Ex-US soldier sentenced to life in prison for Iraqi teen rape, four murders
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Saturday, September 5, 2009
A former US soldier has been sentenced to life in prison for raping a teen and murdering her and her family while on active duty in Iraq. The jury failed to reach the unanimous verdict required for the death penalty sought by the prosecution.
| […] if I had never gone to Iraq I would never have got caught up in anything like this | ||
According to testimony given by two soldiers, Steven Dale Green was part of a group who decided they wanted to rape a girl they had seen walking through her village, 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. They walked to her house while disguised as insurgents and separated her from her parents and younger sister.
Green then shot dead Abeer’s family while two other soldiers raped the girl. He then raped her himself while she wept before covering her face with a pillow and fatally shooting her. The gang then covered her naked body with a blanket soaked in kerosene, using a lighter to start a fire before walking 200 yards to a nearby checkpoint where they cooked a meal.
Green had already been discharged from the army when his crimes were discovered. He had previously spoken of a desire to murder Iraqi civilians and his defence argued he should never have been allowed to return to duty. A nurse had decided he would not carry out his desires. A US civilian court tried him, the first such prosecution of a soldier under a law allowing servicemen to be charged with crimes carried out abroad.
The judge described his actions as “unimaginable, unjustified and inexcusable” and sentenced him to five consecutive life sentences without possibility of parole. Four others had already been sentenced. Three are all serving life with parole after ten years, and a fourth who acted as a lookout is serving a 27-month sentence.
It took months for the offences to be discovered, even though Green had quickly confessed to a sergeant. Soldiers speaking to stress counsellors talked of the crimes after the abduction and murders of two other soldiers. When news of the soldiers’ actions broke, insurgents killed several American servicemen in revenge.
The prosecution described Green as “criminal and perverse” while the defence called him a “broken warrior.” Green said he was acting upon orders from former Specialist Paul Cortez, another of the attackers, and told the court “Y’all can act like I’m a psychopath or a sexual predator or whatever. But if I had never gone to Iraq I would never have got caught up in anything like this.”
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Australia defeat England in rugby to win Cook Cup
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Saturday, June 17, 2006
Australia has defeated England 43 points to 18 in the second match of the Cook Cup series between the two nations in rugby union. The second win for Australia saw them win the Cook Cup trophy, which was held by England entering the series. The match was played under a closed roof at Telstra Dome, Melbourne in Australia. Regular Australian captain George Gregan entered the game off the bench in the second half to receive his 120th cap for the Wallabies – setting a new world record.
The first points of the match went to England with Andy Goode booting a field goal to put them up by three points. A few minutes later George Smith charged over to score a try under the posts for the Wallabies, Stirling Mortlock added the subsequent conversion to take the Australians to a seven to three lead over the English. In the 14th minute, Mark Gerrard catches a cross field bomb from Stephen Larkem to score the second Australian try. Although Mortlock missed the conversion, Australia move to a 14 to three lead over England. Goode was able to give England another three points, kicking a penalty goal in the 25th minute. Rodney Blake, one of Australia’s heroes from the previous test, appeared to have hurt his ankle and is replaced by Al Baxter. Minutes out from half-time, Lote Tuqiri scores for Australia. Mortlock is successful with the conversion to take the score to 19 points to six going into break.
Mark Chisholm runs in the first try of the second half, and with Mortlock adding the conversion, Australia’s lead extended to over 20 points. Although an English comeback now looked unlikely, minutes later George Chuter scores a try for England, although Goode missed the conversion, the score was now 26 to 11 to Australia. With 20 minutes remaining, Mortlock kicks a penalty goal to take to score to 29 to 11. A few minutes later, Gerrard runs in for his second side and with Mortlock adding the conversion, Australia now moved the score to 36 to 11. A late try to Larkham, which was converted by Mortlock sees Australia take the score to over 40 points. In the 80th minute of the match, moments from halftime, Varndell receives a pass from Balshaw to run in a late try for England. The final score was 43 points to 18.
