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

[jelti 0]

I will be liberal and assume 50 Iraqi women have been raped by American soldiers.

You are blind, my friend. So very blind.

Edited July 7, 2006 by jelti

[VivaMexico 0]

I will be liberal and assume 50 Iraqi women have been raped by American soldiers.

You are blind, my friend. So very blind.

Not sure why everyone is ganging up on the one person on this thread who honorably defended our freedom and is defending our armed forces. Remember, U.S. soldiers are not the enemy. I would agree that 50 is a liberal number. If we're wrong, please provide proof.

[Veiled Princess 1]

Not sure why everyone is ganging up on the one person on this thread who honorably defended our freedom and is defending our armed forces. Remember, U.S. soldiers are not the enemy. I would agree that 50 is a liberal number. If we're wrong, please provide proof.

Don't think anyone is "ganging up on" anyone.

one interesting note here. one of those links you provided msnbc has published classified information. paragraph 33. nice to know they have no reservations about giving out military secrets eh?

Good

[Ban Hammer 13,636]

Not sure why everyone is ganging up on the one person on this thread who honorably defended our freedom and is defending our armed forces. Remember, U.S. soldiers are not the enemy. I would agree that 50 is a liberal number. If we're wrong, please provide proof.

Don't think anyone is "ganging up on" anyone.

one interesting note here. one of those links you provided msnbc has published classified information. paragraph 33. nice to know they have no reservations about giving out military secrets eh?

Good

i really fail to see the good in it.

[Veiled Princess 1]

upon reviewing your links, it does seem that there is few cases of rape by american military there. unfortunately finding it within all that sensational journalism is not easy. most of what i read about sounds like something that occurs at a frat house hazing.

it concerns me that there is an allegation of an army translator raping a boy, and one male MP guard having sex with a female detainee. (please note that having sex with does not infer rape).

however, in one article it states: A highly placed source in the Pentagon said: “We have done investigations into accusations of juveniles being abused and raped and can’t find anything that resembles that.”

now i know some won't consider it possible that some or any of these allegations of raping women, boys, whichever - could be false. i do have faith that the us military will investigate and punish anyone doing wrong.

what bugs me is the sensational journalism here. from this link link 1 it states this: Such animalistic, abhorrent and repulsive crimes are deliberately committed by western forces to attack the very root of the Islamic psyche.

but oddly enough, this same article states that it was iraqi forces implicated in one rape, not "western" ones. the other allegations of such concerned israel. NOT ONE AMERICAN was listed in that article. interesting eh?

now to read more links

If you're going to reduce rape to frat house hazing I can't continue this discussion with you.

[Ban Hammer 13,636]

upon reviewing your links, it does seem that there is few cases of rape by american military there. unfortunately finding it within all that sensational journalism is not easy. most of what i read about sounds like something that occurs at a frat house hazing.

it concerns me that there is an allegation of an army translator raping a boy, and one male MP guard having sex with a female detainee. (please note that having sex with does not infer rape).

however, in one article it states: A highly placed source in the Pentagon said: “We have done investigations into accusations of juveniles being abused and raped and can’t find anything that resembles that.”

now i know some won't consider it possible that some or any of these allegations of raping women, boys, whichever - could be false. i do have faith that the us military will investigate and punish anyone doing wrong.

what bugs me is the sensational journalism here. from this link link 1 it states this: Such animalistic, abhorrent and repulsive crimes are deliberately committed by western forces to attack the very root of the Islamic psyche.

but oddly enough, this same article states that it was iraqi forces implicated in one rape, not "western" ones. the other allegations of such concerned israel. NOT ONE AMERICAN was listed in that article. interesting eh?

now to read more links

If you're going to reduce rape to frat house hazing I can't continue this discussion with you.

i suggest you read that again. i acknowledged that there was instances of rape. however, some of what went on in there reminded me of frat house hazing, and such did not include the allegations of rape. jeesh.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

U.S. seeks to exhume Iraqi girl's remains

By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer 43 minutes ago

TIKRIT, Iraq - U.S. investigators have asked Iraqi authorities to help them navigate cultural sensitivities to exhume the body of a teenager allegedly raped and murdered with her family by American soldiers, a military official said Saturday.

U.S. Maj. Mark Wright said U.S. authorities are aware that Islamic tradition has strict rules governing exhumation and could require religious leaders to become involved in the investigation.

"You want to be aware of these cultural issues while at the same time making sure that the accused receives proper justice," Wright, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, told The Associated Press.

Muslim tradition generally frowns on exhumations, considering them desecration of the remains.

However, Ahmed Taha, the uncle of the dead teen, told AP Thursday that relatives were eager to cooperate with investigators and would allow them to exhume the body of the alleged rape victim, Abeer Qassim Hamza. Her parents and sister were also slain.

Ex-soldier Steven D. Green was arrested last week in North Carolina and has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and four counts of murder.

Four soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment have been taken to a U.S. military camp in Baghdad for questioning, Wright said. He would not say if those soldiers had been arrested, but another U.S. official said Saturday that several more soldiers would soon be charged. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

Based on interviews and records, the U.S. military now believes the woman who Green is accused of raping and killing was between the ages of 14 and 20, Army spokesman Paul Boyce said Friday. While the military initially said she was 20, Boyce said he has seen documents that indicate she could have been about 14.

Wright said officials are also considering whether certain parts of a standard Western autopsy would be taboo in Iraq and if a religious leader or family members should be present to ensure cultural barriers are not crossed.

He said U.S. military commanders in Iraq are working with the family's relatives to expedite the investigation, but that it was not immediately clear whether Iraqis or Americans would have custody of the woman's remains.

U.S. officials are concerned that the alleged rape-slaying, which occurred March 12 near Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, will strain relations with the new U.S.-backed government and increase calls for changes in the agreement that exempts American soldiers from prosecution in Iraqi courts.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has demanded an independent investigation into the case, which followed a series of allegations that U.S. troops killed and mistreated Iraqi civilians.

According to an FBI affidavit, Green and at least two others targeted the teenager and her family for a week before the attack, which wasn't revealed until witnesses came forward in late June.

The soldiers drank alcohol, abandoned their checkpoint, changed clothes to avoid detection and headed to the victims' house, about 200 yards from a U.S. military checkpoint in the so-called "Triangle of Death", a Sunni Arab area south of Baghdad known for its violence, the affidavit said.

In the week since the allegations came to light, the military has remained tightlipped even amid growing cries by Iraqi leaders for a fair investigation.

President Bush, speaking on CNN's "Larry King Live" last Thursday, said the Iraqis should understand that the allegations will be handled "in a very transparent upfront way."

"People will be held to account if these charges are true," Bush said.

In the chow halls and barracks, many soldiers remain convinced that the alleged rape and killings in Mahmoudiya were aberrations and that most American service members respect the rules of war.

"These crimes are against all the Army values, so if you don't have any of those values, you shouldn't even call yourself a soldier," said Staff Sgt. Ahmand Brown, 28, of Flint, Mich.

In the aftermath of claims that Marines killed civilians in the western town of Haditha in November, the U.S. military in Iraq ordered all personnel to undergo values training.

The Army has also paid greater attention to its rules of engagements, which determine when a soldier can use deadly force. But a bad soldier is a bad soldier, no matter the training, Brown said.

Green, who served 11 months with the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., received an honorable discharge and left the army in mid-May. He was discharged because of an "anti-social personality disorder," according to military officials and court documents.

But even before the rape-murder allegation surfaced, the military was investigating an incident in which three soldiers from the same battalion were killed by insurgents near Youssifiyah. Two of them apparently were abducted and slain, with their bodies mutilated.

U.S. officials insist they have no evidence that the incidents are related.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060709/ap_on_...e_investigation