Victim Allegedly Raped By U.S. Soldiers was Only 15

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Raped Iraqi woman feared US troops: report

Mon Jul 3, 7:06 AM ET

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A woman apparently at the center of a rape-murder probe by the U.S. military in

Iraq was only 15 and voiced fears about soldiers' advances before she and her family were killed in March, the Washington Post said on Monday.

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Quoting the mayor of Mahmudiya, near Baghdad, an unnamed hospital official and neighbors of the alleged victims, the newspaper named the woman, her parents and 7-year-old sister as having been killed in their home in the town on March 11.

The paper did not affirm the woman, Abeer Qasim Hamza, was killed by Americans, but local people quoted appeared to believe the dead family was the one involved in the U.S. investigation.

A U.S. military official in Baghdad told Reuters details of the incident they described were at odds with U.S. documents in the 10-day-old investigation of at least three soldiers. U.S. officials had the rape victim's age as 20, he said. However, he added, he was not aware of any other such cases in the area.

The U.S. military has given few details publicly. Officials say at least three soldiers are under investigation over the alleged rape of a woman and the killing of three relatives, including a child, in their home at Mahmudiya on March 12.

Two are suspected of rape and one of these, since discharged from the army, is also suspected of murder, officials said.

The Washington Post quoted Omar Janabi, who said he was a neighbor, saying Abeer Qasim's mother had told him on March 10 that the young woman had complained repeatedly about advances made toward her by U.S. soldiers at a nearby checkpoint.

Janabi told the newspaper he was one of the first people to arrive at the family house after the attack. He said he found Abeer sprawled dead in a corner, her hair and a pillow next to her consumed by fire, and her dress pushed up to her neck.

DEATH CERTIFICATES

The paper said death certificates from Mahmudiya hospital identified the victims as Abeer Qasim Hamza, 15, shot in the head and burned; her mother Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 34, killed by gunshots to her head; her father Qasim Hamza Raheem, 45, whose head was "smashed" by bullets; and Hadeel Qasim Hamza, 7.

The inquiry was launched after two soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment came forward last month to make allegations about comrades. The killings had previously been recorded by the military as the work of guerrillas, U.S. officers say.

Local residents and officials in the area, one of the most dangerous and violent in Iraq, have offered Reuters reporters conflicting accounts of incidents involving U.S. troops.

Two years after the scandal over U.S. prisoner abuse at

Abu Ghraib jail and coming after a string of murder charges against U.S. troops and accusations over the killing of 24 people in the western city of Haditha, the rape allegation is potentially incendiary in Iraq's conservative Muslim society.

Iraq's main organization of Sunni Muslim clerics, long hostile to the U.S. occupation, said on Sunday the Mahmudiya case revealed "the real, ugly face of America."

In recent months, officials say, commanders have cracked down on rogue soldiers in a bid to gain the trust of ordinary Iraqis and of their new government after three years of growing resentment that U.S. officers say risks fuelling the insurgency.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060703/ts_nm/...ape_report_dc_1

[Artegal 1]

Unfortunately you have these types of incidents. They occurred in Bosnia, in Korea, in Vietnam etc.

This itsn't something that is exclusive to US military. The recent UN Peace Keeper sex scandals in Africa for instance.

Tragic--and unfortunate all these cases--just another reason why Military might ain't so mighty.

[Veiled Princess 1]

I heard on the news today that her neighbor said she was 14 and her sister was 5.. doesn't really make a difference... I for one hope they kill the b@$$#%^&! And all involved. Just another thing to make you wonder who the real terrorists are...

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Unfortunately you have these types of incidents. They occurred in Bosnia, in Korea, in Vietnam etc.

This itsn't something that is exclusive to US military. The recent UN Peace Keeper sex scandals in Africa for instance.

Tragic--and unfortunate all these cases--just another reason why Military might ain't so mighty.

Would these soldiers also have raped and murdered here at home if they thought they could get away with it? Or is the environment (psychological) such that they lose any sense of right and wrong (following orders becomes the only morality)? I'm sure nobody above them directly gave them orders to do such an atrocious thing, but do you suppose these soldiers believed psychologically that what they did would not be considered reprehensible by their superiors?

Edited July 4, 2006 by StevenJinky

[PsychoKat 0]

Unfortunately you have these types of incidents. They occurred in Bosnia, in Korea, in Vietnam etc.

This itsn't something that is exclusive to US military. The recent UN Peace Keeper sex scandals in Africa for instance.

Tragic--and unfortunate all these cases--just another reason why Military might ain't so mighty.

Would these soldiers also have raped and murdered here at home if they thought they could get away with it? Or is the environment (psychological) such that they lose any sense of right and wrong (following orders becomes the only morality)? I'm sure nobody above them directly gave them orders to do such an atrocious thing, but do you suppose these soldiers believed psychologically that what they did would not be considered reprehensible by their superiors?

My own personal opinion is that they might not have done the same here, but the environment (war) is an environment alien to a lifetime of upbringing. Most people are raised to value life and taught that taking another persons life is one of the most heinous acts a person could commit, it's illegal and immoral, and in various religious belief systems it is considered a mortal damnable sin. I would be willing to bet that the majority of our service men volunteered for service with noble thoughts of bravery, honor, and possible self sacrifice to protect our lives and our country. Imagine the psychological turmoil that one must go through under those circumstances, to do something they feel is so good, they are also forced to commit something that has been deeply ingrained in them throughout their lives as being one of the most evil things one can do.

How does one truely rationalize that and live with it emotionally. Sure logic says it's okay but emotions?

Edited July 4, 2006 by PsychoKat

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Justice will be served.

[PsychoKat 0]

Unfortunately you have these types of incidents. They occurred in Bosnia, in Korea, in Vietnam etc.

This itsn't something that is exclusive to US military. The recent UN Peace Keeper sex scandals in Africa for instance.

Tragic--and unfortunate all these cases--just another reason why Military might ain't so mighty.

Would these soldiers also have raped and murdered here at home if they thought they could get away with it? Or is the environment (psychological) such that they lose any sense of right and wrong (following orders becomes the only morality)? I'm sure nobody above them directly gave them orders to do such an atrocious thing, but do you suppose these soldiers believed psychologically that what they did would not be considered reprehensible by their superiors?

My own personal opinion is that they might not have done the same here, but the environment (war) is an environment alien to a lifetime of upbringing. Most people are raised to value life and taught that taking another persons life is one of the most heinous acts a person could commit, it's illegal and immoral, and in various religious belief systems it is considered a mortal damnable sin. I would be willing to bet that the majority of our service men volunteered for service with noble thoughts of bravery, honor, and possible self sacrifice to protect our lives and our country. Imagine the psychological turmoil that one must go through under those circumstances, to do something they feel is so good, they are also forced to commit something that has been deeply ingrained in them throughout their lives as being one of the most evil things one can do.

How does one truely rationalize that and live with it emotionally. Sure logic says it's okay but emotions?

BTW, please don't take what I said as a means of justifying what was done. My comments were strictly philosophical in nature and analytical about the question asked above my response.

So far as my feelings on the matter, there really is no pardonable excuse for what was done and if it was my daughter I would probably turn into a raging animal and tear the responsible party limb from limb then feed them to the dogs!

[46]

Ex-GI Charged in Rape of Iraqi, Killings

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A former soldier discharged because of a "personality disorder" was accused in federal court Monday of executing an Iraqi family so he and other troops could rape and murder a young woman they had been eyeing at a traffic checkpoint.

Steven D. Green, a skinny, 21-year-old former private, was led into court wearing baggy shorts, flip-flops and a Johnny Cash T-shirt. He spoke only to confirm his identity and stared as a federal magistrate ordered him held without bond on murder and rape charges that carry a possible death penalty.

Green became the first person identified in the latest case of alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops, horrific deaths discovered in a burned house near Mahmoudiya in March that military officials initially blamed on insurgents.

According to a 10-page federal affidavit, Green and three other soldiers from the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division had talked about raping the young woman, whom they first saw while working at the checkpoint. On the day of the attack, the document said, Green and other soldiers drank alcohol and changed out of their uniforms to avoid detection before going to the woman's house. Green covered his face with a brown T-shirt.

Once there, the affidavit said, Green took three members of the family _ an adult male and female, and a girl estimated to be 5 years old _ into a bedroom, after which shots were heard from inside.

"Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone, 'I just killed them. All are dead,'" the affidavit said.

The affidavit is based on interviews conducted by the FBI and military investigators with three unidentified soldiers assigned to Green's platoon. Two of the soldiers said they 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," the affidavit said.

One of the three soldiers interviewed said he was left behind to mind 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."

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 affidavit noted that prosecutors have photos taken by Army investigators in Iraq of all four bodies found inside a burned house and a photo of a burned body of "what appears to be a woman with blankets thrown over her upper torso."

The age of the young woman was unclear. FBI documents estimated her age at 25, but a neighbor of the family said the rape victim was 14 and her sister was 10.

The Washington Post reported the rape victim was 15 and that her mother worried her daughter had attracted the attention of U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint. The mother asked a neighbor if the girl could sleep at his house.

The neighbor agreed, but the girl and her family were attacked the next day, according to the Post. The neighbor told the Post he was one of the first people to arrive at the house after the attack and found the girl dead in a corner, her hair and a pillow burned and her dress pushed up to her neck.

Green, who was arrested Friday in the town of Marion northwest of Charlotte, is being prosecuted in federal, rather than military court because he is no longer in the Army. According to the affidavit, his 11-month-stint ended "before this incident came to light" when he was given an honorable discharge "due to a personality disorder."

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 a confession by one of the soldiers during a combat-stress debriefing late last month.

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 were being confined to their base near Mahmoudiya.

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.

According to the affidavit, Green was arrested while traveling back to Fort Campbell after attending a funeral for one of the mutilated soldiers in Arlington, Va.

He was quoted in December by the Fort Campbell Courier about a search for insurgents and expressed surprise at the ease of the mission.

"I was surprised by how many people weren't home, but the ones who were there were submissive and let us look through their things," he said.

Court officials said Green will have a preliminary hearing and a detention hearing on July 10 in Charlotte, and will then be brought to Louisville to stand trial.

Ex-GI Charged in Rape of Iraqi, Killings

The accused are being arrested and may face the death penalty after an impartial trail. This is how a proper nation behaves when its citizens are accused of murder.

[mawilson 2,133]

Is 15 considered too young in Iraq?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The accused are being arrested and may face the death penalty after an impartial trail. This is how a proper nation behaves when its citizens are accused of murder.

That of course is arguable don't you think? Neither do I think Iraq constitutes "Proper" behaviour...

I would be willing to bet that the majority of our service men volunteered for service with noble thoughts of bravery, honor, and possible self sacrifice to protect our lives and our country.

I wonder how that contrasts with those who join up for selfish reasons - independence from parents or simply because they have no other options open to them?

[incanada1234 0]

Fishdude: always positive.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The story is not positive

[Emo 0]

The difference is how out society face this evil act.

I am sure the perpetrators will get severe punishment.

Contrary to the friends and family of psychopaths who blow themselves (previously infected with hepatitis for maximum injuries) on the streets and buses of Israel. They are local heroes and everybody around them are proud of their actions.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Justice will be served.

As it was after My Lai ?

The difference is how out society face this evil act.

I am sure the perpetrators will get severe punishment.

Contrary to the friends and family of psychopaths who blow themselves (previously infected with hepatitis for maximum injuries) on the streets and buses of Israel. They are local heroes and everybody around them are proud of their actions.

Re: the punishment -- well that remains to be seen. Other trials of American servicemen have not always ended so "justly." But in the case that the accused soldiers are found guilty of this crime, let us all hope that justice will prevail this time.

Regarding your off-topic remarks, yes yes yes all the attacks on Israelis are always "on the streets and buses of Israel" and never on targets in "illegally occupied land." All of the victims are always "Israeli civilians" and never "soldiers of the occupation forces" or "illegal settlers." Keep drinking the Koolaid you've been sold.

And re: the (absurd) hepatitis allegation.... link please ?

Edited July 4, 2006 by wife_of_mahmoud

[JenT 0]

Is 15 considered too young in Iraq?

Too young for what? Too young to be raped? I didn't realize there was an age at which rape becomes acceptable.

Edited July 4, 2006 by JenT