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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings & Torture |
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April 30th,
2009 - Green Murder, Rape Trial Enters 4th Day News article from the Associated
Press |
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Green Murder, Rape Trial Enters
4th Day By Brett Barrouquere Associated Press April 30, 2009 Paducah, Ky. - A former U.S.
Army sergeant said an ex-soldier charged with killing a family in Iraq and
raping a teenage girl had twice acknowledged committing the attack in the
days after the bodies were discovered. Anthony Yribe, who was in
the same unit of the 101st Airborne Division with Steven Dale Green, told
jurors Wednesday that Green admitted to the crimes in two separate
interviews, one hours after the attack March 12, 2006, and again the next
day. Yribe said he met Green and
another soldier at a traffic checkpoint after seeing the bodies. “Green said something to the
effect of, ‘I did that,’” Yribe said during testimony on the third day of
Green’s trial in U.S. District Court. During an interview the next
day, Yribe again questioned Green about details of the crime. Yribe said
Green accurately described how many bodies there were and where they were in
the house. But Green refused to implicate any other soldiers. “He said he did it alone,”
said Yribe, of Belleview, Idaho. Yribe testified he was
charged with dereliction of duty and making a false official statement for
not telling military investigators about his conversation with Green. He said
that as part of a deal with prosecutors, the charges were dismissed and he
accepted an other-than-honorable discharge from the Army in 2008. Green, 23, of Midland,
Texas, has pleaded not guilty to more than a dozen charges against him,
including sexual assault and four counts of murder. Prosecutors have said Green
was the triggerman among a group of soldiers who attacked the family near
Mahmoudiya, Iraq, about 20 miles outside Baghdad. They said he shot
14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi’s parents and 6-year-old sister, then was
the third to rape the teen before shooting her in the face several times. Green faces a possible death
sentence if convicted in federal court, where he is being tried because he
had been discharged from the Army before charges were brought. 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. Other soldiers involved in
the attack were prosecuted in military court. Two of those pleaded guilty at
court-martial, and a third was convicted. A fourth who stayed behind at a
checkpoint while the others went to the family’s home pleaded guilty to being
an accessory. Also Wednesday, jurors saw
photos taken by Yribe hours after the attack. The photos showed a mother,
father and small girl lying in pools of blood with shotgun wounds. Other
photos showed badly charred and barely recognizable human remains. As the photos were shown,
Green sat at the defense table, rubbing his eyes, staring at Yribe and
looking around the room. Yribe recounted the two
interviews with Green, saying he initially didn’t believe his fellow soldier
committed the acts. “I asked him if he was
serious or if this was just him talking,” Yribe said. “He said he was
serious, that he did it alone.” Yribe said he didn’t tell
his superior officers about Green’s comments. Defense attorney Scott
Wendelsdorf asked: “Did you feel a sense of allegiance to Pfc. Green because
of your service in the Army?” “A little bit,” Yribe
responded. A superior officer, Lt. Col.
Thomas Kunk, initiated a criminal investigation in June 2006, after hearing
rumors about American involvment in the slayings. Yribe said he lied to Army
criminal investigators. “At that point, why were you
lying?” Wendelsdorf asked. “The gravity of the
situation and my involvement in it came into play,” Yribe said. Wendelsdorf pressed Yribe:
“You got yourself in too deep and you got scared?” “Yes,” Yribe answered. Earlier Wednesday, Kunk
testified that he met with Green after his unit had suffered the deaths of
several soldiers. Green had apparently told others that he wanted to kill
Iraqi civilians, Kunk said. “I specifically remember
asking Steven Green, ‘Do you think all Iraqis are bad?’ He said, ‘No, not all
Iraqis are bad, sir,’ ” Kunk said. “After engaging him and looking him in the
eye, I felt comfortable about that.” Kunk said he explained that
only a “small percentage” of Iraqis were bad. After the two men exchanged a
“firm handshake,” Kunk sent Green back to his unit. In May 2006, Green was
discharged from the Army after being diagnosed with a personality disorder. The federal trial is being
held in western Kentucky because the 101st Airborne Division is based at Fort
Campbell, Ky. External link: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/ap_army_steven_green_trial_043009/ By Evan Bright Steven Green Trial Blog April 30, 2009 The cross of Colonel Kunk
got a little more exciting today. Green opted out of the sweater vest and in
with a light blue button down(why am I writing about court fashion style?).
During the cross, Darren Wolf once again had conflicts with Kunk. Questioned over
the burning of the soldier’s FOB (forward operating base), Kunk testified
that the soldiers “lost some of their personal property,” with Wolf trying to
assert the morale downturn the soldiers would have had after losing their
“homely” items. Wolf forced Kunk into agreeing that he did put all involved
soldiers in the same place (TCP2) on March 12th. Kunk skillfully evaded
saying what Wolf was trying to extrude from him (a la “maybe if I hadn’t put
the soldiers there, it wouldn’t have happened”). Wolf then used the
technology in the room to diagram the bases(touch screens with projectors,
the drawings and exhibits being show to the jury). […] When confronted about his
testimony in the other soldier’s Article 32s (courts marshal), Kunk consented
to the fact that he had stated that Cortez, Spielman, and Green were all
“wallowing in [their] self pity.” Green perked up at this segway in the
back-and-forth. Down the hypothetical “road” a ways, proceedings stalled
again when Wolf inquired as to whether or not Kunk had identified Green as
having combat stress issues. “No I did not,” he denied. In his previous
testimony, Kunk stated he had (plot thickens). Kunk spoke of the time he
counseled to Green about his officer’s deaths and the grief that came with
it. He spoke of asking Green if he thought “all Iraqis were bad,” to which
Green reportedly responded “no not all off the Iraqis are bad.” Kunk said he
questioned Green about his meaning of “not all,” and that Green spoke of how
frustrating it was to “not be able to tell who was an insurgent and who
wasn’t.” One of the larger points in today’s events, Kunk admitted that
Colonel Ebel, himself, and Captain Goodwin all knew that Green was having
“violent tendencies towards Iraqis and wanted to kill them.” Next, [former] Sgt. Anthony
Yribe (“ya-ree-bay”) testified for the prosecution. Upon entry, Yribe nodded
to his former soldier and friend across the courtroom(Green). The
then-Sergeant was charged with derelict of duty and falsifying information to
a superior officer; once brought to trial, Yribe signed a plea agreement
allowing him out of the Army on an “other than honorable” discharge, in
addition to truthful testimony in his co-defendant’s cases, obviously
including this one. Yribe spoke of his
supervision of four soldiers, and of operations at the various TCPs, stating
that TCP life consisted of “primarily guard duty.” He talked about his
teamwork with defendant Green in rushing the bodies of Sgt. Nelson and SSgt.
Casica back to medical facilities in hopes of saving their lives. Personally,
I noticed the militaristic style that Yribe exhibited. Except when directed
to explain further, all of Yribe’s answers consisted of short, curt replies
of “yes” or “no.” Perhaps not a surprise but more of a formality, his direct
examination with Prosecuting Attorney James Lesousky seemed oddly rehearsed
at times. He was questioned on the
whereabouts of the bodies upon being called to examine the crime scene. The
prosecution unveiled a to-scale model of the Al-Janabi house to assist Yribe
with this, murmuring about being “careful” because it “cost a lot of money.” [Note:
In general terms, the “United States” has spent or is spending anywhere from
$4 to $6 million dollars in prosecuting and vying for the death penalty for
Green … there’s your tax dollars at work, America] Next were pictures that the
former Sgt. took of the crime scene upon his arrival. Skipping over the
menial details … Exhibit 7D, a picture of Qassim Hamza Rasheed dead, laying
face down on the floor with brain matter scattered in ... multiple places
around him … caused several visible and audible grimaces within the crowd,
with Green looking down but eyeing the jury. After pictures of all bodies
were shown, Green was seen rubbing his eyes/forehead. Yribe spoke of Green’s
“confession” to the crimes, and of Specialist James Barker’s hearing the
confession but saying nothing, something that the Defense would later play
upon. As he spoke of his realization that Spc. Green was telling the truth,
Def. Green anxiously bit his nails. When attorneys asked Yribe
why he didn’t turn Green in, Yribe murmured, “It was kind of … out of sight
out of mind? I didn’t understand the gravity of the situation.” During his
cross-examination, Yribe was, for the most part, accepting and cooperative.
As previously mentioned, Yribe was questioned on Barker’s presence during
Green’s “confession” to the murder. The defense made light of Green’s
confessing that he and he alone did the murders, with Barker saying nothing
and confessing to nothing, even though he had every opportunity to do so.
Scott Wendelsdorf (D) pondered, “Is it true that if Green had said nothing to
you, these crimes would have gone unsolved?” to which Yribe confirmed.
Wendelsdorf also pointed out that the only lie Pfc. Green told was that he
was the only one who committed the crimes, while Barker “stood there, cool as
a cucumber.” When the cross showed
pictures of Casica & Nelson’s assailant/murderer (gory … more brains),
Yribe stated that what [we in the court] were seeing was “not that bad.” He
testified that the deaths of Casica, Nelson, Britt, and Lopez would have
“absolutely affected the morale of the troops.” Defense attorneys asked how
long a soldier could live in the conditions that the five soldiers involved were
living in, before succumbing to fatigue and sleep deprivation. “3 to 4 days,”
Yribe answered, “I mean it’s 120º out there, it’s kind of hard to sleep.”
Regarding the morning IED searches, Yribe sadly intoned “you get used to the
fact that you’re gonna die, you become numb, fatalistic.” The cross inquired:
When asked how you could tell if someone was a good guy or a bad guy, Yribe
flatly stated “You couldn’t.” “This war didn’t break you did it?” “No.” “Do
you know people it has broken?” A curt, definitive “yes.” “Destroyed …?”
“Yes.” On that note I’m going to
end this particular blog post. It’s 1 AM. Yes, some CID agent named Terry
testified for nearly three hours. But whereas Yribe testified for two and I
got seven pages of notes out of him, Terry testified for three hours and I
only got half of a page. Minus a legal squabble over a shell casing, the only
“important” thing was that an investigation occurred. Notes: - Many objections
today, and much sustainment, causing one Attorney Wendelsdorf much frustration,
albeit I think he tried to hide it. - For those not living in
Paducah and unable to see for themselves, the NSA allegedly had watch over
the court house for a month prior to the trial’s beginning for fear of
bombs/retaliation. Even as the court proceeds, police officers are stationed
on three street corners outside the front door of the courthouse. External link: http://trialcoverage.blogspot.com/2009/04/sustainability.html |