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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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November 16th,
2006 - Soldier Gets 90 Years in Iraq Rape Case |
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Soldier Gets 90 Years in
Iraq Rape Case By Ryan Lenz Associated Press Writer Thursday, November 16, 2006 Fort Campbell, Ky. - A
soldier was sentenced Thursday to 90 years in prison with the possibility of
parole for conspiring to rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and kill her and her
family. Spc. James P. Barker, one of
four Fort Campbell soldiers accused in the March 12 rape and killings,
pleaded guilty Wednesday and agreed to testify against the others to avoid
the death penalty. "This court sentences
you to be confined for the length of your natural life, with the eligibility
of parole," said Lt. Col. Richard Anderson, the military judge presiding
over the court-martial. Under the plea agreement,
Barker got a life sentence but will not serve more than 90 years in prison,
Anderson said. He will be eligible for parole in 20 years. Barker, 23, showed no
reaction when the sentence was read. Afterward, he smoked a cigarette outside
as a military bailiff watched over him. He grinned but made no remarks as
reporters passed by. Earlier Thursday, Barker
wept during his closing statement, accepted responsibility for the rape and
killings and said violence he encountered left him "angry and mean"
when it came to Iraqis. "I want the people of
Iraq to know that I did not go there to do the terrible things that I
did," Barker said, his voice quivering as he began to weep. "I do
not ask anyone to forgive me today." After Barker's sentencing,
military prosecutors declined to comment because three other soldiers have
yet to be tried in the case. Defense attorneys planned a news conference. Barker confessed Wednesday
to the crimes as part of a plea agreement to avoid a possible death penalty
that requires him to testify against the others. In his closing statement,
Barker said Iraq made him angry and violent. "To live there, to
survive there, I became angry and mean. The mean part of me made me strong on
patrols. It made me brave in fire fights," Barker said. "I loved my
friends, my fellow soldiers and my leaders, but I began to hate everyone else
in Iraq." During testimony intended to
show the judge that Barker could be rehabilitated, Barker's fellow soldiers
described weeks with little support and sleep while manning distant
checkpoints. Capt. William Fischbach, the
lead prosecutor, told the court that such conditions were no excuse for
Barker, who led the group to the family's house, and that no one deserved
such unspeakable horrors. "This burned-out corpse
that used to be a 14-year-old girl never fired bullets or lobbed
mortars," Fischbach said as he held pictures of the crime scene.
"Society should not have to bear the risk of the accused among them ever
again." The killings 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. The defendants are accused
of burning the girl's body to conceal the crime. Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, and
Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, 22, members of the 101st Airborne Division along with
Barker, have also been charged. Cortez has deferred entering a plea, and
Spielman will be arraigned in December. Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, 19, also
deferred entering a plea at his arraignment in October. Private Steven Green, 21,
pleaded not guilty last week to civilian charges including murder and sexual
assault. He was discharged from the Army for a "personality
disorder" before the allegations became known, and prosecutors have yet
to say whether they will pursue the death penalty against him. In earlier testimony, Barker
described in detail how he raped Abeer Qassim al-Janabi with Cortez and Green
before Green killed the girl, her younger sister and parents. "Cortez pushed her to
the ground. I went towards the top of her and kind of held her hands down
while Cortez proceeded to lift her dress up," he said. "Around that
time I heard shots coming from a room next door." Howard, Cortez and Spielman
could face the death penalty if convicted. Cortez and Spielman are both being
held in confinement, and Howard is restricted to post. Barker did not name Spielman
and Howard as participants in the rape and murders but said Spielman was at
the house when the assault took place and had come knowing what the others
intended to do. Prosecutors on Thursday said Howard had been left behind at a
checkpoint. External link:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/11/16/national/a144722S60.DTL |