Posted on 07/09/2006 7:43:43 AM PDT by RDTF
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four U.S. soldiers were charged with the rape and murder of an Iraqi teenager and killing her family, bringing to five the number of Americans accused of the four deaths in March, the U.S. military said on Sunday.
A fifth soldier was charged on Saturday with dereliction of duty for failing to report the case.
Last week a sixth soldier, Steven Green, who has now left the army, was charged with rape and murder in a U.S. civilian court over the killings at Mahmudiya, near Baghdad.
(Excerpt) Read more at today.reuters.com ...
Mahmudiya ping: if anyone would like to be pinged to these articles, let me know via freepmail.
Questions about the Affidavit against Pvt. Green (Iraqi Rape/Murder case)
PING me!
I fear good order and discipline is suffering in some of our front line units. Poor morale has a way of moving up through the ranks. My only combat experience was in Vietnam, but the contrast between my first tour (67) and my second (69) was telling. When someone asks me what I believe made the difference, I tell them, "1968 happened."
Bump!
"Pretty quiet on this thread, after all the angry "Our boys would never do such a thing!" rhetoric we heard on FR over the last week. There is a danger in romanticizing "our boys" - the military has enough trouble recruiting that gangsters, thugs, and psychopaths will get in, even if they remain a small minority."
Mega bump. The silence is indeed telling.
I don't think any of us were saying "our boys would never" etc.--at least, speaking for myself, I was saying, let's wait until the facts are in. Actually, I'm still saying it. Being charged is not the same thing as being guilty of the crime. (At least, not in this country.)
Our boys are innocent until proven guilty. Charged does not equal guilt, course you knew that before you attacked us.
Pray for W and Our Soldiers
I'd even argue that such individuals are found in smaller percentages in the military than in the population of similarly aged individuals as a whole. Yet, they can cause far more harm to the military as an institution than those outside can cause society.
"We have enemies within. "
Could be. But my experience in the Vietnam-era military was that we were a cross-section of American society, populated with similar ratios of sleazeball, ethics-deprived criminally-minded lowlifes you find in civilian life.
Being a soldier doesn't make one a saint.
Well, wish I could say I'm doing good, but I'd be lying to you if I did. We lost a guy in the company yesterday and two others lost both legs. Things are getting a lot worse. Nightly fire fights are the norm now and the KIA list just keeps getting bigger. On the other hand, we are making progress with the locals and we've been getting a lot of good intel on the insurgency because of it. Oh, and we got rid of Zarqawi, thats nice as you can imagine. The moral is still high despite all of the tragic losses I'm happy to report.
This is a good kid (he's not quite 20 yet) who has seen things that no-one should have to see.
Somehow I knew, Brokaw should not have used the term, "The Greates Generation." Those willing to serve now are the greatest too.
Five Soldiers Charged in Iraqi Rape, Murder Case
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 9, 2006 – Charges have been preferred against four U.S. soldiers accused of rape and murder in connection with the deaths of four Iraqi civilians in March. A fifth soldier has been accused of dereliction of duty for failing to report the offenses, U.S. officials announced today.
The five soldiers were charged yesterday in connection with their alleged participation in the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman and the murders of three members of her family. The fifth soldier was charged with dereliction of duty for his failure to report the rape and murder of these Iraqi civilians, but is not alleged to have been a direct participant in the rape and killings, officials said in a statement.
All are charged with conspiring with former Army Pfc. Steven D. Green to commit these crimes. Green, 21, a former 101st Airborne Division soldier, was arrested June 30 in connection with the incident, according to a July 3 announcement by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Western District of Kentucky.
Green was deployed from September 2005 to April 2006 and was discharged from the Army May 16. Army officials declined to disclose the circumstances of his discharge, citing privacy protections under the Health Information Privacy Protection Act.
The preferral of court-marital charges is merely an accusation, according to today's statement. "Those accused are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," officials stated.
The next step in the legal process will be an investigation pursuant to Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Article 32 investigations are similar to grand jury hearings in civilian courts.
(From a Multinational Corps Iraq news release.)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060709_5614.html
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