Posted on 08/08/2006 9:36:11 AM PDT by TexKat
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Frequent deadly attacks by insurgents sapped morale and raised combat stress in a U.S. Army unit that included soldiers accused of raping and murdering a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, a private testified at a military hearing Tuesday.
Pfc. Justin Cross recounted the "mentally draining" living conditions of the unit in the third day of the hearing to determine if five U.S. soldiers will be court-martialed in the March 12 assault near Mahmoudiya. The girl's parents and sister were also slain.
"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," Cross told the hearing.
He said soldiers often drank Iraqi whiskey and took painkillers to relieve the stress of not knowing whether the day would be their last. One such drinking session preceded the rape and murders, the hearing was told by another witness on Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Mahmoudiya Hearing continues Ping!
That's no excuse for raping and murdering a 14 year old girl and also murdering her mother and sister.
One of the nursing aides at works husband is back from Iraq. She says he is having a hard time just leaving the house to look for work. Crowds bother him and he is always worried about whats going on around him.
Thanks for the ping TK..
God bless our Screaming Eagles.
I agree. If they did this, they should hang - or be shot, whatever the favored form of capital punishment is these days.
However, I think the other person who should be in the dock is their commanding officer. The woman in charge of Abu Ghraib got off easy - she was a Clinton-appointed affirmative action officer, after all - but I hope whoever was in charge of these people does not get off at all. If this really happened, the commanding officer was either negligent or complicit.
Geeeeeee. You think so? >sarcasm<
But what I do know is that many have fought in terrible wars and managed not to murder or rape anyone.
Barker also claims in his testimony that Green killed Abeer, her parents and their younger, 5-year-old daughter.
Cross testified that Barker _ who arranged for the Iraqi whiskey to be delivered through an Iraqi soldier _ drank the most, although everyone in the unit had been sipping from the bottle, against military rules. He said he knew Green also was taking painkillers, even though he never saw him.
"Everybody was very depressed. It was outlet to release," Cross said.
Defense attorney Capt. Megan Shaw asked whether all the soldiers were involved in the murders, or if it was entirely Green's doing.
Cross replied: "Green does nothing by himself."
A replay of "Casualties of War".
Mahmoudiya Hearing continues Ping!
Ever been there Mark?
Your friend's hubby needs to get treatment NOW! He will resist, but even just a group of Vets talking about it will help.
After the abduction, torture and killing of two U.S. soldiers and the slaying of a third in Yousifiya, near Mahmoudiya, in June, Watt decided to come forward. The military is investigating whether the assault on the three U.S. troops was in retaliation for the slayings in Mahmoudiya.
"We'd come through hell with each other, and there were a lot of good men who died, and this happened, for what?" Watt testified. Reporting the killings, he said, "had to be done."
Watt reported his suspicions to a combat stress team in Mahmoudiya. His superiors "were extremely skeptical" about the allegations, he said.
Watt also testified that before the slayings in Mahmoudiya, he had heard Green say, "I want to kill and hurt a lot of Iraqis." When questioned by defense lawyers, Watt reiterated, "I believe that he wanted to hurt Iraqis."
I see you've served our country and I thank you.
Was that service in a combat zone on the ground as a combat soldier?
Imagine being followed around every second of every day by a guy with a rifle pointed at your head. Now imagine that this guy hates you, blames you for the death of his children, and believes with this whole heart that you are an agent of satan himself. Imagine that this guy was constantly saying how much he is going to enjoy killing you, and that he is going to kill you any minute.
How long could you put up with that? If you knew with 100% certainty that the guy would kill you, how long could you remain in a normal state of mind? The man is in a bubble. You cannot hurt him, chase him off, or strike back at him. How do you remain sane? How do you react to the knowledge that the guys buddies are actually pulling the trigger on YOUR buddies every day? Are you honestly saying that it wouldn't affect you?
I have both family and friends in Iraq, and I've had this conversation with them several times. The looks on their faces when they really start describing what it's actually like on the ground is downright creepy.
Our budget for this war needs to include a LOT of funds to help some of our soldiers get back to normal after this war ends. Some people deal with stress better than others, but I'm quite sure that a lot of our soldiers are going to come home with serious issues that need to be worked out.
Two soldiers' accounts
Monday's testimony focused on statements Barker and Cortez gave to investigators, in which both soldiers described the day of the alleged attack.
According to their statements, the soldiers were drinking whiskey, playing cards and hitting golf balls when Green brought up the idea of going to a house near the checkpoint where they were stationed to rape the girl. Barker described Green as very persistent, Bierce testified.
The statements said the five soldiers -- Green, Cortez, Barker, Spielman and Howard -- then changed into dark clothing and covered their faces before going to the house. According to Barker, Howard was the lookout and was given a radio to use if anyone approached, Bierce said.
The four remaining soldiers then entered the home, at which point the statements from Barker and Cortez about what happened diverge, according to Monday's testimony.
Barker told investigators that Cortez pushed the 14-year-old girl to the floor and made "thrusting motions" as Barker held down her hands, then they switched positions, Bierce said. Sometime during the assault, Barker said he heard gunshots come from the bedroom, where the girl's parents and sister had been taken, and an agitated Green emerged and said he had killed them, Bierce said.
According to Barker, Green then put down the AK-47 he had been carrying and raped the girl, while Cortez held her down, and then picked up the gun and shot her several times, Bierce said. Green then went into the kitchen and, when he returned, said he had opened the propane tank and they needed to get out of the house because it was about to explode, Bierce said.
However, in his statement to CID investigators, Cortez denied raping the girl, although he admitted holding her down while Barker raped her, Special Agent Gary Griesmyer testified.
Under questioning, Griesmyer testified there was no evidence Spielman raped or murdered anyone in the house. Special Agent Michael Hood also said Spielman passed a polygraph test, in which he denied shooting or raping anyone.
However, in his statement to investigators, Barker put Spielman at the scene and said Spielman grabbed the 5-year-old girl outside the house and took her inside, Bierce said.
After the alleged attack, Barker also said the soldiers gave Spielman their clothes to burn and that he threw the AK-47 in a canal, Bierce said.
U.S. soldier testifies of his investigation
Also testifying Monday was a soldier in the same platoon as the accused men, Pfc. Justin Watt, who said he began trying to find out what happened at Mahmoudiya after Yribe confided to him that Green had told Yribe about the rape and killings.
"I wanted to see if I could confirm my suspicions that there were more people involved," Watt said. "I believed there were American forces involved."
Watt said when he asked Howard about what happened, Howard revealed the plan to rape the girl and that his role was to be the lookout.
"(Howard) let me know that he ended up seeing a Humvee and calling them back frantically," Watt testified. Howard also told him that when the other soldiers returned from the house, "Their clothes were covered in blood," Watt said.
Watt said after piecing together the details about what happened, he reported his suspicions to a combat stress team.
"If you have the power to make something right, you should do it," Watt said. "Investigation is not my job. But if something went down -- something terrible like that -- then it's my obligation to come forward."
However, Watt also described the conditions at Mahmoudiya as a "suck fest," testifying that the soldiers were living in the basement of a "dilapidated, abandoned water treatment facility" and had gone 30 days without a shower. He also said the ongoing violence, including the deaths of two soldiers in their unit shortly before the slayings of the Iraqi family, had affected everyone.
"I was going to get a memorial tattoo of all the guys (who were killed), but there's not enough room on my arm," Watt said.
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/08/07/iraq.familyslain/
Mahmoudiya pinglist--if you want on or off, please let me know via freepmail.
Apologies to any who might have been double-pinged, since TexKat has a few of the same names on her list.
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