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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 21st,
2007 - Judge OKs Guilty Plea in Iraqi Slaying |
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Judge OKs Guilty Plea in
Iraqi Slaying By Kristin M. Hall Associated Press February 21, 2007 7:01 PM Fort Campbell, Ky. - A
military judge on Wednesday approved a second U.S. soldier's plea to the gang
rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the slaying of her family. Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24,
entered the plea Tuesday to four murders, rape and conspiracy to rape. With
the approval of the plea agreement by Col. Stephen R. Henley, Cortez will
avoid the death penalty. At a hearing before Henley's
decision, Cortez broke down in tears while recounting events on the day of
the attack, saying he held the girl down and acted as a lookout while others
took turns attacking her. Cortez had pleaded not
guilty to separate charges of conspiracy to premeditated murder and
premeditated murder, and a court-martial on those charges was scheduled to
begin later Wednesday. Under terms of the agreement
for Cortez' guilty pleas, he would cooperate with prosecutors and be
sentenced to life in prison, plus reduction in rank and a dishonorable
discharge. Whether he would be eligible for parole would be decided at sentencing
following the outcome of the court-martial on the premeditation charges. In the plea agreement, read
in court Tuesday, Cortez said he conspired with three other soldiers - Pfc.
Jesse V. Spielman, Spc. James P. Barker and Steven D. Green, who has been
discharged - to rape 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. According to the plea deal,
Cortez, Spielman and Barker illegally went into the home of the girl's family
in Mahmoudiya, and Cortez held her while Barker raped her. While Cortez raped
her, Green shot and killed the girl's parents and younger sister, the
agreement said. Cortez then acted as a
lookout while Green raped the girl, and Green shot her, the document said.
Cortez helped burn the girl's body and the home, then burned his clothes. Spielman threw the AK-47
used to kill the family in a canal, the deal said. Cortez also admitted
drinking whiskey before going to the home, which broke the Army's rules
against drinking alcohol. Two other soldiers await
courts-martial. All the suspected participants are or were members of the
101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell on the Kentucky-Tennessee
line. The March 2006 killing of
the family was originally reported to be the work of insurgents. It was
considered among the worst in a series of alleged atrocities by U.S. military
personnel in Iraq. Barker, 24, pleaded guilty
in November to rape and murder and was sentenced to 90 years in military
prison. Spielman, 22, and Bryan L. Howard, 23, await courts-martial. Howard,
who is confined to the post, was in the courtroom Tuesday observing Cortez's
case. Green is charged in federal
court in Kentucky, accused of being the ringleader. He is being tried as a
civilian because he was discharged from the Army before his superiors were
aware of his suspected involvement. External link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6430680,00.html Tearful soldier tells court
of Iraq rape-murder By Andrea Hopkins Reuters February 21, 2007 2:07PM EST Fort Campbell, Kentucky - A
U.S. soldier under court-martial at a Kentucky military base broke down in
tears on Wednesday as he described how he and others planned the rape of a
14-year-old Iraqi girl, murdered along with her family. Sgt. Paul Cortez, 24, is the
second U.S. soldier to plead guilty to raping the girl and killing her and
her family in Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, in March 2006. The soldiers then
poured kerosene on the girl's body and lit her on fire in an attempt to cover
up the crime. Cortez, wearing a dress
green uniform and flanked by his civilian and military lawyers, described how
he, Spc. James Barker and a since-discharged soldier, Pvt. Steven Green,
planned the attack over liquor and a game of cards. "While we were playing
cards Barker and Green started talking about having sex with an Iraqi female.
Barker and Green had already known..." Cortez said before breaking down.
He bowed his head and remained silent, sniffling occasionally, for a full
minute before continuing. "Barker and Green had
already known what, um, house they wanted to go to ... knew only one male was
in the house, and knew it would be an easy target," Cortez said. Once at the house, Green,
the suspected ringleader, took the girl's mother, father and little sister
into a bedroom, Cortez said, while he and Barker took the teenager, Abeer
Qassim al-Janabi, to the living room. "She kept squirming and
trying to keep her legs closed and saying stuff in Arabic," Cortez said. "During the time me and
Barker were raping Abeer, I heard five or six gunshots that came from the
bedroom. After Barker was done, Green came out of the bedroom and said that
he had killed them all, that all of them were dead," Cortez said. "Green then placed
himself between Abeer's legs to rape her," Cortez said, sniffing
audibly. When Green was finished, he "stood up and shot Abeer in the
head two or three times." The entire crime took about five minutes to
carry out, he added. Cortez said the girl knew
her parents and sister had been shot while she was being raped. He said she
screamed and cried throughout the assault. A recess was granted in the
middle of his testimony to allow him to regain his composure. About two dozen
spectators attended the hearing in a tiny courtroom on the base. The military judge accepted
Cortez's guilty plea, and will likely impose a sentence later on Wednesday or
on Thursday. Cortez could face life in prison without possibility of parole
for the rape and four counts of murder. According to the charges,
three soldiers raped the girl, while another helped commit the crimes. A
fifth kept watch back at their outpost. All have been charged. Barker pleaded guilty in
November and was sentenced to 90 years in a military prison. Green was
discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder" and is in a
Kentucky prison awaiting civilian trial. Barker and Cortez both
avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty and have agreed to testify
against Green and others charged in the crime. Cortez also pleaded guilty
to rape, arson and breaking into the girl's house and to obstruction of
justice for helping get rid of the murder weapon, an AK-47, which was thrown
into a canal. The other soldiers accused
in the case are Pvt. Jesse Spielman and Pvt. Bryan Howard. © Reuters 2006. All rights
reserved. External link:
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2037158220070221 |