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Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Murders

By Jeralyn, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 10:36:59 AM EST
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Last week Steven Green was charged in federal court with the rape and murder of a teenage girl in Iraq and the murder of her family members. Four of the other alleged participants in the crime have now been charged and will face military trials. A fifth soldier faces charges of dereliction of duty.

The U.S. statement said the five soldiers still on active duty will face an Article 32 investigation, similar to a grand jury hearing in civilian law. The Article 32 proceeding will determine whether there is enough evidence to place them on trial.
One of the soldiers was charged with failing to report the attack but is not believed to have participated in it directly, the statement said.

The other day I wondered why others had not been charged in light of the allegations in the affidavit for the arrest warrant. Here's my shorter version from reading the affidavit of what allegedly took place:

There were four soldiers who went to the residence, knowing that the plan was for the girl to be raped. They are referred to in the affidavit as SOI2, SOI3, Green and KP1. You can read the affidavit for Green's arrest here. Page 6 lays out the events and players.

Amid the more disgusting details, provided by SOI2 and SOI3 who have cooperated with authorities: They go to the house, SOI3 stays in front on guard, the other three go in the house. KP1 smacks the girl down in the living room, Green goes in the bedroom, shoots and kills her three family members. SOI3, hearing the shots, comes in the house. Green comes back out to the living room where Green and KP1 rape the girl, after which, Green shoots her and kills her. SOI2 tells SOI3 to get rid of the AK-47 Green used to kill them all.

The military has not yet released the names of the five men charged, but I'm assuming three of the four charged with the rape and murders are SOI2, SOI3 and KP1, who went to the house with Green.

Re-reading the affidavit, the fourth could be SOI1, who agreed to monitor the radio and provide one of his weapons to the others, knowing they were headed from the checkpoint where all were on duty to the house where they intended to rape the girl.

The fifth soldier charged with dereliction of duty for failing to report the crime could be SOI4, who discussed it with SOI1 afterwards and was made aware of what happened and who was involved. Or it could be SOI5 who was on duty at the checkpoint on 3/12/06 when an Iraqi reported the crime and who went the house and saw the crime scene but didn't report it.

What's up with all the initials? SOI is Source of Information. SOI1 would be the first soldier who came forward to talk. SOI2 would be the second and SOI3 the third, etc. They voluntarily told their stories to investigators which included their version of the rape and killings.

KP1 means "Known Participant 1." He, along with Green, allegedly raped the young girl before Green shot her. I doubt he has cooperated because if he had, I think he'd be referred to an SOI not a KP.

As for why Green is charged in federal court while the others are charged in military court, I'm assuming it's because Green had already been discharged by the time charges were filed while the others are still on active duty.

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    Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Murders | 17 comments (17 topical)
    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#1)
    by Edger on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:01:57 AM EST
    Ahhh, hell. What can be said? When will the people who created this war and the breakdown in morality and the conditions in which things like this happen be held accountable? Green and these four guys need to be charged and tried, but so do Bush, Cheny, Rumsfeld, Rice, and the rest of the animals. The 'International Community' of hyenas and vultures Gabriele Zamparini, July 7, 2006

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#2)
    by amy on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:09:06 AM EST
    I'm really disgusted at this story. The comradery between soldiers that is so glorified in war movies and television is becoming a frightening network of conspiritors and cover-ups. It disturbs me that the U.S. government is putting so much effort into monitoring civilians with the Patriot Act and the like but is letting soldiers run rampant. They are supposed to be our protectors, the protectors of freedom and justice, they are supposed to uphold the ideals of our country, as idealistic as it sounds I find it hard to sleep knowing that these are the people, the "heroes" who are guarding us. Sad as it may be, one or two bad seeds are to be expected but the fact that 7 (if I read correctly) people were involved signals something a little more sinister than a couple of bad people committing crime. More disturbing than the rape and murders, which in this cynical world can be attributed to two or three bad men, is the fact that so many men let these heinous crimes go unreported. And it begs the question, what the hell is happening over there to make these men so callous and shady?

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#3)
    by Dadler on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:15:34 AM EST
    The Rumsfeld Doctrine in all it's glory.

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#4)
    by scribe on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:20:27 AM EST
    re: Getting Green into the UCMJ and all that, after his discharge, I posted a comment the other day on this. It seems they knew where he was (traveling back to the Ft. Campbell area after attending the Arlington funerals of his buddies) and they wanted to get their hands on him (and his in cuffs) fast, leaving the paperwork for later. It's because of Green and those like him, enabled by higher civilian authorities, that one day, sooner rather than later, the civilian Iraqi gov't will kick our collective butts out of their country, regardless of anything else. That war's already lost, and here's the article explaining why.

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#5)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:23:37 AM EST
    Amy - There has probably been 300,000 or so US military cycled through Iraq. Does the number of crimes versus the numebr who were there mean anything to you?

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#6)
    by Sailor on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:29:47 AM EST
    Does the number of crimes versus the numebr who were there mean anything to you?
    torture, murder, rape, indescriminate bombing, targeting hospitals, illegal detentions, breaking down doors and murdering the inhabitants ... and these are the cases we know about. This happened in March, and just like Haditha, would have remained secret and covered up if nat'l news hadn't gotten wind of it.

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#7)
    by Dadler on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:35:17 AM EST
    Jim, Please show me some reasonable figures on the low level of military crime in Iraq. And not figures from the military, please. They haven't the credibility. Our military (and the administration running it) doesn't even give a sh*t about innocent Iraqi deaths enough to keep track of them. It sure as hell isn't going to offer any kind of comprehensive look (besides the "few bad apples" propaganda) at the real picture of military crime there. Which doesn't mean MOST kids over there aren't decent folks not committing crimes, but merely that, again, in addition to having emboldened extreme elements in the region, our inane policies have emboldened the most extreme in our OWN ranks. Making Iraq safe for murderers on all sides is not a proud accomplishment, but we've managed to do it pretty well.

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#8)
    by scribe on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 11:38:41 AM EST
    Here's some confirmation on what I speculated about last week: it looks like those kidnap, torture, behead, dump and boobytrap the bodies killings were revenge. Here's the original article from the conservatiuuve Telegraph, a London paper. Some key quotes:
    "However, the complexity of the ambush - and the level of preparedness required to have manpower to take them away alive - suggests that the kidnap was planned." Residents of Mahmoudiyah claim that they had long been alarmed by the way some US troops took an interest in their womenfolk. They said that Abeer, who lived in an isolated farmhouse less than a mile from a US checkpoint, had caught the attention of the troops as she did daily chores in the garden. "She had been told by her parents not to go to school any more because of poor security," said her neighbour Mr Hazem. "She spent most of her time at home cleaning and in the garden so the American forces saw her many times. She was a beautiful girl, and my wife told me that the Americans kept watching her. When I told her father, though, he said it was no problem and that she was just a small girl."
    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#9)
    by Edger on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 12:24:41 PM EST
    WatchingAmerica, a NYC site started in Jan 01/05 by a British and an American journalist collaborating on republishing translated news from foreign news sources, gives us a snapshot view of how this tragedy is viewed by people in countries around the world: The Virgin that Was Raped and Murdered
    The rape of 16-year-old Abeer by a group of American Marines, who had been watching her Mahmoudiya home [18 miles south of Baghdad], is just a microcosm of what has been going on in Iraq at the hands of U.S. occupation troops and Iraqi militias. The Americans can claim that crimes perpetrated by the militias are a hundred times more numerous than those committed by their troops. This hypothesis might well be true, but who is responsible for the existence of these militias? Who is behind their prosperity and influence? The answer is clear and points directly at the United States. ... This vicious and heinous crime is the latest insult since the criminal of occupation, devastation and implosion of a nation began, all based on false information.


    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#10)
    by Edger on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 01:27:52 PM EST
    scribe: one day, sooner rather than later, the civilian Iraqi gov't will kick our collective butts out of their country, regardless of anything else. That war's already lost...

    ...and it's past time for the US gov't to realize that it had better start working with the world rather than bullying it.

    The World and Washington Need to Have a Talk
    Lebanon Daily Star, July 5, 2006

    Washington has alienated its foreign partners and public opinion alike, because of the controversial and often questionable strategy, tactics and style of its foreign policy. Therefore, Fuller believes that America's "strategic fatigue" will likely grow. "In the last few years, diverse countries have deployed a multiplicity of strategies and tactics designed to weaken, divert, alter, complicate, limit, delay or block the Bush agenda through death by a thousand cuts."

    The idea that the United States only promotes goodness, freedom, democracy and light around the world is rejected by most of the world, at a time when most of this same world sincerely covets goodness, freedom, democracy and light.

    Sounds like we have a mutually desirable topic for discussion here - for those inclined to listen, ponder and talk, rather than threaten, invade and shoot.
    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#11)
    by scribe on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 02:02:42 PM EST
    Edger: I have a hard time understandimg how you think the United States' government doesn't get along with the rest of the governments in the world. After all, this quotes what the Unit had to say on this topic:
    "During the 2000 presidential campaign, candidate Bush declared, 'Our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power. And that's why we've got to be humble and project strength in a way that promotes freedom. . . . If we are an arrogant nation, they'll view us that way, but if we're a humble nation, they'll respect us.'" (2nd Presidential Debate Between Gov. Bush and Vice President Gore," The New York Times, 12 October 2000).
    In so many words, they knew what they had to do, were supposed to do, and did the opposite.

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#12)
    by Edger on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 02:13:35 PM EST
    scribe - thanks for the quote. If we are an arrogant nation, they'll view us that way, but if we're a humble nation, they'll respect us. -- bush
    I'm not always right when I think I am and I don't always know I'm right when I am. But when I'm wrong, I generally know it, painfully so. As Bea Lillie used to sing, "and the worst part of all you know in your heart, you've only yourself to blame!"
    --Understanding Defensiveness

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#13)
    by squeaky on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 02:39:24 PM EST
    edger- the pattern is clear, say the opposite of what you are doing at all times. Scribe's quote is a perfect example of many. The Through the Looking Glass administration if there ever was one. They are way too calculated and have too much power to be defensive, for the moment. Thing will change.

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#14)
    by john horse on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 03:31:41 PM EST
    Jim, (Satire alert!) You are absolutely right. Statistically speaking, the number of American soldiers who have raped and murdered Iraqi girls is very tiny in comparison with the total number of American soldiers in Iraq. Also, statistically speaking as the Onion points out, of the approximately 24 million Iraqis who were not raped and murdered, nearly all are not in a military prison. Of those in military prison a good number have enjoyed a prison stay free of guard-dog attacks, low-watt electrocutions, and sexual humiliation. What I can't understand is why so many Iraqis are upset about this. From a statistical point of view, they should be counting their blessings.

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 04:53:15 PM EST
    This war is like Viet Nam. Our soldiers can not tell who the enemy is, so all the locals become suspect. In order to want to kill the enemy, they have to be dehumanized. I was at a picnic over the 4th. A very nice young man was there with his wife and sweet little boys. He said he had been to Iraq 3 times and was probably headed back. The only thing he would say about the experience was "I want to kill them all".

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#16)
    by Che's Lounge on Sun Jul 09, 2006 at 06:58:00 PM EST
    Does the number of crimes versus the numebr who were there mean anything to you? Only that you use disconnected data to infer somone else's ignorance. Just another day. The ratio of detained coalition soldiers to the total that have served in Iraq is a typical apologist argument for explaining (alleged) war crimes. Besides, these are not the people we are looking for.

    Re: Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Mu (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 10, 2006 at 03:10:53 PM EST
    Here are two relevant quotes from Shakespeare's Henry V. The Kevin Brannagh version is a very good movie based on a truly timeless play. In these two quotes shakespeare examines the relationship between the king (or a ruler) and his subjects (or citizens). these quotes are interesting in light of the tendency to blame the Administration for the behavior of the soldiers in Iraq. My point is that this is a long running on-going debate. Several hundred years of on going debate! One futher point: this particular scene in henry v was used as the opening sequence in a star trek next generation episode. Again, timeless words about an important subject: "the king is not bound to answer the particular endings of his soldiers, the father of his son, nor the master of his servant; for they purpose not their death, when they purpose their services. Besides, there is no king, be his cause never so spotless, if it come to the arbitrement of swords, can try it out with all unspotted soldiers..." "Every subject's duty is the king's; but every subject's soul is his own..." My take on this is that the King has specific responsibilities and so do his subjects. It's a restatement of Christ's God and cesaer challenge. In addition, the phrase concerning all unspotted soldiers speaks to the nature of the men in army. many of them are fine upstanding people, but no king goes to war with an army of perfect people.

    Four More Soldiers Charged With Iraqi Rape, Murders | 17 comments (17 topical)