Iraq rape soldier given life sentence

Abeer Qassim al-Janabi died at the young age of 14... Well, she didn't so much die as she was brutally gang-raped and murdered by several drunken, hateful, vicious and vile mental midgets who happened to join the Army and went to Iraq - apparently with little to no supervision where they were posted. These soldiers also murdered, in cold blood, her 4 Year Old Sister and her Mother and her Father - witnesses are messy. (?) Messy? They left a mess when they were done... After being brutalized by these pieces of shit, one of them shot her in the face. Then, (like I said...Mental Midgets.) they tried to set her on fire. Then they set her what had been her home on fire. She was found, by neighbors responding to the blaze, with her dress still pulled up above her waist... and burned from the waist up. Her 4 yr. old sister had been murdered, and both her parents' bodied were bullet-riddled. Those guilty tried to blame the deaths on the insurgency. Thankfully, someone came forward with the Truth.

People who do things like this make me want to become... a 'cleaner' of sorts... In case the Justice System or the Military Justice System fails to secure and isolate these soulless, piss-poor excuses for Human Beings... as just a hobby...You know, then someone would go clean up the mess that is them. They are the necrotic tissue on the body of humanity, and they need to be cut out... to prevent any more of the human body becoming contaminated by them, ending up permanently damaged and/or dying.

Abeer had been terrified of these men. She had to pass them daily and it must have been an awful experience. She finally told her mother about the soldiers' unwanted, frightening advances {(A) She was 14 yrs old! and B) As they were Muslim. Under Islam, You don't treat girls or women like that.}.

Imagine for a moment...
You are a child.
Doing what children do... Playing, learning, helping your parents...
An unprovoked war comes to your home.
Your country sustains a massive bombing.
Many thousands of women, men and children are killed and injured.
The bombing finally ends.
You and your family all survived.
Men with automatic weapons show up.
They aren't your countrymen.
They aren't Muslim, like you and all you know are.
They're the ones who were doing the bombing... to find WMD...
No, now it's to "free" you from Saddam's rule, to bring "Democracy" to your country.
They don't speak any Arabic, they don't even try.
They bark orders at you and others in a foreign language... and get angry when you don't understand what they are saying.
They yell. They drink. They laugh. They point their guns at people, then laugh some more.
They all focus on you as you walk by. You wish you didn't have to pass them, but you have no choice. Perhaps they try to touch you. It isn't right. They make you very scared. They know where you live... because they've followed you home before.
What can you do?
They have guns. They won't stop. They won't leave you alone.
You tell your Mother that you fear they will come to for you at night, after they've been drinking. She contacts a relative who says you can stay with them. She says to come the next night. You feel a little better, but still anxious. You cannot wait to get away to where you'll feel safer. You lay in bed, but cannot sleep. You keep picturing them, hearing their taunting, laughing.
Suddenly, there's a loud and heavy banging at the door. Your heart starts pounding. You hear the door forced open. You hear men's voices... It's them! You hear your Father yelling...You cannot breath. You hear your Mother start to cry... You start to cry...You hear them coming toward you, you're frozen in terror... They're coming... and you are 14 years old and you are all alone... with them...

Abeer survived the "Shock and Awe" campaign... but not the Shockingly and Awfully Incompetent Occupation.

She did nothing to these men. They were armed foreigners occupying her home.
Now, instead of any number of things a 14 yr. old girl would be doing, dreaming of, playing with her 4 year old sister, looking forward to...
Instead of that... she's dead. And she was forced to endure what must have been the most unimaginably horrific final hours. Did she hear her family being killed? Can you imagine being 14, being raped... and the last thing you see is a gun barrel pointed at your face?
She's gone. Along with her family.
They were just trying to live their lives.
Now they're all dead. And since Abeer was murdered, relatives are close-lipped. - In their culture, any sexual activity - including rape - a girl outside of marriage brings shame to the entire family. They just wanted to leave it in the past.

Thankfully, someone grew a conscience. Someone said something. And word got out to the press... including Bloggers. Which made it virtually impossible for the military to successfully cover it up, hide the crimes. They tried to "spin" the story, though. At first they said that it was "insurgents". The neighbors knew better. Then they said the victim was a 20 yr. old woman... No, it was a 50 yr. old woman... As if the violent rape and murder of a young woman, or the rape of an older woman is somehow less of a horrible crime than that of a child. Rape is Rape. It is a violent violation of a human being's body. It is a crime. Personally, I feel that, if it can be known for sure that a rape has taken place and who the rapist(s) is(are)... They should be eligible for capital punishment. Dead men don't rape. At the very least, lock them up for the rest of their lives - no possibility of parole. The victim recieved a "life sentence", so too, should the rapist.

Now, the first defendent in the trial of Abeer's rapists/murderers has been sentenced... A Life Sentence... Up to 90 years... Hurrah! Some semblance of Justice... But, he'll be eligible for parole in 20 years. Boooo!
Abeer and her family will still be dead.
These men were given the power over life and death by the Bush Admin... given individual weapons of mass destruction, themselves. Sent to attack another sovereign nation. Trained in combat, but not cultural competence. Apparently, no senior officer was overseeing them, checking in on them. They started thinking that they were "in charge", could do whatever they wanted to a people they had begun to hate... They didn't hate their superiors... Bush, Cheney or Rumsfeld... for sending them to Hell... They hated the people whom they were "bringing Democracy to".
What these men actually brought to Iraq was horrible violence and racism.
What they brought to America was enormous shame and increased international contempt.
Maybe it was a plea bargain... But if those unimaginable crimes had happened here, on American soil... I would think they would all recieve the death penalty for their barbarism.
-L.

Staff and agencies
Friday November 17, 2006
From: Guardian Unlimited

A US soldier has been sentenced to 90 years in prison for conspiring to rape a 14-year-old Iraqi and kill her and her family.

Specialist James Barker was yesterday told he must serve 20 years before he could be considered for parole.

The 23-year-old - one of four US soldiers accused over the rape and killings - pleaded guilty and agreed to give evidence against the others to avoid the death penalty.

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Anderson, the military judge presiding over the case at a military court in Kentucky, told Barker: "This court sentences you to be confined for the length of your natural life, with the eligibility of parole."

The rape of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killings happened in Mahmoudiya, a village around 20 miles south of Baghdad. They are among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq.

Barker told investigators that, on March 12 this year, the soldiers - from the 101st Airborne Division - drank whiskey mixed with an energy drink and played cards as they planned the attack on the girl and her family.

He said that he, former Private Steven Green and another soldier, Sergeant Paul Cortez, had taken turns to rape the girl, and said Mr Green shot her, her parents and her six-year-old sister.

Mr Green, charged in a civilian court with rape and murder, has pleaded not guilty. Sgt Cortez, charged with rape and murder, has deferred entering a plea.

On Wednesday, Barker confessed to the crimes as part of a plea agreement requiring him to give evidence against the other accused. He showed no reaction when his sentence was read out yesterday.

Earlier, he had wept during his closing statement. He accepted responsibility for the rape and killings, saying the violence he had encountered in Iraq left him "angry and mean" towards Iraqis.

"I want the people of Iraq to know that I did not go there to do the terrible things that I did," Barker said. "I do not ask anyone to forgive me today.

"To live there, to survive there, I became angry and mean. I loved my friends, my fellow soldiers and my leaders, but I began to hate everyone else in Iraq."

After Barker's sentencing, military prosecutors declined to comment because three other soldiers have yet to be tried in the case. The sentence, which is subject to review by a higher military authority, could be reduced.

During evidence intended to show the judge that Barker could be rehabilitated, his fellow soldiers described weeks with little support and sleep as they manned checkpoints.

Captain William Fischbach, the lead prosecutor, told the court that such conditions were no excuse for Barker, who led the group of soldiers to the family's house, and said no one deserved to suffer the horrors inflicted on the teenage girl and her family.

"This ... 14-year-old girl never fired bullets or lobbed mortars," Capt Fischbach said as he held photographs of the victims. "Society should not have to bear the risk of the accused among them ever again."

The defendants are accused of burning the girl's body to conceal the crime. Authorities had believed the family had been killed by insurgents until a member of the military unit involved came forward.

Mr Green's involvement has raised questions about the army's recruiting procedures in an increasingly unpopular war that has killed nearly 3,000 US troops.

He entered the army soon after being arrested for underage drinking, and had a record of alcohol and drug abuse.

To make up for a recruitment shortfall, the army has begun accepting a higher number of "category four" candidates who score low on a military aptitude test.

The charges:

Specialist James Barker

Convicted of rape and murder.

Sergeant Paul Cortez

Charged with rape and murder. Deferred entering a plea; trial date yet to be set. Could face death penalty.

Private Jesse Spielman

Charged with rape and murder. Barker did not name Pte Spielman as a participant in the rape and murders, but said he had been at the house when the assault took place and had come knowing what the others intended to do. Pte Spielman is to be brought before a court in December, and could face the death penalty.

Private Bryan Howard

Charged with rape and murder. Barker did not say Pte Howard was a participant in the rape and murders. Prosecutors yesterday said Pte Howard had been left behind at a checkpoint. He is yet to enter a plea, and is not facing the death penalty.

Former private Steven Green

Charged in a civilian court with murder and sexual assault, and has pleaded not guilty. He was discharged from the army before the charges. It is unclear whether the death penalty would apply.