Have a great Independence Day and remember our troops who have fought and sacrificed for our freedom.
Posted on 07/03/2006 3:46:35 PM PDT by motife
Ex-Soldier Charged in Brutal Rape, Slayings By TIM WHITMIRE
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (July 3) - A former Army soldier was charged with the alcohol-fueled rape and killing of a young Iraqi woman and the murder of her family, a crime the attackers apparently tried to cover up by burning the victims' bodies.
Steven D. Green, a 21-year-old former private first class discharged this spring for a "personality disorder," made an initial appearance on rape and murder charges in a federal courtroom Monday morning, three days after he was arrested by FBI agents in western North Carolina.
Green was ordered held without bond while waiting to be taken to Louisville, Kentucky, where he faces four counts of murder and one of rape stemming from the March incident. Each of the murder charges carries a possible death sentence.
According to an affidavit unsealed during his court appearance, Green was part of a group of four soldiers from the Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 101st Airborne Division who invaded a home near the traffic checkpoint they manned in Mahmoudiya, Iraq, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad. Once inside, the affidavit said, Green and another soldier raped a young Iraqi woman who lived there.
Two other soldiers from the division's 502nd Infantry Regiment who were present and interviewed by investigators said Green fired shots from an AK-47 submachine gun that killed the woman, as well as three members of her family: a man, woman and a young girl.
The FBI affidavit estimated the rape victim's age as 25, but a neighbor in Mahmoudiya said Monday she was 14.
The military's investigation into the killings first became public last week. U.S. officials in Iraq have said they learned of the deaths in March, after the family's bodies were found inside a burned residence. They initially believed the killings were a result of sectarian violence.
Investigators in Iraq have said they believe the soldiers planned the rape for up to a week. According to the affidavit, written by Louisville-based FBI agent Gregor Ahlers, Green and fellow soldiers discussed the attack while drinking on the night of March 11, then changed clothes in an effort to disguise themselves before going to the woman's home and carrying out the assault.
Upon arriving at the residence, Green took the woman's relatives into a bedroom, according to one soldier interviewed by investigators. The sound of gunshots from inside the room followed, and Green emerged to say, "I just killed them, all are dead," the affidavit said.
"Immediately after this, (the soldier) witnessed (another soldier) and Green rape the woman ... . After the rape, (the soldier) witnessed Green shoot the woman in the head two to three times," Ahlers wrote.
Another soldier present during the attack told a similar story and said he was instructed afterward to dump the murder weapon in a nearby canal, which he did.
Investigators also interviewed a fifth soldier, who was left behind to man the radio at the traffic checkpoint. That soldier said Green and three others returned from the woman's house "with blood on their clothes, which they burned. Immediately after this, they each told (the soldier) that this is never to be discussed again."
Ahlers said in the affidavit he reviewed photos taken by Army investigators in Iraq of bodies found inside the burned house, including photos of an Iraqi man, woman and young girl who all appear to have died of gunshot wounds. He said he also reviewed a photo of a burned body of "what appears to be a woman with blankets thrown over her upper torso."
An official familiar with details of the investigation in Iraq has told The Associated Press that a flammable liquid was used to burn the rape victim's body in an attempted cover-up.
The satellite channel Al-Jazeera gave wide coverage to the alleged attack. But according to the affidavit, military officials learned of the American role in the deaths less than two weeks ago, after a soldier confessed to involvement during a routine military counseling session.
[b]The soldiers accused in the rape and killings are from the same platoon as two soldiers whose mutilated bodies were found June 19, three days after they were abducted by insurgents near Youssifiyah, southwest of Baghdad. Military officials say they believe guilt over the mutilations may have spurred the confession.[/b]
No other soldier has been charged in the case, said Maj. Joseph Breasseale, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. However, military officials have said four Army soldiers have had their weapons taken away and are confined to their base near Mahmoudiya.
Authorities did not say why Green was arrested in Marion. According to the affidavit, he was expected to return a rental car to Fort Campbell on Friday or Saturday, after attending a funeral in Arlington, Virginia, for one of the mutilated soldiers.
Green served for 11 months with the 101st Airborne Division, according to the affidavit, and he received an honorable discharge "before this incident came to light. Green was discharged due to a personality disorder."
Green will have a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing on July 10 in Charlotte, and will then be brought to Louisville, said Marisa Ford, chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Louisville.
The mayor of Mahmoudiya, Mouayad Fadhil, said Monday that Iraqi authorities had started their own investigation. He said U.S. Army officers were also seeking permission to exhume one of the bodies; the U.S. military declined to comment on the report because the investigation is ongoing.
Associated Press writers Brett Barrouquere in Louisville, Mark Sherman in Washington and Kim Gamel and Robert H. Reid in Baghdad contributed to this report.
7/3/2006 16:22 EDT
The Army officially looks at race and gender on all boards (promotion, schooling and command) but only at the margins. It began in ernest under Carter's SECARMY Alexander. Presidents may get involved in the promotion of 3 and 4-stars but below that, it would become common knowledge and probably a scandal.
Bingo. This is not some epidemic. This is not new stuff. It has always happened in war zones. The difference is, today we have a media conglomerate that is on a mission to bring down a President and they are more than willing to use the mistakes of our troops in harm's way to do just that. We will continue to hear the most minute details of every negative story in Iraq, while not hearing so much as a brief overview of anything positive.
You've also just accused three more soldiers of lying under oath. Perhaps you could explain to us exactly why they would lie to get someone who's already out of the Army in trouble...
I had no need to respond to that post, Taquita.
What do you know about any of this except what you read in the media, i.e., the communist enemy of the U.S.A.???
Here is what I question about this thread.
The original poster only came back into the discussion once, to post a New York Times article (e.g., a smear).
And the original poster edited out certain comments from the AOL source without placing ellipses in the edited version.
A very similar type of poster has posted terrorist propaganda in #118.
My motto: Question the source. It's more relevant than discussing the allegations.
how about putting the comment into context?? exactly which "they" was i refering to?? are you deliberately being obtuse?? wonder why you are using the old msm trick of taking part of a quote and using it in a different context?? after all, this is the second time you've done it with my posting. pull your head out of your bullocks.
But since this guy is a civilian now, it looks like he'll be tried by a civilian court, not by the Army. Civilian lawyers could delay this case for years or get him off for his "personaility disorder" even if he's guilty. I fear this is just going to fuel more anti-Americanism. The tragedy is that these guys had been talking about this for a week or more. Why didn't someone report them?
Okay, I'll go real slow for you (as it appears I have to).
1) the former soldier was arrested based on a sworn affadavit by the other soldiers in the group. Logic would dictate the other soldiers either
A) actually saw something of which they are attesting toOne can make this claim as there would be no reason to give a statement to investigators claiming a crime was committed otherwise. I imagine if you wanted to claim they had some vendetta against their former colleague to the point that they were willing to lie under oath you could. However this is simply unrealistic (and tells us we have consummate liars serving in the Armed Forces)
B) were involved in a crime (possibly worse) in which they are laying this crime at the feet of a former colleague to divert attention from them.
2) I know about this because I have studied many of the wars in the world's history. Granted I have not published a book reconfirming the state's view of 'history' as some have, but I look at history with as little as bias as possible. This has not only allowed me to recognize the successes, as well as missteps and faults, of all governments, but I also understand that in the fog of war many things happen that the state's army's leadership would not necessarily condone. This is a historical fact in every war in history. Hence, things are happening over there those of you that accept government versions only do not want to hear. I can also, without a doubt, tell you there is a very good chance a black market of US equipment is thriving in Iraq. With inside help (i.e. members of the Armed Forces)
3) As the United States Armed Forces is a microcosm of society as a whole, statistical data will tell us there is a percentage of members of the Armed Forces that are active in what we would call criminal activity.
Again these are facts and statistics that cannot be argued against. It has nothing to do with the media (I really wish you 'conservatives' would quit throwing around misnomers (i.e. communists) that don't necessarily apply) but rather historical data and simple numerical information.
Have a great Independence Day and remember our troops who have fought and sacrificed for our freedom.
They probably did it since they're implicating themselves so who am I to argue with that, but I'm not so sure about the one guys account. Perhaps he was the killer and rapist and wants to finger the other two. The other 2 soldiers claim Green did just about everything while they just sat back and watched or was a lookout. Sounds a little too convenient. The one guy who confessed to involvement but doesn't implicate himself in the rape or murders admits to getting rid of the AK-47 too.
I think they better get physical evidence to prove who did what because I'm sure Green might have a very different version of events.
You are a sick puppy.
You are a sick puppy.
I'm not the one sitting in a jail cell charged with murder and rape with a sworn affadavit by my fellow soldiers saying I did it am I? Oh sorry I forgot. Going against
statistical data
logic and
historical fact
it never happened did it?
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