Thanks America: As a woman and mother of a girl I thank you for allowing this horror to happen! :(
It really drives me so, but so angry, that the idiot monsters that support war consider this kind of horror as "necessary evil". I would like to see how they would react to this "necessary evil" happen inside their own homes! All my respect to the American citizens that act against the occupation of Iraq and all my contempt to the f***ing coach potatoes that leave it to their psychotic president.
Medic recalls scene of horror
Discovered naked, burned body of girl, 14, in tiny home 5 U.S. troops charged in March incident near Baghdad
Aug. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM
LOUISE ROUG
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
BAGHDAD-An Iraqi army medic yesterday told a U.S. military hearing of the horrific scene that confronted him in a tiny home south of Baghdad where he found the naked and burned body of a 14-year-old girl allegedly raped and murdered by American soldiers.
The medic testified on the opening day of the hearing to determine whether five U.S. soldiers must stand trial in the March 12 rape-slaying of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killing of her parents and sister in the town of Mahmoudiya.
The incident is one of several cases of alleged abuses by U.S. troops that are now under investigation.
Entering the family's house in Mahmoudiya on March 12, the medic testified that the girl had a single bullet wound under her left eye and that her legs were spread.
In an adjacent room, the medic said he found the girl's 5-year-old sister, who had been shot, the bullet smashing the back of her head.
Next to the girl was the body of her father, Kasim Hamza Rasheed, who also had been shot in the head.
"The brain was on the floor, and parts of the head were all over the place," he said of Rasheed's body.
The mother, Fakhriya Taha Muhsen, had been shot repeatedly in the abdomen and chest, according to the medic.
"I was sick for almost two weeks," the medic said.
Defence attorneys questioned whether the medic had the expertise to determine the cause of death. They suggested the family members were already dead when they were shot, and that someone staged the bodies before they were found.
Yeah, give the bastards excuses!
They also focused on whether the accused troops were suffering from combat stress after a barrage of attacks in the area, known as the "Triangle of Death.''
Lt. Col. Thomas Kunk, commander of the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, testified three of the accused had sought help for combat stress. He estimated that a quarter of the soldiers in his battalion suffered from it.
A month before the killings of the family, company commander Capt. John Goodwin, who was the officer directly in charge of the accused, had developed a "thousand-yard stare," Kunk said.
In February, Goodwin was sent to the heavily guarded Green Zone for a break.
The U.S. military tribunal is similar to a civilian grand jury, and American officers will determine whether there is enough evidence to convene a court-martial for the five troops.
Spc. James Barker, Sgt. Paul Cortez, Pfc. Bryan Howard and Pfc. Jesse Spielman are charged with rape, murder and arson. Sgt. Anthony Yribe, from the same unit, is charged with failing to report the attack but is not alleged to have been a direct participant.
A sixth suspect, former Pfc. Steven Green, has been discharged from the army. He was arrested in North Carolina and will be tried separately in a civilian federal court. Green has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond.
The medic's testimony yesterday largely corroborated what Abu Firas Janabi, a family member, has said he saw in the house. Last month, Janabi told the Times that the Rasheed family was at his house three days before the killings. He said that Muhsen, who was his cousin, complained that American soldiers at a nearby guard post constantly searched her house. Janabi said the parents believed that the teenage girl, Abeer, "was the target.''
Kunk testified that he was informed about the alleged murders on June 19 by Goodwin, who called asking for guidance. Kunk said he had questioned Barker, who he described as "very flippant, very confident, and more than willing to answer the questions I had.'
'"He said, `No sir, no coalition soldier was responsible for the ... murder of that family and the rape and murder of that little girl,'" Kunk said of Barker.
Kunk testified that he then met with Howard, who said he didn't know who was responsible for the killing. Kunk said he recalled Green telling him: "All Iraqis are bad people.''
"I told him that that wasn't true and that 90 per cent to 95 per cent of the Iraqi people are good people and they want the same thing that we have in the United States," Kunk testified.
LOS ANGELES TIMES with files from ap
The picture is from BBC News and is not related to this story ( this girl's mother cannot grieve the murder of her daughter, since she's also been assassinated by the American soldiers that came to her home to rape her little girl.
Here's the link for the picture: BBC NEWS | Middle East | Private pessimism on Iraq grows
Here's the link for the article: TheStar.com - Medic recalls scene of horror
Medic recalls scene of horror
Discovered naked, burned body of girl, 14, in tiny home 5 U.S. troops charged in March incident near Baghdad
Aug. 7, 2006. 01:00 AM
LOUISE ROUG
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
BAGHDAD-An Iraqi army medic yesterday told a U.S. military hearing of the horrific scene that confronted him in a tiny home south of Baghdad where he found the naked and burned body of a 14-year-old girl allegedly raped and murdered by American soldiers.
The medic testified on the opening day of the hearing to determine whether five U.S. soldiers must stand trial in the March 12 rape-slaying of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killing of her parents and sister in the town of Mahmoudiya.
The incident is one of several cases of alleged abuses by U.S. troops that are now under investigation.
Entering the family's house in Mahmoudiya on March 12, the medic testified that the girl had a single bullet wound under her left eye and that her legs were spread.
In an adjacent room, the medic said he found the girl's 5-year-old sister, who had been shot, the bullet smashing the back of her head.
Next to the girl was the body of her father, Kasim Hamza Rasheed, who also had been shot in the head.
"The brain was on the floor, and parts of the head were all over the place," he said of Rasheed's body.
The mother, Fakhriya Taha Muhsen, had been shot repeatedly in the abdomen and chest, according to the medic.
"I was sick for almost two weeks," the medic said.
Defence attorneys questioned whether the medic had the expertise to determine the cause of death. They suggested the family members were already dead when they were shot, and that someone staged the bodies before they were found.
Yeah, give the bastards excuses!
They also focused on whether the accused troops were suffering from combat stress after a barrage of attacks in the area, known as the "Triangle of Death.''
Lt. Col. Thomas Kunk, commander of the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, testified three of the accused had sought help for combat stress. He estimated that a quarter of the soldiers in his battalion suffered from it.
A month before the killings of the family, company commander Capt. John Goodwin, who was the officer directly in charge of the accused, had developed a "thousand-yard stare," Kunk said.
In February, Goodwin was sent to the heavily guarded Green Zone for a break.
The U.S. military tribunal is similar to a civilian grand jury, and American officers will determine whether there is enough evidence to convene a court-martial for the five troops.
Spc. James Barker, Sgt. Paul Cortez, Pfc. Bryan Howard and Pfc. Jesse Spielman are charged with rape, murder and arson. Sgt. Anthony Yribe, from the same unit, is charged with failing to report the attack but is not alleged to have been a direct participant.
A sixth suspect, former Pfc. Steven Green, has been discharged from the army. He was arrested in North Carolina and will be tried separately in a civilian federal court. Green has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bond.
The medic's testimony yesterday largely corroborated what Abu Firas Janabi, a family member, has said he saw in the house. Last month, Janabi told the Times that the Rasheed family was at his house three days before the killings. He said that Muhsen, who was his cousin, complained that American soldiers at a nearby guard post constantly searched her house. Janabi said the parents believed that the teenage girl, Abeer, "was the target.''
Kunk testified that he was informed about the alleged murders on June 19 by Goodwin, who called asking for guidance. Kunk said he had questioned Barker, who he described as "very flippant, very confident, and more than willing to answer the questions I had.'
'"He said, `No sir, no coalition soldier was responsible for the ... murder of that family and the rape and murder of that little girl,'" Kunk said of Barker.
Kunk testified that he then met with Howard, who said he didn't know who was responsible for the killing. Kunk said he recalled Green telling him: "All Iraqis are bad people.''
"I told him that that wasn't true and that 90 per cent to 95 per cent of the Iraqi people are good people and they want the same thing that we have in the United States," Kunk testified.
LOS ANGELES TIMES with files from ap
The picture is from BBC News and is not related to this story ( this girl's mother cannot grieve the murder of her daughter, since she's also been assassinated by the American soldiers that came to her home to rape her little girl.
Here's the link for the picture: BBC NEWS | Middle East | Private pessimism on Iraq grows
Here's the link for the article: TheStar.com - Medic recalls scene of horror