Soldier guilty-Iraq Rape & Killings- CNN

CNN ARTICLE-

"Soldier pleads guilty in Iraq killings"

< ="" ="text/"> POSTED: 12:32 p.m. EST, November 15, 2006

< ="" ="text/">var clickExpire = "12/15/2006";

"FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (AP) -- One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping an Iraqi girl last spring and killing her and her family pleaded guilty Wednesday and will testify against the others.

Spc. James P. Barker agreed to the plea deal to avoid the death penalty, said his civilian attorney, David Sheldon."

The killings March 12 in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad, were among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq.

Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, both members of the 101st Airborne Division with Barker, could face the death penalty if convicted in the case in courts-martial at Fort Campbell.

The alleged ringleader, former Army private Steve Green, 21, pleaded not guilty last week to charges including murder and sexual assault.

Green was discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder" before the allegations became known, and prosecutors have yet to say if they will pursue the death penalty against him.

The indictment accuses Green and others of raping the girl and burning her body to conceal their crimes. It also alleges that Green and four others stationed at a nearby checkpoint killed the girl's father, mother and 6-year-old sister.

Barker has given investigators vivid accounts of the assault.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed."

_______________________________________________________
QUOTED ABOVE IS A RECENT CNN ARTICLE
REFERENCE LINK- http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/15/iraq.slaying.ap/index.html
_______________________________________________________

This is not the first time an article such as this raises several questions

1) Should one of the convicted coming out and pleading guilty be in a favorable position to AVOID death sentence while the other crime contributors potentially face it?

2) Should war crimes be looked at differently from other crimes?  (soldiers at war are not completely thmselves.. -owing to the constant war rage, pressure, frustration, and separation from their loved ones, constant fear of death)

3) Knowing that everyone was a soldier involved in the crime, should an earlier revealed  "personality disorder"  help one of the criminals walk away?

I think that all of the soldiers involved in the heinous crime should be treated equally, prosecuted in a similar way and should face the same punishment if proven guilty. I am by no means, a student of law and would love to know your thoughts.
mQT

At least I am glad that the soldiers are being persecuted. I had lost faith in the system here which treats the war crimes differently than the internal crimes. Crime is a crime. Killing in war is not a crime because war automatically subscribes to killing. But killing and murdering are 2 separate aspects. This was murder and the murderers should be charged as such.

Getting away with feigning such disorders is a commonplace practice and unfortunately nothing can be done about it since there is no scientific way to prove the disorder one way or the other.

Sorry Duplicate - Deleted -

Edited by ChameliKaYaar - 17 years ago

Originally posted by: abhijit shukla

Chalo, koi naheeN yaar.  isis bahaane hameN Debojit ke darshan hue do baar.

I hope whoever Chameli is, does not mind the free publicity you are giving her.

Chameli is a phenomenon....If you happen to visit SRGMP forum it wil take you no more than a couple of hours to figure out the saga of Chameli...She is all over he SRGMP forum... I will let you figure it out...😆

Originally posted by: ChameliKaYaar

Chameli is a phenomenon....If you happen to visit SRGMP forum it wil take you no more than a couple of hours to figure out the saga of Chameli...She is all over he SRGMP forum... I will let you figure it out...😆

Chameli ji!!! till now you were EK LADKI ANJANI SI  for some of us.

Ok as we have known you,now on wards we will sing "My heart goes damma damma......."(including that actions in that song😉)

 

Originally posted by: mythili_Kiran

Chameli ji!!! till now you were EK LADKI ANJANI SI  for some of us.

Ok as we have known you,now on wards we will sing "My heart goes damma damma......."(including that actions in that song😉)

 

Nice to meet you, Chameli Ji😆

nvm, moved to new members😉 Edited by sareg - 17 years ago

Originally posted by: abhijit shukla

Getting back to the topic. Rape is equally henious -in War or in Peace. WInning armies raping and looting civilians is age old occurance...it is byproduct of war. That does not legitimize though. Now we at least have the decency as human race to recognize it, prosecute and punish it.
I say punish the soldiers as any common criminals would be for the same crime.

I agree with you. Also, being a soldier is most of the time personal decision. Accept for the countries where it is mandatory. If you choose to be in marines for your own personal reasons, you should be held liable for the crime just like any other citizen.

Originally posted by: sowmyaa

I agree with you. Also, being a soldier is most of the time personal decision. Accept for the countries where it is mandatory. If you choose to be in marines for your own personal reasons, you should be held liable for the crime just like any other citizen.

 I completely agree with you Sowmyaa & Abhijit.  Nobody holds a gun to his/ her head to drive one into military.  It is indeed about the choices one makes..
Moreover, I think that one pleading guilty and getting away with a severe sentence is also very wrong.  When everybody was involved in raping the poor civilian and killing her family, everyone should face the trial and potential sentence at par.  Also, the soldier who was dismissed earlier based on his "mental imbalance" seems to have got away.  All this bothers me.  Perhaps he was afraid of the consequences of his wrong doing and foresaw an escape this way.  These loop holes should not be made available.  I know military life is hard.  "a pea rolled on the table and it killed a friend of mine" 😆 but that doesn;t mean you go on a raping and killing spree.