Troops 'took turns' to rape Iraqi

[Averroes]

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Troops 'took turns' to rape Iraqi

The case is the latest in a series of scandals for the US army
A US military hearing has examined testimony of how three soldiers took it in turns to try to rape an Iraqi girl aged 14 in Mahmudiya in March.

The girl and three family members were allegedly killed by four US soldiers.

Graphic details of the attack at the family's home came in a sworn statement by one of the accused, James P. Barker.

The preliminary hearing will decide whether to court-martial the four. The case is one of a series of atrocities blamed on US forces in Iraq.

Along with Sergeant Paul Cortez, Private Jesse Spielman, and Private Bryan Howard, Specialist Barker is charged with rape and murder.

The four are alleged to have helped a former private - Steven Green, who has since left the army - plan, carry out and cover up the attack. Mr Green has pleaded not guilty in a federal court and will be tried separately in the US.

A fifth soldier is alleged to have lied to cover up for his colleagues.

'Whisky and golf'

Investigator Benjamin Bierce interviewed Mr Barker, 23, on 30 June and took down his statement, he told the hearing at a US military base in Baghdad.

US investigations into deaths

On the day of the attack the soldiers had been drinking Iraqi whisky mixed with an energy drink and practising golf strokes at a checkpoint south of Baghdad, Mr Barker's statement said.

One of the soldiers, Steven Green, said he "wanted to go to a house and kill some Iraqis," it alleged.

The four eventually went to a house about 200 metres (yards) away and put the parents and their five-year old daughter in the bedroom, but kept the older girl in the living room.

According to Mr Barker's statement, he and Mr Cortez took it in turns to rape or attempt to rape her.

Mr Barker heard shots from the bedroom, and Steven Green emerged with an AK-47 in his hand saying "They're all dead. I just killed them."


Steven Green, who has pleaded not guilty, is being tried separately

According to the testimony, Mr Green then also raped the girl and shot her dead.

Her body was doused in kerosene and set alight.

The first day of the hearing on Sunday saw an Iraqi army medic describe how he found the bodies of the four Iraqis.

He told prosecutors he was ill for weeks after witnessing the crime scene.

Proceedings are expected to continue for several days.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5253160.stm

[Tiki Tam Tam]

This Green is an animal.

A total disgrace to any uniform.

[sigatoka]

This Green is an animal.

A total disgrace to any uniform.

What is the crime for rape and murder under U.S. military law? Will he face punishment if convicted?

[Neo]

Give the same treatment by four men or atleast cut off his d-ck and let him live!

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Military court hears of combat stress in Iraq rape case

Reuters
Tuesday, August 8, 2006; 6:52 AM

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. military court deciding whether four soldiers should be court-martialled for rape and murder heard on Tuesday how troops were "driven nuts" by combat stress and got high on Iraqi cough syrup.

Private First Class Justic Cross described how conditions "pretty much crushed the platoon," which lived in constant fear of being killed in the Mahmudiya area south of Baghdad where the rape and murders took place in March.

"It drives you nuts. You feel like every step you might get blown up. You just hit a point where you're like, 'If I die today, I die'. You're just walking a death walk," he said.

On Monday, the court at Camp Liberty heard graphic testimony of how three of the soldiers took turns raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl before murdering her and her family.

The case has outraged Iraqis and led Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call for a review of foreign troops' immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

Mahmudiya is part of what Iraqis call the "Triangle of Death" for its frequent attacks and kidnappings by insurgents and al Qaeda militants.

Private First Class Jesse Spielman, 21, Specialist James Barker, 23, Sergeant Paul Cortez, 23 and Private First Class Bryan Howard, 19, face charges of rape and murder among others.

If court-martialled after the Article 32 hearing -- the military's equivalent of a U.S. grand jury -- and found guilty, they could face the death penalty. The hearing began on Sunday and is expected to last several days.

Private Steven Green, 21, faces the same charges in a U.S. federal court in Kentucky, home of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, his former unit. Green, who has pleaded not guilty, was discharged from the army for a "personality disorder."

Asked by a defense attorney if it was possible that Green committed the rape and murders on his own, Cross said: "Green does nothing by himself."

Cross told the hearing how soldiers took Iraqi cough syrup which "makes you feel high" to relieve stress.

"Everybody was very depressed. It was (an) outlet to release," he said.

An Iraqi army medic told the hearing on Sunday he entered the house and found the body of 14-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi naked and burned from the waist up, with a single bullet wound beneath her left eye.

A fifth soldier, Sergeant Anthony Yribe, is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement.

The hearing continues.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...080800221.html

The punishment is highlighted.

The comments by the soldiers indicates poor motivation and it is not acceptable. Silly excuses I would say. If they were not fit psychologically to face the stress, then they should not have been there. Their CO apparently does not know his men, which is possible inthe US Army since they do not have the regiment and battalion system that is there in the Commonwealth Armies i.e. a man remains in the same battalion till he retires.

[MrConcerned]

Deserves harsh punishment if found guilty, for sure.

[Spring Onion]

The punishment is highlighted.

The comments by the soldiers indicates poor motivation and it is not acceptable. Silly excuses I would say. If they were not fit psychologically to face the stress, then they should not have been there. Their CO apparently does not know his men, which is possible inthe US Army since they do not have the regiment and battalion system that is there in the Commonwealth Armies i.e. a man remains in the same battalion till he retires.

:mad: sick people with sick mind.

What one can expect from a poorly trained poor army who's members can not face the stress as Sir Ray said.

its is rather strange that howcome the US army have such low levels now one can put this an individual case but there are such practices by US army in other areas also where they have been deployed.

Why on earth the high command allow these drunken bug heads to carry om duties.

Can a soldier performs well while being drunk losing all his senses?

[Bull]

:mad: sick people with sick mind.

What one can expect from a poorly trained poor army who's members can not face the stress as Sir Ray said.

its is rather strange that howcome the US army have such low levels now one can put this an individual case but there are such practices by US army in other areas also where they have been deployed.

Why on earth the high command allow these drunken bug heads to carry om duties.

Can a soldier performs well while being drunk losing all his senses?

The tension might be driving them nuts,with more soldiers getting killed and US not willing to commit more troops,these poor soldiers have nowehere to go.

Why shud the US govt try them,the iraqi govt should.If the iraqi govt can get to punish thee amercian soldiers atleast their standing among the public will gain popularity.

[Sid]

The tension might be driving them nuts,with more soldiers getting killed and US not willing to commit more troops,these poor soldiers have nowehere to go.

Whoa! So tension driving them nuts means they go on a rampage around streets of Iraqi cities and target random houses and the people inside them for fun or tension release? That is some logic!

There is NO justification for what was done and am sure there are many more incidents like this yet to unfold. First Abu Ghraib and now this. Wonder whatz more to come! The perpetrators of such despicable acts are unworthy of being called 'soldiers'.

Why shud the US govt try them,the iraqi govt should.If the iraqi govt can get to punish thee amercian soldiers atleast their standing among the public will gain popularity.

Why should the US try its own soldiers? Because they're answerable as individuals and an entity (the Army) to the American government and the American people for the acts that they have committed in the guise of 'bringing freedom to Iraqis' and/or 'liberating them'.

Iraqi government trying US soldiers? Wish it were that easy. When the US doesn't let the International Court of Justice try its soldiers, what makes you think the Iraqi government will have a chance to do so?

It shows the lack of morale and discipline in the army. Shows how much 'aimless' they feel the war is.

[sigatoka]

Nothing will happen to these soldiers, nothing ever does. The Iraqi girl and her family are merely collateral damage in U.S. war on terror.

[MrConcerned]

US Army poorly trained. Feckin' laughable.

some of you must be on drugs.

Take a city. There are 130,000 US soldiers in Iraq. If they were part of a population, ie they are the young fit men together with old men, babies, women etc, the population would be around 650,000 big.

the size of a city. Are you saying that no rapes or murders happen in a city of this size in three years?

laughable.

the fact that we're all concerned about ONE, I repeat ONE, rape and murder case of a family in three years when countless troops have rotated in and out, means that it is already much much better than the situation in any ordinary city.

are you saynig that the Pakistani army of 650, 000 is completely made out of good young men who never committed a crime?

What is the crime rate of a Pakistani city of this size? Any city in the world? Would rapes be more than one, or less?

don't make me laugh, and no insult to your army either.

it's just that many of you are so naive. If it were the Russians, what would have happened? Today, hundreds of thousands of Chechnyans are literally missing. Do you say none of them have been raped, how likely is that?

Please. I think it is a sign of admiration of the US Army that some of you expect them to be perfect. If they were really "rampaging" or "aimless" or "genocidal", something like this would have erupted a long time ago, and many Iraqis would not be begging the US army to stay.

Low level. Aimless. LOL.

Fact - the American Army treats the Iraqi population very very well, or a mere 130,000 of them would never have managed to coexist with a 25 million population. It would be mathematically impossible.

In Afghanistan, 16,000 Americans live and fight shoulder to shoulder with 25 million Afghans. if they were really Russians in disguise, this situation would not be possible.

Do you, now, see reality?

[melb4aust]

US Army poorly trained. Feckin' laughable.

some of you must be on drugs.

Take a city. There are 130,000 US soldiers in Iraq. If they were part of a population, ie they are the young fit men together with old men, babies, women etc, the population would be around 650,000 big.

the size of a city. Are you saying that no rapes or murders happen in a city of this size in three years?

laughable.

the fact that we're all concerned about ONE, I repeat ONE, rape and murder case of a family in three years when countless troops have rotated in and out, means that it is already much much better than the situation in any ordinary city.

are you saynig that the Pakistani army of 650, 000 is completely made out of good young men who never committed a crime?

What is the crime rate of a Pakistani city of this size? Any city in the world? Would rapes be more than one, or less?

don't make me laugh, and no insult to your army either.

it's just that many of you are so naive. If it were the Russians, what would have happened? Today, hundreds of thousands of Chechnyans are literally missing. Do you say none of them have been raped, how likely is that?

Please. I think it is a sign of admiration of the US Army that some of you expect them to be perfect. If they were really "rampaging" or "aimless" or "genocidal", something like this would have erupted a long time ago, and many Iraqis would not be begging the US army to stay.

Low level. Aimless. LOL.

Fact - the American Army treats the Iraqi population very very well, or a mere 130,000 of them would never have managed to coexist with a 25 million population. It would be mathematically impossible.

In Afghanistan, 16,000 Americans live and fight shoulder to shoulder with 25 million Afghans. if they were really Russians in disguise, this situation would not be possible.

Do you, now, see reality?

Hey listen, you know nothing about reality. You're just covering yourself under the charms of western world. And that charm is keeping you blind from whole thing, the whole reality, this is not a hollywood movie you're watching where every soldier have a custom to treat cheerfully.

There is always a mixture of good and bad. Just imagine such sick thing happening( NAOZBILLAH ) infront of you what would be your reaction then would you be laughing as you now. Ask the families of the victims, how they feel?

I met Iraqis personally, heard their stories......they cant even cry!!!

[MrConcerned]

I'm not saying that all is charm and lightness. that would be propaganda on the level that Chinese here and other forums spew.

I'm saying that there are people in the US Army who did wrong who need to be punished severely. Did you not see that the possible penalty for murder is death?

However, just as you say, there is a mixture of good and bad. In fact, I would say that there is more good than bad, or the Iraqi people would never have tolerated a presence among them now.

The Americans want to leave. The Iraqis, on a basic level, want them to leave. But both the Americans and the ordinary Iraqis know they cannot leave at the moment because there will be a huge civil war and countless deaths, we're talking hundreds of thousands of Muslims dead, oil prices through the roof, Baghdad the city of learning ruined, Kurds declaring independence pulling Turkey in the fray, Saudi Arabia and Iran fighting a covert war, it will be Beirut in the early 80s x 100. It will be carnage.

For all you moderates on this forum, how could the ummah be improved if the extremists gain control of such a rich country as Iraq and being to export their cruelty, violence and bloodyness all over, killing 10 Muslims for every non-Muslim? Would such people bring the ummah to development, give it scientific and technical advancement, bring the blessed concept of equality and human rights to fruition, care for the people and build infrastructure etc etc?

Think about it carefully. Stories, yes there are always stories. But we must take them with a grain of salt, and we must see that the fact that there are stories to be told means that there is less cover-up and no bloody action taken to stop the truth being told.

[melb4aust]

You're talking politics here like all political leaders do.

You think muslims are gonna improve, while remaining under US custody, why there is a need of scientific and technical advancement, to counter whom.

yes there is a need of equality and human rights, and who are you relying on, those who are already raping, assaulting and murdering. Do you want some one to rule who has invaded your country and killed your own ones. Why at the 1st place They've attacked, why only muslim countries.

Oil prices: Wish to remind you that the oil prices have gone Iraq invation. Now US can control them pretty well, and thats why they've attacked iraq, not just to provide a mere infrastructure, to care about people living there, to provide scientific and tech advancements, infact the small remaining infrastructure iraq had, has also gone.

[JSK]

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Nothing will happen to these soldiers, nothing ever does. The Iraqi girl and her family are merely collateral damage in U.S. war on terror.

Very unfortunate, yet very true.