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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 30th,
2009 - Soldier: Comrades Wore ‘Ninja Suits’ as Disguise News article from the
Associated Press |
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Soldier:
Comrades Wore ‘Ninja Suits’ as Disguise By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press April 30, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - After raping
an Iraqi teen and killing her family, a former U.S. Army soldier placed a
pillow over the young girl's face, then fired multiple shots from an AK-47,
killing her, two former soldiers said Thursday. Jesse Spielman and James
Paul Barker, both one-time members of the 101st Airborne Division, told
jurors in the trial of Steven Dale Green that Green, Barker and another
soldier put on lightweight black long underwear, known to soldiers as
"ninja suits," as a disguise before going to a nearby home on March
12, 2006. Barker said he and Green
discussed a plan to attack the family. Barker, who is serving a
90-year prison sentence for his role in the attack, said part of the plan was
"that Green was going to kill whoever was in the house." The testimony came on the
fourth day of Green's trial on more than a dozen charges related to the rape
and murder of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the shooting deaths of
her mother, father and younger sister near Mahmoudiya, Iraq, south of
Baghdad. Green, 23, of Midland,
Texas, has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say they will ask a jury to
sentence Green to death if he is convicted. He's being tried in civilian
court because he was discharged from the Army before charges were brought in
the case. Prosecutors have said Green
was the triggerman among a group of soldiers who attacked the family. Defense attorneys have asked
jurors to consider the "context" of war surrounding Green, painting
a picture of young soldiers in harsh wartime conditions, lacking leadership
and receiving little help from the Army to deal with the loss of friends. Using photographs of the
traffic control point where the men were stationed and the al-Janabi family
home, along with a scale model of the house, Spielman walked jurors through
how the soldiers got to the house. Spielman said he grabbed a
gun to provide security for his fellow soldiers but wasn't filled in on the
plans once the soldiers arrived at the house. "I knew we were going
to do something," said Spielman, who was a specialist in Green's unit
with the 101st Airborne Division. "We'd gone and roughed people up
before. It's not all that uncommon." Spielman, a native of
Chambersburg, Pa., was convicted in August 2007 in military court of rape,
conspiracy to commit rape, housebreaking with intent to rape and four counts
of felony murder. As Spielman testified, Green
listened intently, whispering to his attorneys and sometimes passing notes. Military prosecutors said
Spielman did not participate in the rape or pull the trigger but shared
responsibility in the crime. He is serving 90 years in prison. Barker and one other soldier
pleaded guilty at court-martial. Another who stayed behind at a checkpoint
while the others went to the family's home pleaded guilty to being an
accessory. On Thursday, Barker
repeatedly said he couldn't remember details of the attack. Barker said he
poured kerosene on the girl after Green shot her. Another soldier lit the
fire, Barker said. "Someone had said,
'Burn the body,'" said Barker, who will face questions from Green's
attorneys Friday morning. © 2009 The Associated Press External link: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/6402066.html By Evan Bright Steven Green Trial Blog April 30, 2009 On the fourth day of trial,
lawyers gave to Green - yet another sweater vest, this time red. For the first segment of
today's proceedings, the prosecution called a plethora of FBI agents to the
stand, most of which, in my humblest of opinions, didn't have much to say.
First was Special Agent Steve Vogt. Vogt has been an FBI agent for 20 years,
one of those he spent in Iraq. He testified that a month after arriving in
Iraq, he was contacted for assistance in finding the AK47 that was allegedly
used in the crimes. He spoke of using SONAR imaging equipment to search for
the missing weapon. Pictures of the dive operation were examined and
presented to the jury. He was also questioned about the inability to exhume
the bodies of the victims. For the defense, Bouldin
pointed out the number of soldiers required to make the area safe for the
dive. Next up was Special Agent
Christopher Lando. Lando was an agent in the Asheville, NC area at the times
of Green's arrest. He said he was informed of Green's presence in the area
and organized his arrest on the same day. After being arrested, Green
allegedly commented to Lando that he "wished [the FBI] would've called,
because [Green] would've just turned himself in." When asked if he
wanted his grandmother to know the story, Green reportedly agreed before
having a change of heart, saying "No no, I don't want to upset
her." He was allowed to have "a cigarette or two" before being
taken away in a police car. Wendelsdorf(D) deftly made light that it was a
routine arrest for Lando, and that Green did not resist arrest at all. Special Agent Stewart Kelly
was brought in, mostly to testify as to what Green had told him. According to
Kelly, Green said things such as "You probably think I'm a
monster," and "I knew you guys were coming," as well as
"looks like I'll be spending the rest of my life in prison." He
said that Green questioned on whether or not he would be tried in Federal or
military court. Wendelsdorf once again pointed out that Green didn't resist,
also that Green had returned to NC from one of his former Sergeant's funeral.
Green allegedly said he knew that the FBI was coming and "wanted to
enjoy his last minutes of freedom." After the mid-morning break,
the first of Green's co-defendants was called to the stand. Jesse V. Spielman
appeared, wearing the typical "orange jumpsuit" worn by inmates. He
told the jury how he asked to be placed in infantry because he "wanted
to fight for his country." He also repeated things already mentioned in
other testimonies such as Bravo Company's mission, and the length of stays at
TCP2. He spoke of the aforementioned drinking and card games on March 12,
2006. He said he saw Spc. Barker and Pfc. Green talking, who "looked
like they were having a private conversation." He said they went inside
and started changing into all-black clothes which they called "ninja
suits." He went on to describe Barker cutting through a fence with a
Gerber multi-tool (which was exhibited to the jury). When Marisa Ford asked
Spielman what he thought they were going to do, he hesitated before
acknowledging that "heading out and roughing people up wasn't that
uncommon so I figured we were going to a residence to rough people up."
It was stipulated that Green did not participate in any other incident
involving "roughing up" of Iraqis. After the lunch recess,
Spielman described entering the house and keeping watch while Barker and
Cortez separated 14-year-old Abeer from her family. He agreed to hearing
three gunshots and that, after asking Green if everything was okay, Green
replied "everything's fine", before letting him see the bodies of
Qasim, Fakrhiya, and Hadeel. He said he knew they were dead because there was
"blood scattered on the wall & part of the father's cranium was
missing." Accordingly, Spielman walked out of that room and witnessed
the rape of Abeer. The prosecution lent the model of the Al-Janabi house to
Spielman for better clarification of the events and how they happened. When
an M14 shotgun was brought out for demonstrative purposes, the court enjoyed
a moment of humor as Marisa Ford, holding the weapon, declared "Judge,
these have all been rendered safe but since I clearly have no clue what I'm
doing," "and you're pointing it at me," (D) Wendelsdorf added.
Spielman was confused, "I didn't really know what to do," he said,
"It was an unsafe area and three out of my four squad members were
involved so I couldn't leave and run back to TCP2." He testified to
seeing Green unbuttoning his pants and getting down between Abeer's legs and
raping her, after which he took a pillow and put it over Abeer's head and
fired an AK47 into the pillow, killing her. At this, the defendant was
spotted looking down. He then watched Barker pour a liquid onto her body.
While her body was burning, he added clothes and blankets to fuel the flames,
"to destroy evidence," he said. He continued, describing
Cortez & Barker washing their chests and genitalia back at TCP2, and how
he himself threw the AK47 into the canal. When asked why he didn't turn his
squad members in, he "didn't feel right, telling on people [he] served
with." He was also fearful of retaliation from his fellow troops. On cross, it was easy to see
Spielman recalling the events past. Wendelsdorf pinned him down to
"hoping for a recommendation from parole board for giving truthful
testimony in all cases involved." A picture of Spielman after graduation
from boot camp was shown. Asked on his thoughts about heading to Iraq at that
time, he "was looking forward to going over there. I was
enthusiastic." According to Spielman,
Casica & Nelson were very friendly and courteous to Iraqis, often giving
candy and school supplies to Iraqi children. Wendelsdorf questioned if
anything changed his view of them. Spielman told of how he witnessed one of
Casica's informants approach them at TCP2, shaking Casica's hand before
drawing a revolver and shooting Casica and Nelson. Spielman gunned down the
informant, saying that "It was devastating to me. Stories of kids,
women, elders, really anyone could be an insurgent ..." Asked if this
event changed Green's view of Iraqis, he wholeheartedly agreed. "Yes, it
changed everybody's view." The next subject was the explosive death of
their superiors, Britt & Lopez. "It literally blew Lopez in half,
and killed Britt too." Wendelsdorf reminded him that he had found
Britt's jaw lying on the ground, to which he conversed "It's something
you can't describe ... they're alive and talking to you minutes before, then
minutes later you're picking up their body parts." The next point from the
defense was the burning of the soldier's Forward Operating Base. All the
soldiers lost their homely items. Letters, family pictures, programs from the
memorial services of Casica and Nelson, and even laptops were lost. While
soldiers were reimbursed for ~ 80% of the value of their material items lost,
he said it was the niceties from home that mattered the most. He stated that
Sgt. Fenalson was very adamant about shaking Iraqi hands. At this, Spielman
said "I wasn't about to follow his advice and shake people's
hands," implying the deaths of Casica & Nelson. "Fenalson cared
more ‘bout the Iraqis than he did us." His testimony ended there. Spc. James Barker was
brought to the stand next. I noted that every military witness, and the
defendant, all showed their militaristic style, standing at attention when
the "all rise," call came from the U.S. Marshalls. Barker said that
on the day of the killings, they were playing poker and talking, mostly
"bullshit at first, then Green turned the conversation to killing
Iraqis." Barker admitted that he was the one who brought up the
Al-Janabi house, having seen the house and family on a recent patrol; he also
admitted that he first implied raping the girl to Green. According to Barker,
"Cortez took a little convincing to get him to come along. He said if we
were gonna have sex with the girl, he wanted to go first." He testified
to ushering the 5-year-old girl and father into the house, and then
separating 14-year-old Abeer from her family. He said that he held Abeer's
hands down while Cortez raped her in mere seconds, while Green shot the
remaining three family members. When Cortez was finished, they switched
places, with Abeer screaming and crying the entire time. Afterwards, Green
raped her, and then shot her. Trial adjourned early.
Barker will be crossed tomorrow, expect Sgt. Casica to play a semi-significant
role. External link: http://trialcoverage.blogspot.com/2009/04/people-kill-people.html |