|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
|
September 13th, 2006 - Spielman
Being Held in the U.S. |
|
Spielman Being Held in the
U.S. By Vicky Taylor Staff writer Chambersburg Public Opinion September 13, 2006 Pfc. Jesse Spielman is back
in the United States this week and is being held at an undisclosed location
in what a military spokeswoman is calling pretrial confinement. Army spokeswoman Kelly Tyler
said Spielman and his four co-defendants were brought back Monday. She would
not confirm that Spielman, Pfc. Bryan Howard, Spc. James Barker, Sgt. Paul
Cortez and Sgt. Anthony Yribe are in a military jail, referring instead to the
term "pretrial confinement." She would not confirm that
the soldiers had been returned to Fort Campbell, Ky., headquarters of the
101st Airborne. The soldiers are part of the 101st Second Brigade. Spielman, Howard, Barker and
Cortez have been charged with murder, rape, arson and housebreaking in the
case. Yribe is charged with covering up and failure to report the attack. A sixth man, former Army
Pfc. Steven D. Green, has been charged in federal court in Kentucky on
similar charges in the same case. Green was discharged for a personality
disorder in June before the soldier's involvement in the case came to light. The five soldiers had an
Article 32 hearing in the case in August in Iraq and an Army investigator who
conducted the hearing recommended that the convening authority, who will rule
in the case, send it to a general court martial. Neither Tyler nor military
spokesmen with the Multi-National Corps in Iraq could confirm that a ruling
had been made in the case, although Tyler said she thought a ruling was
supposed to be handed down last week. The possibility that her son
has been back for two or three days and had not been allowed to contact her
worries and angers Spielman's mother, Nancy Hess, who is a nursing assistant
at Menno Haven. She said her last
communication with her son had been in the form of an e-mail on Sept. 5 from
the 21-year-old Chambersburg native and CASHS graduate. "He asked how I was
doing and expressed concern about the storm we were supposed to get as a
result of Hurricane Ernesto," she said. Spielman also told her both
he and his military escort had been sick but told her not to worry. Hess had received an e-mail
from her son's military attorney, Capt. Stephen Mcgaha, about the same time.
Mcgaha told her Spielman would be allowed to continue to contact his family,
even after his return to Fort Campbell. Still, as of Wednesday night, she
heard nothing from Spielman or the Army. She learned of her son's
return through a USA Today article on Wednesday. She said she worries that
her lack of official news about Spielman's return, either from the military
or from her son, does not bode well for his chances of getting a fair trial
at a general court martial. She thinks the charges
against her son stem from political motives, not evidence against him. Spielman told investigators
he did not participate in the rape and murders, was not a part of the
planning and did not know others in his patrol planned to commit the crime
when he was told to go with them the day of the rape and murders, according
to testimony in the Article 32 hearing. Iraqi officials and media
have demanded justice in the case and threaten to try the soldiers in
absentia. Both Hess and Spielman's civilian lawyers contend that the rape and
murder charges were filed against the Chambersburg soldier even though
investigators concede he was not a participant because the Army wants to
appease public opinion in the war-torn Iraq. External link:
http://www.publicopiniononline.com/localnews/ci_4333957# Soldier
Describes Anguish in Revealing Murder Allegations By Gregg Zoroya USA Today Updated 9/13/2006 4:27 PM ET On
a night in June, Pfc. Justin Watt lay in his cot in Iraq, anguishing over
whether to tell Army investigators that he suspected soldiers from his own
platoon had raped a 14-year-old girl and then killed her and her family. He
decided to call his father back home. "If you knew something bad about
your brothers," Watt asked him, "would you come forward?" The
satellite phone link between Iraq and South Carolina was clear, and Rick Watt
remembers that his son sounded distraught. An
Army veteran, the elder Watt asked for details, but Justin Watt would offer
none. Finally, Rick Watt told his son that whatever had happened would have
to be monstrous. "Heinous," he said, "is the only reason for
giving up a brother." Hours
later, Justin Watt, 23, of Tucson, told authorities what he had learned from
talking with another soldier from their platoon in the 101st Airborne
Division. That soldier is one of four now accused of the killings March 12 in
Mahmoudiya, Iraq. In
the months since, the four soldiers have been charged in a military court in
Iraq with rape and murder. Another soldier is accused of failing to report
the crime. And Steven Green, a platoon member discharged from the Army since
the crimes, faces rape and murder charges in federal court in connection with
the case. If
the allegations prove true, the assault by American soldiers would be among
the worst atrocities of the Iraq war. "It is extremely damaging to the
standing of the United States," Samir Sumaidaie, Iraqi ambassador to the
United States, told ABC News, "(and) hurts the fight against
terrorism." By
coming forward, Watt became - in the eyes of his father and one Army officer
- a different kind of war hero, one whose valor wasn't immediately commended
and who now lives with the fear of payback from other soldiers. A U.S.
senator has told the Army that Watt has "received threats," and the
Army says it is investigating whether Watt is in danger. In
interviews by telephone and over the Internet from Iraq, Justin Watt
recounted for the first time details about his decision to come forward. He
declined to discuss the criminal case or any threats against him because they
are under investigation. But he explained how the violence that racked his
platoon all year and claimed so many of his friends drove his decision. Since
being assigned to a different unit and moved away from those who may resent
what he did, Watt says he feels isolated and misses his buddies. "I'm
an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation who is dealing with a stupid
amount of stress right now," he says. "This investigation hasn't
changed the fact that I'm at war. I still deal with that every day. The only
difference is, now when I come home, in the back of my mind I'm thinking,
'Could something happen to me because of this?' I don't know." ‘We’d come through hell’ Mahmoudiya
is in a region south of Baghdad known as the "Triangle of Death,"
an area patrolled since October by Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd
Regiment of the 101st Airborne. Bravo,
particularly the 1st Platoon in which Justin Watt served, has suffered heavy
casualties. "There was a saying," Watt recalls, " '1st Platoon
is in no shortage of very good, but very unlucky, men.' " He
would later testify in a military court: "We'd come through hell with
each other." His
best Army friend and former roommate, Pfc. Tyler MacKenzie, 20, of Evans,
Colo., died in a roadside explosion in November. Four 1st Platoon soldiers
were killed in a 12-day period in December. In February, an electrical fire
swept through the company barracks. Watt lost letters and pictures from home,
a digital camera, an iPod and a knife that was a gift from his father. By
then, he says, he was convinced he would not survive Iraq. On
March 12, in the midst of the platoon's hard-luck tour, the bodies of Abeer
Qassim al-Janabi, 14; her 5-year-old sister, Hadeel; their mother, Fikhriya
Taha; and their father, Qassim Hamza, were found in their Mahmoudiya home.
The Army initially blamed the assault on insurgents. Three
months after the Iraqi family was found slaughtered, the 1st Platoon suffered
a devastating attack. Insurgents overran a checkpoint in Youssifiyah on June
16, killing Spc. David Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., and capturing
Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Pfc. Thomas Tucker, 25, of
Madras, Ore. Watt was close friends with Tucker and Menchaca, who were later
found tortured and killed. Watt
says he could barely sleep after the kidnappings. When he did, he had
nightmares about dead Iraqi children or slain comrades, talking to or staring
at him. The bodies of Tucker and Menchaca were discovered June 19. What he learned Shortly
after the kidnappings, Watt spoke with another Bravo Company friend, Sgt.
Anthony Yribe, 22. According to testimony Watt later gave in court, reported
by a small group of journalists allowed inside the hearing, Yribe disclosed a
terrible secret: He suspected that 1st Platoon soldiers had attacked the
Iraqi family March 12. Shaken,
Watt later approached another soldier in 1st Platoon, Pfc. Bryan Howard, 19.
Howard, Watt testified, told him a gruesome story. The details emerged during
a so-called Article 32 hearing held in Baghdad last month. In such hearings,
an investigator listens to evidence and decides whether to recommend a
court-martial. The
Article 32 hearing considered charges of rape and murder against the four
soldiers: Howard, Spc. James Barker, 23, Sgt. Paul Cortez, 23, and Pfc. Jesse
Spielman, 21. A fifth, Yribe, is not alleged to have taken part in the attack
and is charged with dereliction of duty for failing to report the crimes. The
official transcript of the hearing has not been released. According to the
testimony reported by a pool of journalists and made available to news
outlets, the rape victim and her family lived about 220 yards from a
traffic-control point in Mahmoudiya. For several days before the killings,
Howard, Barker, Cortez, Spielman and then-Army Pvt. Steven Green staffed the
checkpoint. Army
investigator Benjamin Bierce testified at the hearing that Green repeatedly
spoke of his desire to kill Iraqis and emerged as the leader of the attack,
the media pool report said. The
soldiers also talked about the 14-year-old girl, whom they had seen passing
through their checkpoint, Bierce testified. Bierce
testified at the Article 32 hearing that on March 12, the group had a plan to
assault the girl. With Howard acting as lookout, Barker, Cortez, Spielman and
Green entered the family's house, Bierce testified. Green herded the parents
and the 5-year-old into a bedroom, according to the pool report of a
statement made by one suspect, Barker. At
the hearing, there was conflicting evidence about who raped the girl,
according to the pool coverage. Army investigator Michael Hood, for example,
testified that Spielman passed a polygraph test in which he denied raping or
shooting anyone during the attack. Cortez, in his statement, denied raping
the girl. Howard's lawyer, Army Capt. Megan Shaw, argued that he did not
believe the attack was actually going to happen.According to Barker's
statement, Cortez pushed Abeer, the 14-year-old girl, to the floor, lifted
her dress and tore away her underwear as she struggled. Barker said in his
statement that he and Cortez both attempted to rape the girl. Barker
also said he heard gunshots from the bedroom, and an agitated Green emerged
holding an AK-47, the media pool report said. "They're all dead. I just
killed them," he told the others, according to Barker's statement. Green
then raped the girl and shot her to death, Barker told investigators, and her
body was set on fire. ‘Put yourself in my shoes’ Watt
says he struggled over what to do about what he had learned from Howard and
Yribe. He would later testify at the Article 32 hearing that the Army excels
at teaching soldiers everything from hygiene to rifle assembly. "But
there's nothing I've read that says what to do if your buddies have raped and
murdered a family," he said in court, according to the media pool report. "Put
yourself in my shoes," Watt says in an interview. "My roommate's
dead. A bunch of my friends are dead. Two of my buddies are being tortured to
death. Green is back in the States. He doesn't have to suffer at all. These
good men are dead." Watt
says he's not religious. But months before, when so many friends were killed,
he had prayed for God to give him strength. As he wrestled with a decision,
he says he sensed God was watching. "I felt like if I didn't do the
right thing, I wasn't holding up my end of the deal," Watt says.
"If I didn't do anything, I was dead. Lost my grace with God." That's
when he called home. Watt says he had already decided to go to authorities
before the call home to his father. But he says he needed — if only briefly —
to connect with his dad. "I knew there was a world to go back to where
people cared about me," he says. "I didn't feel so alone." After
the call, Watt asked to speak to a mental health counselor. Subsequent media
reports said that a soldier receiving counseling suddenly had reported the
attack on the Iraqi family. Watt
says there was nothing sudden about it. He
asked to speak with a mental health counselor because he wanted to bypass
what he thought would be a skeptical command structure and get an audience
with Army investigators, he says. Through the mental health counselor, Army
investigators were notified and interviewed Watt. Documents
in the federal court proceeding against Green say investigators were tipped
off June 20. By that time, Green had been sent home from Iraq and discharged
from the Army in May with a "personality disorder," according to
the documents. After
Watt came forward, the FBI arrested Green in North Carolina on June 30. He
has pleaded not guilty, and his arraignment in federal court on rape and
murder charges in the Mahmoudiya case is scheduled for Nov. 8 in Louisville. Based
on the evidence presented at the Article 32 hearing for the five soldiers
charged in Iraq, Army Col. Dwight Warren issued a report Sept. 3 recommending
that they face a court-martial. A final Army decision on that recommendation
is pending. The
four soldiers charged with rape and murder, who could face the death penalty
if convicted, were recently transferred to a stateside military jail in an
undisclosed location, Army spokesperson Kelly Tyler says. Two
weeks after testifying in the Article 32 hearing, Watt was moved from Bravo
to Charlie Company. Capt. William Dougherty, Charlie Company's commander,
wrote to Watt's parents Aug. 2 praising their son. His comments were the
first accolades from the Army the family has received. "I
am proud of him for coming forward. It took moral courage," Dougherty
wrote in an e-mail Watt's father shared with USA TODAY. "I know that he
has been through a lot." Dougherty
did not respond to a request for comment. Rick
Watt, 55, a demolition consultant from North Charleston, S.C., believes his
son deserves a medal. "I'm amazed at the content of his character and
his courage," he says. Due to come home soon Watt
is the oldest of Rick and Vivi Watt's three children. The
couple separated last year, but the family remains close. Rick Watt says he
worked hard to instill honesty in his children. "I'm a firm believer
that when we leave this world, the only thing we take with us is the imprint
we've made on other people, and our own reputation," he says. Justin,
considered by family members as the most sensitive and introspective of the
three kids, seemed the least likely to choose the Army and combat, his
brother Darin and his father say. Watt
dropped out of high school at age 17 and passed his high school equivalency
exam so he could pursue his dream job: working for an Internet gaming
company. The company failed within a year, and after working various
jobs,Watt surprised his family by enlisting. Like
so many other soldiers in Iraq, he created a page on MySpace .com, a popular
collection of personal Web pages. There, he listed his dad as his hero. Until
Justin Watt took the page down from the Internet, it was a place to vent his
frustrations and fears about war. He
noted on June 26: "Nobody will ever know that I brought justice to a
murdered family." When
his name surfaced in the media, Rick and Vivi Watt pleaded for help from U.S.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz. Kyl wrote the Army on Aug. 2, warning that Justin Watt
had "received threats" and demanding that his safety be a priority.
Kyl also questioned whether Watt should be shifted out of the 101st Airborne
for his own security and provided a lawyer. In
a response Aug. 11, Army Brig. Gen. Bernard Champoux wrote that Watt has been
provided a lawyer "although he is not suspected of any wrongdoing."
Champoux also says that the Army is investigating Watt's claim that he has
been harassed and mistreated since he came forward. "In
Pfc. Watt's sworn statement and his conversations with his chain of command,
he expressed that he has never been personally threatened," Champoux
wrote. "He was told about possible threats by another member of his
(original) unit." Watt's
father shared with USA TODAY the exchange of letters written by Kyl and
Champoux. Andrew Wilder, a spokesman in Kyl's office, confirmed that Kyl sent
and received the letters. Rick
Watt says he is still not satisfied with the steps the Army has taken to keep
his son safe. "I
am legitimately concerned," he says. "I guarantee you, if anything
happens to my son, there will be careers lost and people will be prosecuted
who are wearing brass today. Because I won't stop until it happens." Watt
is now stationed in Latifiyah, a few miles from Mahmoudiya, and his unit is
due to rotate home in a few days. He remains stunned by all that followed his
decision to come forward. "I
don't regret it by any means," he says. "But, God, I had no idea it
was going to be like this." He
says the Army has promised new assignments that he cannot discuss.
"That's all I want," he says, "a fresh start." External link:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-12-soldier-anguish_x.htm |