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mnealtx

Soldier sentenced to 90 years

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Good riddance...I hope the bastards never see the light of day again...

From Fox (AP story):

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Soldier Who Pleaded Guilty of Rape Sentenced to 90 Years

Friday, November 17, 2006

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — A soldier was sentenced to 90 years in prison with the possibility of parole in 20 years for conspiring to rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and kill her and her family.

Spc. James P. Barker, one of four Fort Campbell soldiers accused in the March 12 rape of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killings, pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the others to avoid the death penalty.

"This court sentences you to be confined for the length of your natural life, with the eligibility of parole," said Lt. Col. Richard Anderson, the military judge presiding over the court-martial.

Under the plea agreement, Barker got a life sentence Thursday but will not serve more than 90 years in prison, Anderson said. He will be eligible for parole in 20 years.

Barker, 23, showed no reaction when the sentence was read.

Earlier Thursday, Barker wept during his closing statement, accepted responsibility for the rape and killings and said violence he encountered left him "angry and mean" when it came to Iraqis.

"I want the people of Iraq to know that I did not go there to do the terrible things that I did," Barker said, his voice quivering as he began to weep. "I do not ask anyone to forgive me today."

After Barker's sentencing, military prosecutors declined to comment because three other soldiers have yet to be tried in the case. Defense attorneys planned a news conference.

Barker confessed Wednesday to the crimes as part of a plea agreement to avoid a possible death penalty that requires him to testify against the others.

In his closing statement, Barker said Iraq made him angry and violent.

"To live there, to survive there, I became angry and mean. The mean part of me made me strong on patrols. It made me brave in fire fights," Barker said. "I loved my friends, my fellow soldiers and my leaders, but I began to hate everyone else in Iraq."

During testimony intended to show the judge that Barker could be rehabilitated, Barker's fellow soldiers described weeks with little support and sleep while manning distant checkpoints.

Capt. William Fischbach, the lead prosecutor, told the court that such conditions were no excuse for Barker, who led the group to the family's house, and that no one deserved such unspeakable horrors.

"This burned-out corpse that used to be a 14-year-old girl never fired bullets or lobbed mortars," Fischbach said as he held pictures of the crime scene. "Society should not have to bear the risk of the accused among them ever again."

The killings in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Baghdad, were among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq.

The defendants are accused of burning the girl's body to conceal the crime.

Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman, 22, members of the 101st Airborne Division along with Barker, have also been charged. Cortez has deferred entering a plea, and Spielman will be arraigned in December. Pfc. Bryan L. Howard, 19, also deferred entering a plea at his arraignment in October.

Private Steven Green, 21, pleaded not guilty last week to civilian charges including murder and sexual assault. He was discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder" before the allegations became known, and prosecutors have yet to say whether they will pursue the death penalty against him.

In earlier testimony, Barker described in detail how he raped Abeer Qassim al-Janabi with Cortez and Green before Green killed the girl, her younger sister and parents.

"Cortez pushed her to the ground. I went towards the top of her and kind of held her hands down while Cortez proceeded to lift her dress up," he said. "Around that time I heard shots coming from a room next door."

Cortez and Spielman could face the death penalty if convicted.

Barker did not name Spielman and Howard as participants in the rape and murders but said Spielman was at the house when the assault took place and had come knowing what the others intended to do. Prosecutors on Thursday said Howard had been left behind at a checkpoint.


Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

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Makes me think about Lt. Calley and My Lai. He basically served NO TIME in prison. However he did make one good statement.

"Yesterday you stripped me of all my honor, please by your actions that you take here today, don’t strip future soldiers of their honor-I beg you.”

Let's hope we don't judge all soldiers by this jerk, and let's hope we don't let him out in less than a year. :S

steveOrino

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Makes me think about Lt. Calley and My Lai. He basically served NO TIME in prison. However he did make one good statement.

"Yesterday you stripped me of all my honor, please by your actions that you take here today, don’t strip future soldiers of their honor-I beg you.”

Let's hope we don't judge all soldiers by this jerk, and let's hope we don't let him out in less than a year. :S



Like I said in another thread, he doesn't represent virtually all other soldiers, but he does represent America.... we can't denounce others for bashing America after this crap.

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Makes me think about Lt. Calley and My Lai. He basically served NO TIME in prison. However he did make one good statement.

"Yesterday you stripped me of all my honor, please by your actions that you take here today, don’t strip future soldiers of their honor-I beg you.”

Let's hope we don't judge all soldiers by this jerk, and let's hope we don't let him out in less than a year. :S



Like I said in another thread, he doesn't represent virtually all other soldiers, but he does represent America.... we can't denounce others for bashing America after this crap.



I take it you never served. There will ALWAYS be a turd among any group, military, politics, clergy, law enforcement. These turds are in no way indicative of the thousands of men and women who serve honorably and and they are not indicative of America. Somehow i doubt you feel obliged to bash Islam over Islamic facist.[:/]

steveOrino

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Makes me think about Lt. Calley and My Lai. He basically served NO TIME in prison. However he did make one good statement.

"Yesterday you stripped me of all my honor, please by your actions that you take here today, don’t strip future soldiers of their honor-I beg you.”

Let's hope we don't judge all soldiers by this jerk, and let's hope we don't let him out in less than a year. :S



Like I said in another thread, he doesn't represent virtually all other soldiers, but he does represent America.... we can't denounce others for bashing America after this crap.



I take it you never served. There will ALWAYS be a turd among any group, military, politics, clergy, law enforcement. These turds are in no way indicative of the thousands of men and women who serve honorably and and they are not indicative of America. Somehow i doubt you feel obliged to bash Islam over Islamic facist.[:/]



Of course I served 1 term, but don't make this a referendum on me, I didn't rape/kill anyone.

As I wrote, all troops are ambassadors of the US, they don't however IMO represent other troops. They do represent America.

A fascist regeim and a few murdering troops are not in the same context. Furthermore, we invaded them, we are in power whether there or ruling from afar.... apples/oranges.

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Thanks! At least your left leaning is consistent. ;)



Yes, it's only a leftist thing to demand our troops be ambassadors when overseas..... again, nevermind the raped/murdered child, this is about my politics; way to keep it on topic and concern for the important issues.

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I see that the topic is about the GI's.



Yes. It is about "the GI's" and not "GI's."

Another thing - while this does not excuse the acts of these GI's, who should be punished severely, their chain of command failed them. Their chain of command failed to put the proper moral climate into place, and failed to recognize what was going on with these guys. They failed to take care of their troops.

I hope to hell that their chain of command was relieved, but I doubt it.


My wife is hotter than your wife.

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Death penalty would make more sense. He's a danger to women and their families. He abused his position and the tools given to him for his duties.

I'd say the same thing if either the family or the creep was american, swedish, black, white, jewish, islam, etc, etc, etc. He raped a girl, killed a family.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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>it is leftist thing to bash America over 3-4 guys out of 200,000 but let
>Islamic facists slide.

We invaded two countries due to the actions of a few dozen terrorists. So I suppose it's a rightist thing too. Since then, we've convicted over a dozen of our own soldiers for torture, rape and murder. More are on trial.

This doesn't mean america sucks; those people do not represent america any more than Al Qaeda represents islam. An important thing to keep in mind. Let's hope that these soldiers, and the soldiers that are currently on trial for similar crimes, represent the last of them.

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We invaded two countries due to the actions of a few dozen terrorists. So I suppose it's a rightist thing too. Since then, we've convicted over a dozen of our own soldiers for torture, rape and murder. More are on trial.




One would have been sufficient for sure, but let's not let anyone use the actions of these rogues to bash America or its troops. It would be the same as bashing Saudis or Muslims in general for 9/11



steveOrino

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Like I said in another thread, he doesn't represent virtually all other soldiers



Nor does he represent the vast majority of all other soldiers. From what you wrote, it's easy to infer you think he and soldiers like him are something more than the rare exception.

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Earlier Thursday, Barker wept during his closing statement, accepted responsibility for the rape and killings and said violence he encountered left him "angry and mean" when it came to Iraqis.



The constant exposure to violence sometimes brings out the worst that is inside all of us. Much like mob mentality. There is far more involved than just the acts that these soldiers commited, although, they are ultimately responsible for their actions. I can't help but to think of the kids who commit violent crimes and then state that it was from being exposed to violent video games. Or the violence that spills over from contact sports onto the street after a game. True, most of us are able to control any urge that may come from such exposure but, there will always be those who feel that they must act on these urges. Such acts are but an extention of the violence from the enviroment in which they are fostered in. Without that one starting point I believe that men such as these guys would had never committed such acts with the exception of pvt. Green due to his mental disorder.
"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

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No, it is leftist thing to bash America over 3-4 guys out of 200,000 but let Islamic facists slide.



I'm gonna sorta agree with Lucky on this one. When the nation, America, sends hundreds of thousands of troops to invade another sovereign country, the actions of those troops, good or bad, can be properly attributed to the nation of America...we sent them as our representatives.

Similarly, when the terrorist organization Al Queda sends dozens of terrorists to the United States to wreak havoc and murder and mayhem, the actions of those terrorists can be properly characterized as representative of Al Queda. It's all about the organization the individuals are there representing.

You and I are both partially responsible for the shitty things a few of our troops do over there. You and I elected the government who put them in a position to be such dickheads. But for our actions (as a voting populace), these crimes would not have been committed. We should be proud of our boys when they do good, but we should also be ashamed of them when they do evil. Either way, their actions do reflect on us.

Blues,
Dave
"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

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Oh please don’t say that dude. How many Threads have you seen on here generalizing about Islam, and Muslims? It is not a left or right thing. It is a stupid thing to generalize any group for the actions of a minority in that group.

I think for once the Troops who committed a crime got what they deserved, and that’s what we need to keep on doing. When we don’t give the troops who commit a crime a free pass it shows that it was an individual crime that we do not agree with. When people have knee jerk reaction to protect such criminals or give them weak punishment it makes all of us look bad.

The people who started this war and supported this war are also people to blame. I bet you non-of these kids would have committed such a crime if they were not in that environment.

War sucks and the people who seem to jump on the bandwagon to support unjust wars should take a deep look at them selves.

Wars make many good people do bad things and they should pay for there crimes, but lets not forget the chain does not end at the person who commits the crime but the weak administration and it’s supporters who put our men and woman in that situation.
I'd rather be hated for who I am, than loved for who I am not." - Kurt Cobain

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Oh please don’t say that dude. How many Threads have you seen on here generalizing about Islam, and Muslims? It is not a left or right thing. It is a stupid thing to generalize any group for the actions of a minority in that group.



You're right -- it is stupid, whether the generalizations are made about Americans, Muslims, Christians, Brits, French (well, maybe not the French. ;))


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I think for once the Troops who committed a crime got what they deserved, and that’s what we need to keep on doing. When we don’t give the troops who commit a crime a free pass it shows that it was an individual crime that we do not agree with. When people have knee jerk reaction to protect such criminals or give them weak punishment it makes all of us look bad.



I agree


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The people who started this war and supported this war are also people to blame.



I respectfully disagree

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I bet you non-of these kids would have committed such a crime if they were not in that environment.



Maybe not, maybe. I guess we will never know. How many 100,000 soldiers were in that enviornment and didn't commit autrocities? I'm too much an existentialist to give them that pass.;)

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Wars make many good people do bad things ...


See my reply about me being an existentialist. ;)

steveOrino

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Like I said in another thread, he doesn't represent virtually all other soldiers, but he does represent America.... we can't denounce others for bashing America after this crap.



I think America and America's soldiers are far more accurately represented by the actions taken against the rapist. This is a case where pretty much every single person, republican and democrat alike, has said "This was NOT right and it will not happen again."

Like Gawain said, you can't always weed out the bad apples. It's not the actions of the offender that defines us, it's our response to those actions that matters.

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It's not the actions of the offender that defines us, it's our response to those actions that matters.



I tried that philosophy here in SC once and got called all sorts of names. I hope you fare better with it.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

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There are wrong doers in all segments of society and the miltary is no different from any others (or you lot wouldn't need stockades and we wouldn't need glasshouses!!).


Just because a member of a group does wrong, should not reflect upon the rest of the group - that would be just plain daft.... If a soldier being naughty means that soldiers are naughty, then if any single American is naughty then all Americans are naughty - clearly stupid.

.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

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The people who started this war and supported this war are also people to blame. I bet you non-of these kids would have committed such a crime if they were not in that environment.

War sucks and the people who seem to jump on the bandwagon to support unjust wars should take a deep look at them selves.

Wars make many good people do bad things and they should pay for there crimes, but lets not forget the chain does not end at the person who commits the crime but the weak administration and it’s supporters who put our men and woman in that situation.



That’s bullshit! A professional soldier (this has nothing to with nationality) is given training and is expected to carry out lawful orders. This person is a disgrace period!!!! Your drivel there is a cop out for people who look for an out for lack of responsibility for ones actions. Being a professional solider is not day care they volunteered to join the service and passed enough basic aptitude tests that some one of a leader ship role should not have to be telling people raping and killing civilians is wrong.

War doses not make people do immoral acts only a person’s lack of integrity and self control. “I bet you non-of these kids would have committed such a crime if they were not in that environment.” Maybe but I’m would be more worried of what they are capable of if they were not in controlled organization like the military.
SO this one time at band camp.....

"Of all the things I've lost I miss my mind the most."

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