|
The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
|
April 27th,
2009 - Ex-Soldier’s Ky. Trial for Iraq Crime Begins News article from the Associated
Press News article from the
Louisville Courier-Journal |
|
Ex-Soldier's Ky. Trial for
Iraq Crime Begins By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press April 27, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - An ex-soldier
charged with raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and slaying her
family set the girl's body ablaze after shooting her several times, prosecutors
said Monday during opening statements at his federal trial. Steven Dale Green, 23, of
Midland, Texas, faces more than a dozen charges, including sexual assault and
four counts of murder, stemming from the March 2006 attack in Iraq's
so-called "Triangle of Death." After he shot the girl in the face
several times, Green then used kerosene to set fire to her body, said
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Skaret "They left behind the
carnage of all carnage," Skaret said of Green and other soldiers accused
in the attack on March 12, 2006. The defense, in its opening
statement, asked jurors to consider the extraordinary circumstances that had
confronted while serving in Iraq. Green, who has pleaded not guilty, is being
tried in a civilian court because he was discharged from the Army before
being charged. Skaret said Green talked
frequently of wanting to kill Iraqis, but when pressed, would tell people he
wasn't serious. Skaret told jurors that a
group of soldiers, including Green, were playing cards and drinking whiskey
at a checkpoint near Mahmoudiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. Talk turned to having sex
with Iraqi women, when one soldier mentioned the al-Janabi family, who lived
nearby, Skaret said. Soldiers then went to the home where, according to
prosecutors, Green pulled the father, mother, and daughters ages 6 and 14
into another room, then pushed the 14-year-old out. Skaret said Green used a
shotgun to kill the three in the room with him and told the soldiers that the
family was dead. He then raped the girl and
shot her, according to Skaret. As the girl lay helpless,
"Steven Green went over to the wall and picked up a gun and he shot her
in the face again and again," Skaret said. Later, Green would talk
about the killings to superior officers, other soldiers and even civilian
friends, Skaret said. In Green's defense, attorney
Patrick Bouldin painted a picture of young soldiers in harsh wartime
conditions, lacking leadership and receiving little help from the Army to deal
with the loss of their friends. He said before the attack,
Green had lost five colleagues in combat, including four in a short span. A
federal public defender, Bouldin showed jurors a videotape of Green speaking
at a memorial service for two sergeants who had died. He said soldiers had lost so
many friends and leaders they could no longer perform their duties. "Context," Bouldin
said. "You've got to understand the context." Green's trial is being held
in Paducah because of the western Kentucky city's proximity to Fort Campbell
on the Kentucky-Tennessee border where Green was based with the 101st
Airborne Division. Other soldiers involved in
the attack were prosecuted in military court, including two who pleaded
guilty and acknowledged taking part in the rape, and a third who was
convicted because prosecutors said he went to the family's home knowing what
was planned. A fourth who stayed behind at the checkpoint pleaded guilty to
being an accessory. Green's discharge papers,
filed in the case, showed he received an honorable discharge in May 2006
after being diagnosed with a personality disorder. Bouldin didn't address why
Green was discharged from the Army. During his nearly 90-minute
opening statement, Bouldin repeatedly talked about how the Army had failed
Green's platoon by not providing adequate leadership and mental health
assistance for soldiers who had lost numerous friends in war. Bouldin said Green was
prescribed a mood-stabilizing drug, but the Army never followed up on his
mental state before the attack. "He told the
psychologist, 'I'm so upset. I'm having trouble here. I want to kill all
these guys (Iraqis) because I can't tell them apart,'" Bouldin said. Green was allowed to stay in
the platoon and, at the time of the attack, had been staffing a checkpoint in
the "Triangle of Death" for 21 days, Bouldin added. On Monday afternoon, two
relatives of the Iraqi family testified about finding blood and human remains
at the family home when they went to put out a fire. Abu Faras, a cousin to
al-Janabi family members, told jurors he found the body of 14-year-old Abeer
Qassim al-Janabi ablaze in the living room. He said her mother, father and
sister were shot to death in a bedroom. A younger brother of Abeer's
also testified. Copyright © 2009 The
Associated Press. External link: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iYeOUInDxFuT4T8CsYG9-_KfQ9pgD97R27SG0 Trial begins
in former soldier’s murder trial By Andrew Wolfson Louisville Courier-Journal April 27, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - A federal
prosecutor today told a jury that the government will prove that former soldier
Steven Green raped a 14-year-old girl and then murdered her and her family
“not in the fog of war, but in cold blood.” In an opening statement in a
trial that is expected to last three to five weeks, Justice Department lawyer
Brian Skaret said the government will present at least five witnesses who say
Green bragged about the crimes, including one who says Green told his fellow
soldiers that it was “awesome.” In his hour-long opening
remarks, Green’ s co-counsel didn’t dispute his role in the crimes or that
they were a “horrible tragedy” for the family of Abeer Al-Janabi, the girl
who was raped and shot in the face before her body was set afire. But federal public defender
Patrick Bouldin asked the jury to consider the context for that tragedy - what
he called “a perfect storm of craziness” in which four of Green’s fellow
soldiers, including three of his leaders, were murdered in 12 days. Bouldin described how they
served in the most dangerous area of Iraq - the so-called Triangle of Death -
defending a traffic checkpoint on a highway of “death, destruction and
insanity.” And Bouldin recounted how
Green told an Army stress counselor - and his commanding officers - that he
was so upset about the death of his fellow soldiers that he wanted to kill all
Iraqis, but he was returned to combat. “How can you let somebody
who threatens to kill Iraqi citizens out the door?” Bouldin asked. Green, 23, is charged rape,
murder, using a firearm in a violent crime and obstruction of justice. He
faces the death penalty if convicted of murder. He is being charged in a
federal court in Kentucky because he was deployed from Fort Campbell and
because he was discharged from the Army before his alleged role in the crimes
were discovered. Experts on military law say
he is the first former soldier to face the death penalty in a civil trial for
offenses that occurred in a war zone. One of the Al-Janabi
children who was left an orphan by the murders is expected to testify this
afternoon. In his opening Skaret said
that while the jurors - 15 women and three men - were planting spring flowers
or filling out their NCAA brackets on March 12, 2006, “on the other side of
the world,” Green and three fellow soldiers “terrorized a family that they
were sent to protect.” Skaret said that Green’s
co-conspirators - all sentenced to long prison terms after being
court-martialed - will testify how Green - who bragged frequently about
killing Iraqi civilians - helped hatch the scheme to rape Abeer Al-Janabi and
murder her and her family while playing cards and drinking Iraqi whiskey at a
traffic checkpoint south of Bagdad. In his opening, Bouldin
never said that Green’s lawyers would ask the jury to find him not guilty.
Instead, he seemed to be trying to lay the groundwork for a verdict that
would save his client’s life. Bouldin urged the jury to
consider the “tragedy in the Army family” that led to the Al-Janabi’s death. Bouldin said Green and his
co-conspirators went through “91 days of hell” before hand. External link: http://tinyurl.com/dysj2c By Evan Bright Steven Green Trial Blog April 27, 2009 Proceedings began today.
Defendant Steven Green entered the courtroom appearing in a champagne sweater
vest, seeming jaunty and aware in light of his situation. Federal District
Judge Thomas B. Russell was thorough in his swearing in of the jury. A minute
Southern drawl making it’s way into his voice, Russell made sure to instruct
the jury to not discuss any of the proceedings outside of the court, also
noting that they should “change the channel” should they hear anything about
the case via television or radio. Prosecuting attorney Brian
Skaret, tall and gangly in stature, was very clear in his depiction of
Green’s crime of heinous gang rape/murder: “While most of you were probably
here at home in the USA, enjoying a sunny day, getting used to the warming weather,
some of you were probably anticipating the upcoming March Madness
tournament…on the other side of the world, in Iraq, five soldiers, five
thugs, were terrorizing a harmless family.” Skaret told of Abeer Al-Janabi’s
rape and murder, how she was “violated and dishonored three times, then
mercilessly shot.” He was accurate in playing the role of the prosecution,
projecting a cold image onto the Green canvas. “Who could’ve done this,”
Skaret asked rhetorically. “Not terrorists, not insurgents, but by the Army.
In cold blood, then Pfc. Green orphaned two young sons.” Each individual jury member
had their own personal screen for viewing the various diagrams and exhibits.
During the prosecution opening, the faces of Green and his former fellow
troops were shown. Skaret projected the squad (excuse my misuse of military
terms) having a regular day, playing card games, drinking Iraqi whiskey,
until they began talking about the house they’d seen on patrol. Green was
seemingly anxious at this point, one hand on his forehead and the other
appearing to be writing notes. Skaret, sorrow ebbing in his voice, told the
court of Abeer’s shooting death. He reminded the jury that “this isn’t
television, this isn’t CSI or Law & Order,” also that “[some of] these
witnesses are no angels, they hope by testifying in this trial to someday
make parole … evaluate their testimony very carefully… it’s not about the
lawyers, or the 20 page questionnaires. It’s not about the bumper sticker on
the back of your car.” Skaret told of the witnesses
whom he and his team would call: witnesses who testified today include
orphaned child Muhhamed Al-Janabi, Marti Al-Janabi or “Abu Farras,” uncle of
the orphaned twins, Ahkmed (spelling?), a medic who reported to the crime
scene, and took photos of the bodies, a Dr. who filled out the death
certificates, and Colonel Todd J. Ebel, the commanding Brigadier General who
was in place during defendant Green’s tour in Iraq. While the prosecution’s
opening largely focused on March 12, 2006 and the events therein, the
defense’ opening focused on the events leading up to the day of the atrocity.
Public defender Pat Bouldin told of the “most tragic of circumstances,” which
culminated in the March 12 massacre. He also openly admitted that, “what
[Atty. Brian Skaret] said the truth. I want that said at the onset of this.”
He spoke of the deaths of many soldiers platoon that the soldiers were in.
Also showcased was a video of the memorial service of SGG/SGTs Travis Nelson
and Kenith Casica. Via a PowerPoint presentation, Bouldin presented to the
court pictures of every day Iraqis and (perhaps rhetorically) asked if he
himself or anyone in the court could say as to whether or not the man
pictured was an insurgent, hinting at the defense his team plans to use. He
spoke of Ctc Kunk being quoted as stating that the combat had made the squad
of soldiers “mission incapable,” and recommended that the 1st Platoon be
disbanded. Also mentioned was the burning of the soldier’s home base, which
housed their belongings from home, the lack of supervision during the
soldier’s stay at their traffic checkpoint. The defense is trying to explain
that the soldiers became numb and accustomed to the violence around them, and
that, over time, the soldiers were no longer able to tell civilian Iraqis
apart, friend or foe. The first witness called,
Muhhamed Al-Janabi, was questioned on mostly background information, before
leading up to the day of the crime. When asked what he saw upon entering his
house after seeing smoke outside, he said flatly “I saw lots of flesh, and my
father’s brains scattered against the wall,” eliciting some grunts and
shudders from the “crowd”. I noticed defendant Green perking up to take a
look at Muhhamed, a point of interest. Next was “Abu-Farras,” the uncle. He
spoke of his job at the Ministry of Health, and his fourteen years in the
military. He is 50 years old and he is in the United States for 14 days. This
is his first time outside of Iraq, ever. Farras spoke of his arrival
to the scene on the day of, and scornfully of the soldiers who spoke to him
while he was present. He told of how one of the soldiers said “look what the
terrorists are doing!” At first, Abu-Farras wasn’t going to come to testify.
“Even terrorists wouldn’t do that! I looked up to and respected the Army.”
Abu told of how he became very distrustful of Americans, and how, after being
asked to testify, he felt that “they [the Americans] would take me there [to
the States] and do the same to me.” He obviously changed his mind, stating
that he realized “not all Americans are bad, lots of them are good people.” The medic, “Ahkmed,” was
used mostly to illustrate the crime scene and the bodies, with pictures of
the bodies being shown (more grunts and discomfort from the people in the
courtroom). He spoke of how he covered Abeer’s body even after her burning
death, “because I wanted to protect her honor, [even] while she was dead.”
Again, the prosecution repeated it’s main point: when asked if he ever
thought the US would be responsible, the medic sternly spoke, “No. I didn’t
ever suspect the forces which came to protect us would be the ones
responsible.” There was a small cross examination regarding whether or not
the medic saw a soldier pick up a shell casing, but was menial in the end… The doctor who examined the
bodies for issuing the death certificates testified, again adding to the gory
scene of the crime: “I saw that, on the father, all the brain was … out.” Next to testify was Colonel
Todd Ebel who spoke of his 27 years in the Army, including three tours in
Iraq. Ebel was effervescent in his descriptions, at times seeming extremely
sure of himself, and very informed as to what the court wanted to hear and
what they did not. He spoke of how his leadership over the soldiers (including
Green and his cohorts) led to the finding of more than 2200 IEDs (Improvised
Explosive Devices - home made bombs), more than any other battalion. When
asked about his confiding with Green after the deaths of Sergeants Nelson and
Casica, Ebel noted “you could determine that he was making gross
generalizations about ALL Iraqi’s,” but also noting that feelings of
frustration were common after the death(s) of a fellow troop, “It’s like
losing a family member, it’s an unfriendly event. We lose friends, family,
teammates.” Other things of note: the
interpreter present at this trial is reportedly the same interpreter used for
Saddam Hussein's trial. She was only present in the courtroom when needed.
Known media presence at this time included the Associated Press, Reuters,
local NBC affiliate WPSDTV, TIME Magazine, the Courier-Journal, and the
French Press Agency. External link: http://trialcoverage.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-we-got-here.html |