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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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November 15th, 2006 - Soldier
Pleads in Iraq Rape, Murder Case News article by the Associated
Press |
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Soldier Pleads in Iraq Rape,
Murder Case By Ryan Lenz The Associated Press Wednesday, November 15, 2006; 4:08 PM Fort Campbell, Ky. - One of four
U.S. soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl last spring and
killing her and her family pleaded guilty Wednesday and agreed to 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 military judge presiding
over the case, Lt. Col. Richard Anderson, asked Barker why he participated in
the attack in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. It was
among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses
by military personnel in Iraq. "I hated Iraqis, your
honor," Barker answered. "They can smile at you, then shoot you in
your face without even thinking about it." Sgt. Paul E. Cortez and Pfc.
Jesse V. Spielman, members of the 101st Airborne Division with Barker, also
are charged in the case. Cortez deferred entering a plea during his
arraignment Wednesday morning. Spielman will be arraigned in December. The
fourth soldier, Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, also deferred entering a plea at his
arraignment in October. A fifth person, former Army
private Steve Green, 21, pleaded not guilty last week to civilian 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 defendants are accused
of raping the girl and burning her body to conceal their crimes, then killing
the girl's father, mother and 6-year-old sister. After entering his plea
Wednesday, Barker gave the court a vivid account of the events. Barker said he and the
others were drinking and playing cards while they manned a traffic
checkpoint. Green brought up the idea of raping the girl and killing her
family, he said. "He brought it up to me
and asked me what I thought about it. At a couple of points, I told him he
was crazy," Barker said. Barker said he and Green
then approached the others with the idea, but there never was a verbal
agreement to do it. "Things just got set in
motion, we just started changing (clothes), myself, Cortez and Green,"
Barker said. "By the time we started changing clothes, it was more or
less a nonverbal agreement that we were going to go along with what we were
discussing." Barker said he, Green and
Cortez raped the girl, and Green killed the girl, her parents and her sister. © 2006 The Associated Press External link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111501136.html Soldier Pleads Guilty to
Iraq Rape and Killings By John Holusha New York Times November 15, 2006 One of four Army infantrymen
charged with raping a 14-year-old girl in Iraq last March and then killing
her and her family pleaded guilty today to all charges in a military court at
Fort Campbell, Ky. The plea came on a day when
a marine is scheduled to be sentenced at Camp Pendleton, Calif., for his part
in the kidnapping and killing of an Iraqi man in a town to the west of
Baghdad. The legal actions are part
of the fallout of the fighting in Iraq, where insurgent fighters blend in
with the civilian population, frustrating soldiers who are subject to
roadside bombing and other attacks. In a third case, a Marine
Corps reservist was sentenced to six months in a military jail after pleading
guilty at Camp Lejeune, N.C., to a charge of negligent homicide in the
shooting of a fellow marine last year at their barracks in Iraq. In Kentucky, Specialist
James P. Barker, 23, pleaded guilty to charges of rape and murder in one of
the most gruesome cases of illegal killings of Iraqi civilians. Specialist
Barker is the first of a group of four soldiers to resolve the charges. Specialist Barker and three
other members of Company B of the First Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 101st
Airborne Division, were charged with raping the girl and killing her, her
parents and her 7-year-old sister in the family’s home in Mahmudiya,
southwest of Baghdad. It is a volatile area known to American soldiers as the
“triangle of death.” Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, Pfc.
Bryan L. Howard and Sgt. Paul E. Cortez are also charged with rape,
premeditated murder and arson; military prosecutors accused the men of
burning the girl’s body using kerosene in an effort to conceal evidence. A
fifth soldier, Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe, is charged with dereliction of duty for
failing to report the crimes. Sgt. Cortez was in the court
today, but deferred entering a plea, saying he would enter do so at a later
date. Both soldiers were wearing dark green dress uniforms. Specialist Barker’s plea
bargain means that he will not face the death penalty, his lawyers said
Tuesday. Although he will probably be given a life sentence, the lawyers
said, he could be released on parole in 20 years. At Camp Pendelton, Pfc. John
J. Jodka 3d was scheduled to be sentenced today for his part in the killing
of Hashim Ibrahim Awad, 52, who was suspected of being a terrorist. Private
Jodka, 20, was part of a squad of seven marines and a Navy corpsman who were
accused of kidnapping Mr. Awad in the town of Hamdania, taking him to a
roadside hole, shooting him and trying cover up the incident. Private Jodka pleaded guilty
on Oct. 27 to charges of assault and conspiracy to obstruct justice, in
exchange for prosecutors agreeing to drop other charges including murder and
kidnapping. As part of the plea
agreement, Private Jodka testified that he participated in a plan formed by
the squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins, to kidnap and kill a known
insurgent. In the dark, the squad kidnapped and killed the wrong man. Private Jodka’s sentence has
already been determined as part of the agreement, regardless of what the
judge rules today. Another member of the group,
Navy Petty Officer Third Class Melson J. Bacos was previously sentenced to 10
years in prison, but will only serve one year because of the plea agreement. At Camp Lejeune, Lance Cpl. Michael
C. Fulcher, 21, was sentenced after pleading guilty to negligent homicide in
the killing of Lance Cpl Adam Fales, also 21, who was shot in a barracks at
Camp Fallujah. Cpl. Fulcher testified that
his loaded rifle fired accidentally, hitting Cpl. Fales, according to the
Associated Press. “As I picked it up, it
discharged, sir,” Cpl. Fulcher said. “I don’t know how.” Theo Emery contributed
reporting. Copyright 2006 The New York
Times Company External link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/us/16pleacnd.html |