US troops accused of raping woman and murdering her family

by **yesferatu** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 1:21 pm

self-delete Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=yesferatu@rigorousintuition>yesferatu</A> at: 7/2/06 12:45 pm

by **Chiaroscuro** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 8:19 pm

<a href="http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/31584/">www.alternet.org/waroniraq/31584/</a> In a startling revelation, the former commander of Abu Ghraib prison testified that Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, former senior U.S. military commander in Iraq, gave orders to cover up the cause of death for some female American soldiers serving in Iraq. Last week, Col. Janis Karpinski told a panel of judges at the Commission of Inquiry for Crimes against Humanity Committed by the Bush Administration in New York that several women had died of dehydration because they refused to drink liquids late in the day. They were afraid of being assaulted or even raped by male soldiers if they had to use the women's latrine after dark. The latrine for female soldiers at Camp Victory wasn't located near their barracks, so they had to go outside if they needed to use the bathroom. "There were no lights near any of their facilities, so women were doubly easy targets in the dark of the night," Karpinski told retired U.S. Army Col. David Hackworth in a September 2004 interview. It was there that male soldiers assaulted and raped women soldiers. So the women took matters into their own hands. They didn't drink in the late afternoon so they wouldn't have to urinate at night. They didn't get raped. But some died of dehydration in the desert heat, Karpinski said. snip Sanchez's attitude was: "The women asked to be here, so now let them take what comes with the territory," Karpinski quoted him as saying. Karpinski told me that Sanchez, who was her boss, was very sensitive to the political ramifications of everything he did. She thinks it likely that when the information about the cause of these women's deaths was passed to the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld ordered that the details not be released. "That's how Rumsfeld works," she said. --------- U.S. military releases more details on recovery of bodies of missing U.S. soldiers <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/20060627-0306-iraq-missingsoldiers.html">www.signonsandiego.com/ne...diers.html</a> In a statement that provided additional details of the killings, the military said the bodies of U.S. Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca of Houston and Pfc. Thomas Tucker of Madras, Ore., were found at 7:50 p.m. on June 19 not far from where they were abducted when insurgents attacked their checkpoint. snip Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, has ordered a formal investigation to determine the facts of the June 16 attack. Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., was killed as his comrades were abducted. The military had said that one other soldier was killed and 12 soldiers were wounded in the search effort. Monday's statement, however, said no troops were killed in the search. It did not elaborate. The Army said the three soldiers were left alone while other vehicles in their patrol moved out of sight to inspect traffic. Earlier reports reported the three Humvees became separated under fire. Those reports now appear to be wrong, said Lt. Col. Michelle Martin-Hing, a spokeswoman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. ---- there are conflicting reports on what happened when these men were abuducted. a different report said they were on their own when taken. I can't help but wonder if they were actually taken when scouting for another target instead of on duty.

by **chiggerbit** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:24 am

<a href="http://rawstory.com/showarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fwp-dyn%2Fcontent%2Farticle%2F2006%2F07%2F02%2FAR2006070200673_pf.html">rawstory.com/showarticle....73_pf.html</a> BAGHDAD, July 2 -- Fifteen-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza was afraid, her mother confided in a neighbor. As pretty as she was young, the girl had attracted the unwelcome attention of U.S. soldiers manning a checkpoint that the girl had to pass through almost daily in their village in the south-central city of Mahmudiyah, her mother told the neighbor. Abeer told her mother again and again in her last days that the soldiers had made advances toward her, a neighbor, Omar Janabi, said this weekend, recounting a conversation he said he had with the girl's mother, Fakhriyah, on March 10. Fakhriyah feared that the Americans might come for her daughter at night, at their home. She asked her neighbor if Abeer might sleep at his house, with the women there. Janabi said he agreed. Then, "I tried to reassure her, remove some of her fear," Janabi said. "I told her, the Americans would not do such a thing." Abeer did not live to take up the offer of shelter. Instead, attackers came to the girl's house the next day, apparently separating Abeer from her mother, father and young sister. Janabi and others knowledgeable about the incident said they believed that the attackers raped Abeer in another room. Medical officials who handled the bodies also said the girl had been raped, but they did not elaborate. Before leaving, the attackers fatally shot the four family members -- two of Abeer's brothers had been away at school -- and attempted to set Abeer's body on fire, according to Janabi, another neighbor who spoke on condition of anonymity, the mayor of Mahmudiyah and a hospital administrator with knowledge of the case. The U.S. military said last week that authorities were investigating allegations of a rape and killings in Mahmudiyah by soldiers of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, part of the 4th Infantry Division. The mayor of Mahmudiyah, Mouyad Fadhil Saif, said Sunday that the case was being investigated by the U.S. military as an alleged atrocity. Janabi was one of the first people to arrive at the house after the attack, he said Saturday, speaking to a Washington Post special correspondent at the home of local tribal leaders. 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. "I was sure from the first glance that she had been raped," he said. Despite the reassurances he had given the girl's mother earlier, Janabi said, "I wasn't surprised what had happened, when I found that the suspicion of the mother was correct." The U.S. military has not identified the victims. U.S. military officials contacted this weekend said they did not know the names of the people involved or most other details of the case, although one military official confirmed that according to preliminary information gathered by investigators, the family lived near a U.S. checkpoint and the killings happened about March 12. The military official pointed to one discrepancy in the accounts, however. Preliminary information in the military investigation put the age of the alleged rape victim at 20, rather than 15, as reported by her neighbors, officials and hospital records and officials in Mahmudiyah. U.S. soldiers at the scene initially ascribed the killings to Sunni Arab insurgents active in the area, the U.S. military and local residents said. That puzzled villagers, who knew that the family was Sunni, Janabi said. Other residents assumed the killings were sectarian, with Shiite Muslim militiamen as the likely culprit. But on June 23, three months after the incident, two soldiers of the 502nd came forward to say that soldiers of the unit were responsible, a U.S. military official said last week. The U.S. military began an investigation the next day, the official said. Officials said last week that none of the four soldiers under investigation had been detained, although one had been discharged for unrelated reasons. Family members have given permission for exhumation of Abeer's body, Janabi and the mayor said. The case is at least the fourth American military investigation announced since March of alleged atrocities by U.S. forces in Iraq. The rape allegation makes the Mahmudiyah case potentially incendiary in Iraq. Rape is seen as a crime smearing the honor of the family as well as the victim in conservative communities here. Death certificates viewed Sunday at the Mahmudiyah hospital identified the victims as Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 34, killed by gunshots to her head; Qasim Hamza Raheem, 45, whose head was "smashed" by bullets; Hadeel Qasim Hamza, 7, Abeer's sister, shot; and Abeer, shot in the head. Abeer's body also showed burns, the death certificate noted. Janabi said U.S. soldiers controlled the scene of the killings for several hours on March 11, telling neighbors that insurgents were responsible. The bodies of the victims were taken to Mahmudiyah hospital by March 12, according to Janabi and an official at the hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity. On March 13, a man identifying himself as a relative claimed the bodies for burial, the hospital official said. An hour after the man left with the bodies, U.S. soldiers came to the hospital and asked about the bodies, the hospital official said. The next day, the hospital official said, soldiers scoured the area, trying to find the funeral for the family. "But they did not find it, simply because the relatives did not do it, because the death includes the rape of one of the family members, which is something shameful in our tradition," the hospital official said. "The family kept the news a secret, fearing the disgrace," he said. "They thought it was done by militias, not U.S. forces." Reached by telephone Saturday at his home in Iskandariyah, south of Mahmudiyah, a member of the extended family would not discuss the incident. "What is the benefit of publishing this story?" said Abeer's uncle, Bassem. "People will read about this crime. And they will forget about it the next day." Two special correspondents in Mahmudiyah and special correspondent Bassam Sebti in Baghdad contributed to this report. Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=chiggerbit@rigorousintuition>chiggerbit</A> at: 7/3/06 9:25 am

by **chiggerbit** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:27 am

"What is the benefit of publishing this story?" said Abeer's uncle, Bassem. "People will read about this crime. And they will forget about it the next day."

by **chiggerbit** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:33 am

"....On March 13, a man identifying himself as a relative claimed the bodies for burial, the hospital official said. An hour after the man left with the bodies, U.S. soldiers came to the hospital and asked about the bodies, the hospital official said. The next day, the hospital official said, soldiers scoured the area, trying to find the funeral for the family. "But they did not find it, simply because the relatives did not do it, because the death includes the rape of one of the family members, which is something shameful in our tradition," the hospital official said. "The family kept the news a secret, fearing the disgrace," he said. "They thought it was done by militias, not U.S. forces."...." I'm sorry, but this one is really bothering me. So many horrors, and I attribute all of them to the attitude of this administration that has given a kind of permission to these kinds of monsters to do what they do.

by **friend catcher** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 12:44 pm

There is nothing much new here, and the reports could almost be verbatim translations from the napoleonic war in Spain. <a href="http://www.napoleonguide.com/goyaind.htm">www.napoleonguide.com/goyaind.htm</a> Goya had the misfortune to be amongst it and drew what he saw. Possibly this happens because it is an active policy to terrorize the population or more likely because discipline within the army is slipping away. The British in Malaya and Kenya used terror tactics extensively in the 1950's and by their own definition suceeded. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mau_Mau</a>

by **chiggerbit** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 1:20 pm

In other words, just a part of a new Phoenix program? I had wondered that myself.

by **StarmanSkye** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:11 am

"What is the benefit of publishing this story?" The sheer hopeless, helpless acknowledgement of Iraq's plunge into chaos and horror in this statement/question -- Yet another indication of America's true, purposeful 'gift'; What more can be said? Words seem so cheap ... Starman ****** Note: Initial Army reports listed the girl's age as 20. **** Los Angeles Times - Jul 3, 2006 <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-troops4jul04,0,4...">www.latimes.com/news/nati...l04,0,4...</a> Former Soldier Appears on Rape, Murder Charges By Peter Spiegel Times Staff Writer WASHINGTON -- A recently discharged U.S. Army private appeared in federal court Monday on charges that he raped and murdered an Iraqi woman after rounding up and killing three members of her family as part of a planned assault in the central Iraqi town of Mahmoudiya. Steven D. Green, 21, was arrested Friday in Marion, N.C., after a four-day nationwide manhunt. Army investigators recently were told by soldiers still serving in Iraq that Green, accompanied by three other soldiers, had committed the rape and murders in March. If found guilty on murder charges, Green could be sentenced to death. According to the FBI, Green returned to the U.S. after receiving an honorable discharge from the Army before the Mahmoudiya allegations came to light. An affidavit submitted by FBI Special Agent Gregor J. Ahlers in Kentucky said military personnel files show that a "personality disorder" led to the discharge, which apparently was approved at least two months ago. Because Green's is the first case of alleged wrongdoing by American servicemen in Iraq to go through the civilian U.S. legal process, Ahlers' six-page affidavit -- submitted Friday in support of a request for an arrest warrant -- is one of the most detailed public accountings of abuse accusations yet. More than 30 soldiers have been implicated in the wrongful deaths of Iraqi civilians. Those incidents include the 2005 deaths of 24 men, women and children in the western town of Haditha and the killing of three detainees in May north Baghdad. Last week, the U.S. military said it had charged two soldiers with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of an unarmed Ramadi resident in February. The killings have fanned unease between Iraqi officials and the U.S. military, and the incident in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, is considered likely to aggravate tensions further because of its violent, sexual nature. Ahlers said his information came largely from Army investigators, who interviewed at least three of the five soldiers allegedly involved in the Mahmoudiya incident. An Army official said none of the other four soldiers has been charged or detained, but they are under close supervision in Iraq. All are members of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, which is currently attached to the 4th Infantry Division. In Ahlers' affidavit, two of the soldiers described themselves as mainly standing watch outside the civilians' house while Green and another soldier -- identified as "Known Participant 1" -- allegedly raped the woman. The third soldier interviewed said he was told to stay behind and monitor the radio while the others went to the woman's house. All three have submitted sworn statements. According to their accounts, Green and the other soldier were drinking alcohol -- a prohibited activity for U.S. troops in Iraq -- while manning a checkpoint on the night of March 11 when they started talking about having sex with the woman, whom they had seen during a visit to her house. The house was about 200 meters from the checkpoint, one soldier told investigators. After the decision was made to rape the woman, according to the FBI affidavit, three of the soldiers changed out of their uniforms and into dark clothes. One soldier told investigators that Green covered his face with a brown T-shirt. One of the soldiers told investigators he changed clothes so he "wouldn't be seen." The affidavit said that four of the soldiers then grabbed three rifles and a shotgun and headed to the house. The fifth soldier was said to have stayed behind at the checkpoint. According to the accounts of the two who stood guard, Green went to a back bedroom, closed the door and shot three family members. An Army official said the three were believed to be the woman's mother, father and sister, approximately age 5. "Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone: `I just killed them, all are dead,' " the FBI affidavit said. Around the same time, the soldier identified as the "known participant" grabbed the young woman -- whose age is believed to have been about 20 -- and threw her to the floor, according to the affidavit. The two soldiers acting as guards told investigators that both Green and the other soldier raped the woman before Green picked up an AK-47 assault rifle he had found at the house and killed her. "After the rape, (one guard) witnessed Green shoot the woman in the head two to three times," the affidavit said. One of the soldiers who stood watch said Green later told him to "dispose" of the AK-47 in a canal across the street from the checkpoint. All four soldiers, who returned to the checkpoint with bloody clothes, burned what they were wearing, according to the soldier who monitored the radio traffic during the attack. The incident was brought to the attention of U.S. forces the next day, when local Iraqis told soldiers manning the checkpoint that four members of their family had been killed and the house had been set afire. The incident did not raise suspicions at the time because it was believed to have been the work of insurgents. Army investigators, however, took at least 15 photos of the scene, the FBI affidavit said, which show three dead Iraqis, including the young girl, with bullet wounds. Other photos show the burned body of what appears to be a woman with blankets thrown over her upper torso. The possible involvement of U.S. personnel came to light two weeks ago, when a soldier in the 502nd Infantry Regiment came forward with rumors of the March incident during a "combat stress debriefing" concerning the capture mutilation deaths of two soldiers from the same unit by Iraqi insurgents. Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., were killed in that incident, and their remains were found June 19. A third soldier, Spc. David Babineau, was killed in the initial attack. Green appeared in a Charlotte, N.C., courtroom Monday, where he was charged with four counts of unlawful killing and one count of a forced sexual act. Cecilia Oseguera, the public defender who represented Green, declined to comment. A warrant for his arrest was issued Friday by a magistrate judge in U.S. district court in the western district of Kentucky; the 101st Airborne Division, which the 502nd Infantry is normally part of, is based at Fort Campbell, Ky. Marisa Ford, chief criminal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney's office in western Kentucky, said Green has the right to a procedural hearing in Charlotte before being transported to Kentucky. At that hearing, scheduled for next Monday, prosecutors must show they have enough evidence to support an arrest. Until then, Green will held in Charlotte without bail. An Army official said Green's case could move back into the military criminal justice system, but civilian prosecutors are considered likely to resist such a move. A law called the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, passed in 2000, allows crimes committed in foreign countries by American servicemen to be prosecuted as if they had been committed on U.S. soil. [Times staff writer Richard Fausset in Atlanta contributed to this report.] Copyright 2006 Los Angeles Times

by **chiggerbit** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 11:24 am

An affidavit submitted by FBI Special Agent Gregor J. Ahlers in Kentucky said military personnel files show that a "personality disorder" led to the discharge, which apparently was approved at least two months ago. The rape/murders happened in March, and in May(two months ago?), the guy is determined to have a vague personality disorder? Odd timing. Could it be that someone in the chain-of-command knew of this earlier than they are admitting?

by **nopui** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:32 pm

Wouldn't surprise me at all, chiggerbit. After reading this thread, all I can do is hope that my best friend's son doesn't come back from there a monster. And that Nichole Frey (daughter of long-time friends of mine) wasn't actually raped and murdered by someone from her own side. <img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/frown.gif ALT=":("> And that Don Eacho (high school friend) wasn't killed by "friendly fire" after finding out about such an incident. And that I won't have to add to this list.

by **slimmouse** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:48 pm

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>"What is the benefit of publishing this story?" said Abeer's uncle, Bassem. "People will read about this crime. And they will forget about it the next day."<hr></blockquote> Damn right they will, even assuming that they can be bothered to read about it. <img src="http://www.davidicke.com/images/stories/July%202006/cardim2.jpg" style="border:0;"/> Image courtesy of David Icke website today.

US troops accused of raping woman and murdering her family

re: some officer said way they were tortured was "unnat

The Fear That Kills

Re: The Fear That Kills

Re: The Fear That Kills

Re: The Fear That Kills

Re: The Fear That Kills

Re: The Fear That Kills

Rape, Murder Victim was 15

Re: Rape, Murder Victim was 15

Re: Rape, Murder Victim was 15

Damn right they will....

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