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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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March 19th,
2007 - Soldier Draws 10-Year Sentence in Iraq Slayings |
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Soldier Draws 10-Year
Sentence in Iraq Slayings Reuters March 19, 2007 Chicago - A U.S. soldier was
sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday after a court-martial found him
guilty of killing three Iraqi detainees who were freed and told to run before
being shot, officials at Fort Campbell in Kentucky said. Sgt. Raymond Girouard, 24,
of Sweetwater, Tennessee, had been charged with premeditated murder and other
offenses that could have drawn a life sentence; but the military jury hearing
his case convicted him on Friday of negligent homicide, a lesser offense. Monday's sentence is subject
to review by the commanding general at the post, and he could be paroled
after serving about a third of the 10-year sentence, a spokesman said. Girouard led a squad in May
2006 during a raid on a suspected insurgent camp near Thar Thar lake,
southwest of Tikrit, when the killings occurred. Three other soldiers under
his command who were also charged with the deaths made plea agreements
earlier and have been sentenced. Two received 18-year prison sentences and a
third got nine months in jail. The three had said Girouard
ordered them to shoot the men. He had said he was under orders to kill all
men of military age but denied ordering the slayings. During an August hearing in
Iraq that led to the charges, a witness testified he saw the prisoners trying
to run away at full sprint, some with their blindfolds down, when they were
shot. The case is one of a number
from the Iraq war in which U.S. military personnel were accused of crimes
against Iraqi civilians. External link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/19/AR2007031901592.html |