraphs that after the alleged primary attacker was honorably discharged, he was “diagnosed with an unspecified personality disorder.” An interesting follow up might focus on whether this was a pre-existing condition or not. Was his personality disorder made manifest by the stresses of war? Or was he a ticking time-bomb put into a uniform and handed a gun?
[Posted By nullbull]Republished from CNN.com
Four U.S. soldiers in Iraq are charged with participation in the “rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and three members of her family,” the U.S. military said Sunday.
A fifth soldier is accused of dereliction of duty for failing to report the offenses.
All five are charged with conspiring with former Pfc. Steven D. Green to commit the crimes, the military said, in connection with the incident in March in Mahmoudiya, Iraq.
There have been conflicting reports about the alleged rape victim’s age. Sunday, Reuters news agency released documents indicating that she was 14.
Reuters said identification cards and death certificates give the victim’s date of birth as August 19, 1991.
The mayor of Mahmoudiya confirmed that birth date to CNN.
However, a Justice Department affidavit in the case against Green says investigators estimated victim’s age at about 25, while the U.S. military said she was 20.
The U.S. military statement Sunday made clear that officials are aware of the discrepancies and that her age is an important part of the investigation.
Green has been charged in a U.S. civilian court with rape and murder. Last week he pleaded not guilty in federal court in Kentucky.
Prosecutors have said Green shot and killed an Iraqi man, woman…
Posted by nullbull
Musician by choice, computer geek by necessity, and occasional news junkie.
Someone’s gonna burn for this (as they should). If they don’t than a lot more American soldiers will burn in the coming months.
Group Claims 3 GIs Killed Over Rape-Murders
An al-Qaida-linked group claims it killed three U.S. soldiers last month and mutilated two of their bodies to avenge the rape-slaying of a young Iraqi woman by troops of the same unit, an institute which monitors extremists Web sites said Tuesday.
The Mujahedeen Shura Council made the claim in a 4:39 minute video posted on the Internet which included the mutilated bodies of two of the soldiers attacked June 16 near Youssifiyah southwest of Baghdad, according to a statement by the SITE Institute. Their remains were found three days later.
The institute released still pictures from the video showing two of the American dead, one of whom had been decapitated.
According to the institute, the statement by the insurgent group said the video was released as “revenge for our sister who was dishonored by a soldier of the same brigade.”
Two sergeants are among five American soldiers charged in the March 12 alleged rape-murder and the killing her parents and a younger sister. The U.S. military released the identities of the suspects Monday.
A previously discharged soldier had been arrested in the case last month and charged with rape and murder.
According to the SITE Institute, the statement by the insurgents said that as soon as fighters heard of the rape-slaying, “they kept their anger to themselves and didn’t spread the news.”
“They decided to take revenge for their sister’s honor,” the statement said. “With Allah’s help, they captured two soldiers of the same brigade as this dirty crusader.”
The Mujahedeen Shura Council is an umbrella organization of several Islamic extremist groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq. It claimed responsibility for shooting down a U.S. Apache helicopter in the Youssifiyah area in April.
U.S. investigators had said there was no evidence linking the deaths of the three soldiers last month to the alleged rape-slaying.
Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, Spc. James P. Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard are accused of rape and murder and several other charges as alleged participants. They could face the death penalty if convicted.
[ . . . ]
Ahmed Qassim Hamza, 9, brother of the young Iraqi girl who was allegedly raped then killed along with family members, sits at the stream behind his home, Thursday, July 6, 2006, in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, Iraq.
U.S. Soldiers pleads guilty in rape and murder of Iraqi child and her family: The indictment accuses Green and others of raping the girl and burning her body to conceal their crimes. It also alleges that Green and four others stationed at a nearby checkpoint killed the girl’s father, mother and 6-year-old sister.
Soldier avoids execution for rape / murder: A soldier was sentenced Thursday to 90 years in prison with the possibility of parole for conspiring to rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and kill her and her family.
I hate Iraqis, rape accused tells military court: One of four US soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl showed little remorse, and even smiled during a confession to charges he conspired to kill her and her family.
Scumbag gets 100 years in prison in rape of Iraqi girl, killing of her and her family
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – A U.S. soldier sentenced to 100 years in prison for the gang rape and murder of an Iraqi girl and killing of her family said he was sorry but that he couldn’t explain why he did it.
Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, wept as he apologized at his sentencing hearing Thursday for raping 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and taking part in killing her and her family.
“I still don’t have an answer,” Cortez told the judge. “I don’t know why. I wish I hadn’t. The lives of four innocent people were taken. I want to apologize for all of the pain and suffering I have caused the al-Janabi family.”
Cortez, of Barstow, Calif., pleaded guilty this week to four counts of felony murder, rape and conspiracy to rape in a case considered among the worst atrocities by U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
In his plea agreement, he said he conspired with three other soldiers from the Fort Campbell-based 101st Airborne Division to rape the girl.
The military judge hearing the case, Col. Stephen R. Henley, issued a sentence of life in prison without parole, the maximum for the charges. Under military law, the defendant is given the lesser sentence unless he violates terms of the plea agreement, which require Cortez to testify against others charged in the case.
Psychologist Charles Figley testified that Cortez and the other soldiers likely suffered stress brought on by fatigue and trauma.
“It eats you up,” Figley said. “It’s a horrible thing. This is not unique. We’ve seen this in other wars.”
Five soldiers who served with Cortez in Iraq testified that his actions were out of character and described the hardships of war they experienced, including sleep deprivation and the lack of running water.
“I just never would have seen it coming,” said Staff Sgt. Tim Briggs, who has known Cortez for five years and served with him in Iraq.
Prosecutors said the stress was no excuse for the actions of Cortez and the other soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell.
On Wednesday, Cortez described raping the girl in her family’s home in Mahmoudiya last March, along with Spc. James Barker, 24. Barker pleaded guilty in November to rape and murder and was sentenced to 90 years in military prison.
Barker has said in a sworn statement that the soldiers drank whiskey and played cards while plotting the assault.
Cortez said this week that former private Steven D. Green raped the girl before he did. Then Green shot her father, mother and sister before shooting the teen in the head, Cortez said.
He also testified that the soldiers tried to burn the girl’s body. They burned their own clothes and threw the murder weapon, an AK-47, into a canal in an effort to dispose of the evidence.
Cortez was found not guilty of more serious charges of premeditated murder and conspiracy to premeditated murder.
Pfcs. Jesse Spielman, 22, and Bryan Howard, 19, await courts-martial. Green, who is accused of being the ringleader but was discharged from the military before being charged, will be prosecuted in a federal court in Kentucky.
I wonder what a soldier in this situation might see as worse.
A) Spending the rest of their life in a military prison, drinking more whiskey and playing more cards or..
B)Spending another who knows how many years in the middle east getting shot at and IED’d.
I wonder what its like in a military prison anyway…