U.S. military sees hurdles in rape trial

AP via Yahoo ^ | July 16, 2006 | RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer

[MizSterious]

U.S. military sees hurdles in rape trial

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.

[af_vet_1981]

Show me the "confessions".

Why ?

You would still defend these perps.

[muawiyah]

You can't come up with any confessions ~ doesn't mean such things don't exist, but so far no one has seen them ~ just stories.

Now, come up with a crime ~ show me the crime ~

[af_vet_1981]

You can't come up with any confessions ~ doesn't mean such things don't exist, but so far no one has seen them ~ just stories. Now, come up with a crime ~ show me the crime ~

May the sin and crime which you mock stick to your soul for all eternity.

[muawiyah]

Sounds to me like you are on "the other side". Absent a crime, absent confessions, absent an investigation, absent very much information about this case at all, it is still much too early to be condemning anybody for anything.

[Just A Nobody]

It appears Mu'tha may have a screen name, or two.

[ArmyTeach]

I actually believe there may be substance to this case, but the Iraqis don't understand that our system of justice demands hard evidence. No he said-she said shouting match. No evidence, no conviction. The Iraqis want our soldiers stripped of their immunity from trial by international court so that they could be found guilty in a kangaroo court. We can't send our soldiers into combat and then when the situation warrants deny them a fair trial.

[jazusamo]

Yes, or there are some that subscribe to his interpretation of our justice system here.

It is unbelievable to me that there are those that are willing to abandon our justice system because of a supposed atrocity for those that risk their lives to protect that system and our way of life.

[Just A Nobody]

We can't send our soldiers into combat and then when the situation warrants deny them a fair trial.

willing to abandon our justice system because of a supposed atrocity

The willingness to throw our troops overboard is very disturbing.