8 courts-martial ordered in rape, murder cases

[Marc and Olga 0]

VANSVILLE, Ind. - Four soldiers from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division will be court-martialed for the alleged rape of an Iraqi girl and the murder of her family, and two will face the death penalty, the military ordered Wednesday.

The charges against the Fort Campbell soldiers stem from rape and murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi in her family's home in Mahmoudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad — a case that sparked international outrage and added more fuel to claims of abuse by U.S. forces in Iraq.

The charges came as the military announced that a total of eight soldiers would be court-martialied, with the four others to be tried in a separate court martial on charges of murdering Iraqi prisoners in northern Iraq's northern Salahuddin province during a raid on a village.

In the rape and murder case, military authorities said they would seek the death penalty against Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman.

Spc. James P. Barker and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard are also accused in the rape and murders but will not face the death penalty, the military said in a statement.

Former Pvt. Steven Green, who was discharged for a personality disorder and arrested in North Carolina, will be tried in federal court in Kentucky. Green has pleaded not guilty to one count of rape and four counts of murder.

Military prosecutors have said the five — all from the division's 502nd Infantry Regiment — planned the attack from a checkpoint near the family's home, changed their clothing to hide their identities and set the girl's body on fire to destroy evidence.

In the other case, Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, Spc. William B. Hunsaker, Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard and Spc. Juston R. Graber are accused of murdering three Iraqi men taken from a house May 9 on a marshy island outside Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

This breaking story will be updated.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

edit:My bad, source

Edited October 18, 2006 by Marc and Olga

[Veiled Princess 1]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

[mybackpages 0]

This is just so tragic all around.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

I could never take a life. My religion teaches peace.

[Mirorgate 0]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

Lethal injection more than likely. Electric chair went way of the Dodo a while back.

[mybackpages 0]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

Lethal injection more than likely. Electric chair went way of the Dodo a while back.

Firing squard is still an option in Utah

[Veiled Princess 1]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

Lethal injection more than likely. Electric chair went way of the Dodo a while back.

OH well then I wish they would let me pump the needle....

[Ban Hammer 13,776]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

Lethal injection more than likely. Electric chair went way of the Dodo a while back.

OH well then I wish they would let me pump the needle....

[mawilson 2,133]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

I could never take a life. My religion teaches peace.

[heishe 2]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

Lethal injection more than likely. Electric chair went way of the Dodo a while back.

OH well then I wish they would let me pump the needle....

I guess your religion doesn't teach peace, then?

[mawilson 2,133]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

Lethal injection more than likely. Electric chair went way of the Dodo a while back.

OH well then I wish they would let me pump the needle....

I guess your religion doesn't teach peace, then?

Of course it does. (obligatory link to The Religion of Peace)

[Carol&Marc 0]

Guilty before the trial,hmmmmm

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Four soldiers from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division will be court-martialed for the ALLEGED rape of an Iraqi girl and the murder of her family, and two will face the death penalty, the military ordered Wednesday

Can you say ALLEGED!

[Veiled Princess 1]

I wish they would let me flip the switch

Lethal injection more than likely. Electric chair went way of the Dodo a while back.

OH well then I wish they would let me pump the needle....

I guess your religion doesn't teach peace, then?

What those men did to that girl and her family was not peaceful My religion also teaches justice.

[Marc and Olga 0]

Guilty before the trial,hmmmmm

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Four soldiers from the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division will be court-martialed for the ALLEGED rape of an Iraqi girl and the murder of her family, and two will face the death penalty, the military ordered Wednesday

Can you say ALLEGED!

I think the evidence PROVES there was a rape and the entire family WAS, in fact, murdered. These guys are accused of the act...which did not "ALLEGEDLY" happen.

edit:The court-martial IS the trial.

Edited October 19, 2006 by Marc and Olga

[mybackpages 0]

I think the evidence PROVES there was a rape and the entire family WAS, in fact, murdered. These guys are accused of the act...which did not "ALLEGEDLY" happen.

What those men did to that girl and her family was not peaceful My religion also teaches justice.

There is NO justice in the application of the death penalty in the US. (or in a single other country that I know of)