BEIJI, Iraq - Five U.S. Army soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a young woman, then killing her and three members of her family in Iraq, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press on Friday.
The soldiers also allegedly burned the body of the woman they are accused of raping.
Maj. Gen. James D. Thurman, commander of coalition troops in Baghdad, had ordered a criminal investigation into the alleged killing of a family of four in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, the U.S. command said. It did not elaborate.
"The entire investigation will encompass everything that could have happened that evening. We're not releasing any specifics of an ongoing investigation," said military spokesman Maj. Todd Breasseale.
"There is no indication what led soldiers to this home. The investigation just cracked open. We're just beginning to dig into the details."
However, a U.S. official close to the investigation said at least one of the soldiers, all assigned to the 502nd Infantry Regiment, has admitted his role and has been arrested. Two soldiers from the same regiment were slain this month when they were kidnapped at a checkpoint near Youssifiyah.
At least four other soldiers have had their weapons taken away and are confined to Forward Operating Base Mahmoudiyah south of Baghdad. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the case.
The official said the killings appear to be unrelated to the kidnappings but that a soldier felt compelled to report the killings after his fellow soldiers' bodies were found.
The killings appeared to have been a "crime of opportunity," the official said. The soldiers had not been attacked by insurgents but had noticed the woman on previous patrols.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060630/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_soldiers_investi...
These people were born white trash who got the brilliant idea that the military would make them any better? Every last one of them from the GIs up to their brigade commander should be shot for this, I can't believe the military is even going to bother with a court martial!! They should get a tribunal at best then a short drop and a quick stop. Better yet just give them to the Iraqis, I'm sure they'll figure something appropriate out.
And what the hell is this?!
They overhear that a rape/murder is being [i]planned[/i] and said absolutely nothing?!
This is just one of many countless reasons why the 'insurgency' goes on in places like Iraq. The news tells you one story and what actually goes on behind closed doors is a totally different matter and we only get hear about it very rarely.
Its about time the west get out of Muslim lands and stop occupying them because sooner or later theyre gonna pay for it. The sad thing is it's always the innocent that are the victims and the evil war mongering trash always get away with it.
These illegal wars are causing nothing but mischeif,bloodshed and instability within the world. We as civilians need to stand up and do something to stop these occupations.
Islam is the Key to paradise but without practice it won't open the gates.
This doesn't suprise me. Americans are the same as any culture when they're on the edge of death.
If Mexican immigrants tried to create a seperate state in California/Texas the National Guard would be just as ruthless as Saddam's Republican Guard vis a vis the Kurds.
Stuff like that ticks me off so badly :evil: Evil piece of crap
See, it amazes me how people can be anti-death penalty with crimes like this. They clap and chant and hold little prayer vigils about how "inhumane" it is, I think it's because it gives them a false sense of moral superiority to get high on. I can't stand liberals.
Fry the bastard, kentucky style.
Would be great if they re-introduced the death penalty in the UK!
But very unlikely as we're a member of the E.U.
Totally agree with you, dunno how such pieces of filth can remain on this earth..
Why is death penalty seen as imhumane for an inhumane act? Its beyond me!
If the democrats got their way [i]we'd[/i] be members of the EU. The death penalty is an absolute necessity, it's a very powerful tool of the state and every measure should be taken to prevent it's abuse (a 3-6 tiered appeal system I'd say suffices pretty well) but it's a necessity. Some people no longer hold any social value and some crimes are too evil to let pass with anything less.
I'm already furious because that guy couey who raped and killed jessica lunsford
[img]http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/LAW/06/30/couey.hearing.ap/vert.lunsford.gi....
[url=http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/06/30/couey.hearing.ap/index.html]might get off on some technicality[/url], some sharp talking hemp smoking liberal trial attorney is going to see to it he's back on the streets so long as his "rights" aren't in any way inconvenienced.
I've seen some programmes about the death penalty in the US. and apparently it takes more money to execute someone than to keep them in prison. I was shocked when I heard that.
I think alot of the money is spent on the appeal system (judges, lawyers)
Also it's amazing that the US. has about 2 million inmates locked up, the UK is afraid of spending money building more prisons.
Yes, there is a lot of expense to the taxpayer. But it's such a ridiculous argument - you could use it just as easily to say "well it costs more to charge and prosecute offenders than it does to not, so we might as well just scrap laws." It doesn't address the issue, which is what is the appropriate response for crimes of this nature, murder rapings etc. The reason liberals blather on about cost is because they have nothing left to talk about for reciprocity. Their usual arguments for "rehabilitative detention" fall flat on their face because any idiot knows you aren't going to rehabilitate a rapist child molester or a murderer. Retributive justice holds the day.
There should be laws against reckless stupidity.
I honestly don't like alot of things the US. are doing but one thing I rate them for is their justice system.
They punish criminals very harshly.
A programme I watched recently. An inmate got 15 years added on for assaulting a correctional officer. In the UK. it's very rare to get 10 years for hit and run.
They shoot her family, 3 soldiers rape her, shoot her, then burn her body. They deserve the death penalty....through torture.
they can get away with it, they are US Soldiers :roll:
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
yeah, the americans never do anything to their soldiers,
:evil:
it's only stupid people like pakistanis and afghans who give away their own people
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
This isn't a military hearing, they are being tried in a civil court and the US public is generally a bit icey toward rapists and killers.
I'm not concerned they'll get off because nobody would be that dumb - I'm concerned that some clapping hippy anti-death penalty lefty will give them life instead of the injection they so very much deserve.
I know trials are important and everything - but seriously when it's this obvious why do they bother? It's just as easy to tie some rocks to their feet and dump them in the atlantic.
Hell I'd volunteer to do it myself - I'll even wave while they sink to the bottom... nothing will ever bring that girl and her family back... and killing the two who did it is not going to make it any easier to comprehend.
But it sure will feel great.
this isn't the first time that soldiers have been accused of rape, but hardly any of them get a good enough punishment, even if it is in a civil court.
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
The electric chair would be sooo much better.
when they get given the injection that kills them, do they get one before that which makes them unconsious so it doesn't hurt?
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
I've got faith in the civil courts - not military. Which is ironic because I'm in JAG...
I don't see how this case could go sour... there aren't 12 people dumb enough in this whole solar system to screw this up.
I was reading a little more about this today - the details were so disgusting I had to stop because I noticed my hands were all clinched up and I was sweating... these guys are human trash - I shouldn't even add the word "Human," they are bone chips waiting to happen, these guys actually planned this out from top to bottom - killed this girls entire family while they were raping her... so she knew they were dead, and then what did they do?
They went back to their base... and cooked chicken wings.
And through all this there was an officer who knew about it! (he's also charged) and let it happen because he "didn't know what to do" who cares at that point?! Shoot first ask questions later.
When this method is used, the condemned person is usually bound to a gurney and a member of the execution team positions several heart monitors on this skin. Two needles (one is a back-up) are then inserted into usable veins, usually in the inmates arms. Long tubes connect the needle through a hole in a cement block wall to several intravenous drips. The first is a harmless saline solution that is started immediately. Then, at the warden's signal, a curtain is raised exposing the inmate to the witnesses in an adjoining room. Then, the inmate is injected with sodium thiopental - an anesthetic, which puts the inmate to sleep. Next flows pavulon or pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes the entire muscle system and stops the inmate's breathing. Finally, the flow of potassium chloride stops the heart. Death results from anesthetic overdose and respiratory and cardiac arrest while the condemned person is unconscious.
Is that Judge Advocate General?
Unfortunately all it takes is one.
Getting justice here will serve as a good show of force to other troops who may consider wuch things.
And also maybe as am icebreaker to the rest of the world.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
so it doesn't hurt them? what's the point?
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
To kill them....to make sure that they don't commit the crime again.
Medical ethics preclude doctors from participating in executions. However, a doctor will certify the inmate is dead. This lack of medical participation can be problematic because often injections are performed by inexperienced technicians or orderlies. If a member of the execution team injects the drugs into a muscle instead of a vein, or if the needle becomes clogged, extreme pain can result. Many prisoners have damaged veins resulting from intravenous drug use and it is sometimes difficult to find a usable vein, resulting in long delays while the inmate remains strapped to the gurney.
yeah, but aren't they supposed to die a painful death?
Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.
In a religious context, the point is to return them to god. WHen crimes are to vile for wordly punishments, they are returned to god to His (swt) judgement.
The actual death sentence is just the means.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Completely the opposite.
In the US more states have chosen to execute people using lethal injection is because it's [i]less[/i] painful.
Yes
The Constitution prohibits what is called "cruel and unusual punishment" which means we cannot inflict physical harm on a prisoner even in an execution.
I don't think any level of torture would ever equal what these guys did - and reveling in it seems perverse, kind of an endorsement of enjoying inflicting pain on people. Deactivate them I say, they don't deserve to breathe.
Death by electrocution & firing squad....wouldn't you call that cruel?
Execution using the gas chamber maybe....
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