Posted on 11/15/2006 10:52:09 AM PST by jmc1969
One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping an Iraqi girl last spring and killing her and her family pleaded guilty Wednesday and will testify against the others.
Spc. James P. Barker agreed to the plea deal to avoid the death penalty, said his civilian attorney, David Sheldon.
The killings March 12 in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad, were among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq.
Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, both members of the 101st Airborne Division with Barker, could face the death penalty if convicted in the case in courts-martial at Fort Campbell.
The alleged ringleader, former Army private Steve Green, 21, pleaded not guilty last week to charges including murder and sexual assault.
(Excerpt) Read more at kltv.com ...
As far as I'm concerned, he can swing right beside Saddam.
I will withhold jedgement on the others until they are tried according to military justice and all the fact are in. If they did do this, then they should be executed.
I wonder if all those bleeding-heart human rights groups will be investigating whether or not they got this confession through the very loosely defined term of "torture".
This is a good example of how we mete out justice to members of the military who commit heinous acts. The investigation into Haditha, on the other hand, is a complete travesty.
Agreed. I was all for holding judgment until a trial or confession occurred (some wanted to execute them first and try them later), but unless this was a forced confession, this case demands several death penalties.
Of course, the left will hold this case up as an "example" of how evil the military is, which makes it even worse.
he should be sentenced to wear panties on his head.
but seriously, if found to have done what is alleged, he should hang.
Without being privy to the evidence of the case, it's hard for me to pass judgment.
If what this soldier says is true, I agree that the penalties should be extreme, to include the death penalty or imprisonment for life.
On the other hand, having dealt with military investigations before, they can be pretty intimidating, and I would not put a coerced confession outside the realm of possibility.
In short, I'm approaching this confession with the same studied skepticism I'm taking the innocent claim by the alleged ringleader. I don't have enough evidence to reasonably make up my mind yet...I would posit that nobody else here does either. :)
Every career field has people who do bad things. Please don't make this guy as an example for the entire military (I know you weren't).
I can understand a soldier getting carried away in the heat of battle and kill innocents but IF this happened the way they say.........hang em' all....there is NO excuse!
Not only did this scumbag dishonor himself, he put other Americans lives at risk. Isolated acts of evil make victory harder in Iraq and make it easier for the terrorists to recruit.
Not only did this scumbag dishonor himself, he put other Americans lives at risk. Isolated acts of evil make victory harder in Iraq and make it easier for the terrorists to recruit.
How long before those exemplary statesmen Kerry, Durbin and Murtha use this as political fodder.
Should we count in minutes or hours?
It should be at least that bad. At least Saddam wasn't suppose to be one of us, at least he wasn't a U.S. Soldier.
As far as I'm concerned, he should be thrown into a huge pit full of 7' tall hairy gay men who can have their way with him before they kill him. Poetic justice.
While it looks like this case is genuine, people should be aware of the 'blood libel.' This is where native Iraqis are paid by insurgents, sometimes media, to accuse our people of heinous crimes. And it's always the 'victims' who have the trump hand, especially when the case hits the airwaves.
Spread doubt about your fighting men and women and diminish confidence in them. Sad but true.
Agreed. There can be zero tolerance in our military for any crimes against civilians anywhere, anytime.
I second that motion.
True. And who else exploits these isolated acts and uses them for political gain more readily than the democrats, Kennedy, Durbin, Kerry, Murtha et al? They seem to be ecstatic at the opportunity to use each aberration to paint our military with a broad brush -- Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Haditha etc -- thereby demoralizing our troops, giving our enemy the encouragement to fight another day and, ultimately, prolonging the war.
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