Posted on 07/16/2006 2:42:05 PM PDT by MizSterious
By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer
U.S. military officials fear that religious hurdles in exhuming the body of a teenager could complicate the prosecution of American soldiers accused of raping and murdering the girl — and create a political nightmare for the U.S. mission here.
Given the gravity of the allegations, U.S. officials believe that a vigorous prosecution is essential and that punishment should be severe if the six servicemen and one former soldier are convicted.
Anything short of that would be seen by Iraqis as a cover up and could shatter remaining support for the U.S. presence here.
Five soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division are accused of raping and murdering Abeer al-Janabi near the town of Mahmoudiya on March 12. A sixth soldier is accused of failing to report the crime.
The soldiers allegedly saw the victim at a checkpoint in the town and plotted the attack for a week, according to federal court documents. Three of her family members were killed in the assault.
But the victim's male relatives have refused to allow her body to be exhumed because of objections from a Muslim cleric. Islamic law frowns on exhumations as desecration of the dead.
"Chief among our concerns is carrying out justice. But when you get town officials or an imam saying that exhuming the body doesn't jive with our cultural sensitivities, that creates a massive stumbling block," a U.S. military official in Baghdad close to the investigation said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to media.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
No one seemed to mind when we exhumed the bodies in Saddam's mass graves. The only (valid) reason that comes to mind for this refusal is that the evidence from the bodies will not agree with the accusations.
The accusations come from US soldiers. It originally came out when one of the 3 told a USA councilor about it. An Army investigaiton found the others.
You are welcome. I don't wonder that you were somewhat misled, what with all the hysterical bullsqueeze from the Drive-By Media. I have to take a deep breath from time to time myself...
Another anonymous military official heard from. If the evidence cannot be presented, turn the soldiers loose.
"Why didn't someone report this at the time it took place? There should have been plenty of Iraqis' that knew about this crime. If it'd been reported at the time then the US military could have done what was necessary to firm up this case against our troops."
ROTFLMAO! Let me see if I understand your position properly - Iraqis witness American soliders blatantly raping and murdering innocent civilians and yet hesitate to report said crimes to those very same US forces. Hmmm...Let me think. Now why would that be??? (sarcasm off) They didn't report it for the same reason you don't report if get robbed in New Orleans - good chance the cops are the bad guys and are the very ones who done the theivin.
The tetimony was given to USA investigators and exists in affadavits from the 3 soldiers. The story originally came out when 1 of them told the story to a USA councilor(doc?). That began the investigaiton that found the other 2. The alleged rapist was tossed from the Army for paychological reasons, before any of this came out.
I remain firmly on the fence on this one. If things went down as claimed, they'd okay exhumation for the bodies. There are several scenarios I can think of where the accusations could be bogus, not least among the simple fact that all fingers pointed at Green as the perp--and from other stories released about him, he was a very obnoxious guy who might have upset enough people that they made accusations about a case they would have known about using details they would also have known about.
And I'm not saying this is what happened. I'm saying, let's see the evidence. What's wrong with producing the evidence before the sentencing phase?
It wasn't reported BECAUSE IT DIDN'T HAPPEN BY OUR TROOPS...geezzz...it was insurgents...then our troops are blamed...that's the MO to date...
That is a possibility, and seems to have happened in other cases. In this case, Green appears to be a nut job who encouraged others to follow him. Unsavory things happen in a war zone, also happen on USA streets everyday.
It's an Islamic thing. Those mullahs and their followers wield bulbs that barely ever glow much above dark. These folks aren't the ones making the accusations though, so it can't be said that they're trying to hide something.
That isn't testimony, it's an allegation. Testimony can only be given in a court of law with an opportunity to cross...
Testimony is simply whatever you say. In this case it exists as affidavits and testimony to investigators. In court testimony is simply testimony given in court.
An Islamic thing? They only seem to use this "Islamic thing" when they don't want anyone to look at the bodies. Many Iraqi bodies have been exhumed (for instance, the Saddam mass graves) and no one's delicate sensibilities were disturbed in the least.
And none of the affadavits or accusors have been subjected to cross...
It's still just an allegation...
Court testimony is an allegation. The determination of whether the allegation is said to be true, or not depends on the action of the court.
The families have no say in the exumaiton of mass graves, only the graves of family members.
Exactly. Nothing at all has happened in court. That was my point from the beginning...
Not the point I was making. NO ONE objected to the exhumations. If it's such an important point, someone would have--those were their family members in those mass graves. Most were downright grateful to finally be able to put their loved ones in a proper grave.
Anything short of that would be seen by Iraqis as a cover up and could shatter remaining support for the U.S. presence here.
Hang 'em then have the trial???? Meanwhile criticize the crap out of the President over Gitmo and the handling of known terrorists.
This is a charlie-fox to the max.
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