Re: Ex-GI Charged in Rape of Iraqi, Killings

Seems a bit coincidental that this incident involves

*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.***


td

"tiny dancer" <tinydancer357@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:wZlqg.108392$QU3.60635@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ex-GI Charged in Rape of Iraqi, Killings
By TIM WHITMIRE


CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - 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.

Associated Press writers Brett Barrouquere in Louisville, Mark Sherman in
Washington and Kim Gamel and Robert H. Reid in Baghdad contributed to this
report.








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