discharged soldier has been charged in the Mahmudiyah case; more on the murdered girl
Ex-Soldier Arrested in Rape, Murder of Iraqi Girl, Others
The Washington Post's veteran Baghdad correspondent Ellen Knickmeyer revealed earlier Monday that the woman allegedly raped, killed and then burned by U.S. troops in Iraq in March was only 15 years old, and her name was Abeer Qasim Hamza.
Soldiers had apparently made advances toward the attractive teen in the days before she was killed in Mahmudiyah. Her mother felt the soldiers might come to seize her during the night, and she planned to let her sleep at a neighbor's house.
But attackers came to the girl's house the next day. After the rape, the attackers allegedly shot four family members -- Knickmeyer identifies one of them as Abeer's sister, age 7 -- and tried to set Abeer's body on fire, according to, among others, the mayor of Mahmudiyah and a hospital administrator.
I feel sick. She was fifteen. Not that it would be any better were she older. But still. Fifteen. They accosted her, stalked her, raped her, and murdered her and her family. They shot her seven year old sister.
In a world where might makes right, and the powerful occupiers have few checks on their behavior, being an attractive female unwilling to have sex on demand - well, that's a killing offense.
"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."
I won't bother dealing with the issue of honor killings here - when family members murder a raped woman or girl to restore family "honor" - because the soldiers did it for them. But where wouldn't rape by occupying soldiers be an incendiary allegation? If her family merely loved her, her country merely mourned her, wouldn't that be enough reason to hate the people who raped and murdered her? I hate them myself.
"...'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.'"
Her name was Abeer. Abeer Qasim Hamza. She was fifteenfourteen when American soldiers raped and murdered her.
Tomorrow, I won't have forgotten.
ETA: Here's the Washington Post article about this. It contains a few more details, avoid if already nauseated.
The age of the rape victim was also unclear. U.S. officials close to the case have described her as a young woman, and 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 other article said the woman's age had previously been reported as twenty. I don't know if this is just confusion, or a desperate attempt at damage control. "It was an adult they raped and murdered, not a child!" Whatever her age, the crime was revolting. And it says something that the most disputed part of this entire matter is the age of the victims.
The Washington Post's veteran Baghdad correspondent Ellen Knickmeyer revealed earlier Monday that the woman allegedly raped, killed and then burned by U.S. troops in Iraq in March was only 15 years old, and her name was Abeer Qasim Hamza.
Soldiers had apparently made advances toward the attractive teen in the days before she was killed in Mahmudiyah. Her mother felt the soldiers might come to seize her during the night, and she planned to let her sleep at a neighbor's house.
But attackers came to the girl's house the next day. After the rape, the attackers allegedly shot four family members -- Knickmeyer identifies one of them as Abeer's sister, age 7 -- and tried to set Abeer's body on fire, according to, among others, the mayor of Mahmudiyah and a hospital administrator.
I feel sick. She was fifteen. Not that it would be any better were she older. But still. Fifteen. They accosted her, stalked her, raped her, and murdered her and her family. They shot her seven year old sister.
In a world where might makes right, and the powerful occupiers have few checks on their behavior, being an attractive female unwilling to have sex on demand - well, that's a killing offense.
"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."
I won't bother dealing with the issue of honor killings here - when family members murder a raped woman or girl to restore family "honor" - because the soldiers did it for them. But where wouldn't rape by occupying soldiers be an incendiary allegation? If her family merely loved her, her country merely mourned her, wouldn't that be enough reason to hate the people who raped and murdered her? I hate them myself.
"...'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.'"
Her name was Abeer. Abeer Qasim Hamza. She was fifteenfourteen when American soldiers raped and murdered her.
Tomorrow, I won't have forgotten.
ETA: Here's the Washington Post article about this. It contains a few more details, avoid if already nauseated.
The age of the rape victim was also unclear. U.S. officials close to the case have described her as a young woman, and 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 other article said the woman's age had previously been reported as twenty. I don't know if this is just confusion, or a desperate attempt at damage control. "It was an adult they raped and murdered, not a child!" Whatever her age, the crime was revolting. And it says something that the most disputed part of this entire matter is the age of the victims.