Posted on 08/07/2006 6:08:31 AM PDT by twinself
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. military court heard graphic testimony on Monday on how U.S. soldiers took turns to hold down and rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and murdered her and her family.
At the hearing into whether four U.S. soldiers should be court-martialled, a special agent described what took place in Mahmudiya based on an interview he conducted with Specialist James Barker, one of the accused.
The case, the fifth involving serious crimes being investigated by the U.S. military in Iraq, has outraged Iraqis and led Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call for a review of foreign troops' immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.
Special Agent Benjamin Bierce recalled how Barker described to him how he went into the living room of a house and held the hands of the teenage girl while Sergeant Paul Cortez either raped her or attempted to rape her.
Barker then switched positions with Cortez and attempted to rape the girl but said he was not sure if he had done so, Bierce told the hearing.
He also said he was also told shots were heard from the bedroom and shortly afterwards Private Steven Green emerged from the room, put down his AK-47 assault rifle then raped the girl while Cortez held her down.
Bierce said Barker told him that Green then picked up the weapon and shot her once, paused, and then shot her several more times.
Military prosecutors are expected to set out their case against Private First Class Jesse Spielman, Barker, Cortez and Private First Class Bryan Howard, who face charges of rape and murder among others.
If court-martialled and found guilty, they could face the death penalty.
Green 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".
A fifth soldier, Sergeant Anthony Yribe, is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement and will also appear at the hearing at a U.S. base next to Baghdad airport.
Semper Fidelis
Sean Penn already did a movie like this, "Casualties of War," 1989 with Michael J. Fox.
I'm witholding final judgement until all the info is in, but if they did it, they deserve swift and cruel punishment. If they didn't do it, their names are forever blackened, many will never accept their innocence.
I am not to judge whether they're guilty or not.
Do you want my opinion? I'd like to believe the opposite, but no - this is believable. The details maybe seem blurred for them as they were drunk, but it seems the bunch went out to have some fun, raped the girl and killed her mother. This is reality of almost every war.
They were on patrol and they were drunk? I must have missed that information. Where did you find it?
Isn't that known as 'hearsay' and not acceptable for testimony????
Right at the end of the article it mentions that they were drinking whiskey and energy drink. I find this strange, how did they get whiskey? I thought that there wasnt supposed to be any alcohol in the islamic country for our soldiers?
Justice should be swift. Either clear them, or convict them quickly. I am not a fan of the muslims, but I will say this. At the point of her death, that little 14 year old girl had not harmed anyone. She was innocent as any child, and did not deserve such torture and death. If these guys actually did do this to a little girl, I think that they should be taken back to that village and summarily hung in public so that the people there know that we do not condone that sort of behavior any more than they do.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't the Iraqi's forbid exhuming the girls remains for forensic DNA testing because it goes against islamic tradition? That would be some critical information that deserves to be studied. If these guys are guilty, get a noose. But if they are innocent and this is just a propaganda story, someone else's head needs to roll.
"War trophies are not permitted "
Yes. Right. OK. Lots of things are not permitted.
"Isn't that known as 'hearsay' and not acceptable for testimony????
"
This is not a trial. It's a hearing to decide whether to hold a court martial. As in a grand jury, not all the rules of evidence apply.
IIRC, many of our troops favor the AK-47 for it's rugged reliability, and will pick one up to carry for use.
"Barker then switched positions with Cortez and attempted to rape the girl but said he was not sure if he had done so, Bierce told the hearing."
Is this in any way believable? "
How can he 'not be sure' if he raped a 14-year-old girl or not? How can you simply not recall something like that? Can a person cut a deal for their testimony in a military court?
As always, I remain skeptical of these reports until all is said and done with the investigation/trial.
Totally agree with you my friend. If true, and this signed statement was from one of the soldiers present himself, then I hope they all fry. This is despicable, I don't know about some out there, but there is no excuse for this kind of degradation towards civilians, especially a young girl, iraqi or otherwise.
Trust me, it ain't all peaches and cream in iraq or any other fundy country. Alcohol is there if you want it, don't believe the muslims don't touch alcohol mantra. Iraqis drink alcohol too. After all, prostitution was also regulated and tolerated under saddam's regime.
I don't think it's a war trophy. The Iraqi's are are permitted to keep one personal weapon, an AK-47, and two magazines per household.
The troops have also been carrying "spare" AK's because they have more penetrating power for special use. I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of them stashed at observation posts and whatnot. There are just a lot of AK's in Iraq. They could have used the familys own AK.
You sure seem to have already convicted our military men. I don't like that.
And I don't have a problem with that. Truly I love to differ when my conscience tells me directly what is good and what is evil.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.