This is disgusting. 

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Convicted soldier: 'You probably think I'm a monster'

May 11, 2009

PADUCAH, Kentucky (CNN) -- "You probably think I'm a monster."

Former U.S. soldier Steven Green has been convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl.

That's what FBI agents said former U.S. soldier Steven Green told them nearly three years ago about accusations that he had raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killed her and her family.

Green was found guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Paducah of the crimes and could face the death penalty.

Green spoke as the agents and he drove from his grandmother's home in Nebo, North Carolina, where he'd been arrested, to a detention center 45 minutes away in Asheville, North Carolina, authorities said.

According to court documents:

Green had taken his grandmother to dinner, and the two had plans for a movie. Agents asked the former Army private whether they could tell her the reason for his arrest. Green initially said yes, but changed his mind, not wanting to upset her. Agents let him smoke a few cigarettes before putting him in the car for the drive.

Without prompting, Green spoke.  "Knew you guys were coming," he said.

It was June 30, 2006, a month and a half after his discharge from the military. Green was a former member of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The agents asked no questions. They listened as Green talked during the drive.

"All of my buddies were getting killed over there. My lieutenant got his face blown off. ... George Bush and Dick Cheney ought to be the ones that are arrested."

Green, a high school dropout, was a product of Bush's hometown of Midland, Texas. He had enlisted in 2005, leaving the hot, dry, oil-rich land of the Permian Basin for another hot, dry, oil-rich land.

"Joining the Army was the worst decision I ever made," he said.

Now, Green stands convicted for crimes he committed as a soldier.

Prosecutors said he and others in his unit plotted an attack on an Iraqi family. Green herded the parents and younger sister of 14-year-old Abeer al-Janabi into another room of a house while two accomplices raped her. He then gunned down her parents and her 6-year-old sister, before joining in the rape and killing the teenager.

The crimes happened in the Mahmoudiya area of Iraq, south of Baghdad, in 2006. Last week, a federal jury in McCracken County, Kentucky, deliberated for more than 10 hours before convicting Green for murder, rape, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, according to the court's Web site. Guilty on all 17 counts.

Four other former soldiers are in prison for their roles in the crime and the cover-up that followed.

Pvt. 1st Class James Barker, Sgt. Paul Cortez, Pvt. 1st Class Jesse Spielman and Pvt. 1st Class Bryan Howard received sentences ranging from 27 months to 110 years, with the possibility of parole in 10 years in the most severe cases.

They were convicted and sentenced in a military court. On Monday, as the penalty phase of his trial begins, Green might become the first former U.S. soldier to face the death penalty for war crimes before a civilian court.

The reason for the distinction: Green was discharged from the military before his crimes came to light.

When the killings became public in 2006, the Iraqi public was enraged and some Iraqi officials demanded that American soldiers accused of crimes against civilians face prosecution in Iraqi courts.

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Granted, I agree that the soldiers who died fighting a war that we should never have started - that's tragic.  And I agree that Bush and Cheney should probably be brought up on war crimes charges.    But that doesn't give you license to rape and kill innocent people.  

Does anyone else see this guy as a classic example of not taking responsibility for his own actions?  With all these cases coming to light, I wonder if this is an unfortunate consequence of military discipline and doing what you're told without question - you forget that *you* are the one ultimately responsible for your own actions, no matter what they are. 

I'm just trying to imagine what the girl and her family must have felt, being killed in such a brutal fashion.  So yes, Steven Green, I do think you are a monster.

 Yeah, take that, Donald. :P  (Donald is my Scottish co-worker who ridicules me for the use of the word 'awesomer.')

Well, perhaps it is for me.  I've seen some news articles recently that make it seem as though life will be sucking more for women in Afghanistan.  Here, look at this:

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Karzai: Afghanistan to review criticized sharia law

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Amid mounting pressure from the West, Afghan President Hamid Karzai says his government will review a recently approved version of a law that critics say legalizes marital rape and the U.S. president has called "abhorrent."

Recently approved version of law also mandates that a woman ask a male relative to leave the house.

"We understand the concerns of our allies in the international community," Karzai told reporters Saturday.

The minister of justice would study the draft, he said.

"If there is anything that is of concern to us then we will definitely take action in consultation with our [religious clerics] and send it back to the parliament," Karzai said. "This is something that we are also serious about and we should not allow."

Karzai's news conference was in response to a series of news reports by Western media since the president signed the law last month.

He specifically mentioned a March 31 story by London-based The Independent, which called the law "a massive blow for women's rights" and cited critics who said Karzai "rushed" the bill through parliament in hopes of appeasing Islamic fundamentalists ahead of August elections.

Human rights groups and news reports consistently refer to a report from the U.N. Development Fund for Women which reportedly stated that the legislation -- a piece of sharia law, or Islamic law -- that affects the Shiite community in the predominantly Sunni nation "legalizes the rape of a wife by her husband" by allowing men to force sexual intercourse on their spouses.

Shiites make up roughly 10 percent of Afghanistan's population.

Western leaders attending a NATO conference Saturday also signaled their disapproval of the legislation.

"I think this law is abhorrent," U.S. President Obama said in Strasbourg, France. "We think that it is very important for us to be sensitive to local culture, but we also think that there are certain basic principles that all nations should uphold, and respect for women and respect for their freedom and integrity is an important principle."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed, with the latter saying, "We very much hope that the draft piece of legislation is to be withdrawn."

The law was drafted by Afghanistan's conservative lawmakers after spending more than a year off and on the parliament's daily agenda. Shia Muslims have been practicing their form of Islam for centuries in Afghanistan, but this law allows them to preserve their identity among the majority Sunni population, one parliamentarian said.

Among its provisions are that women must ask a male relative to leave the house.

"What my fear is, women and children of Afghanistan are always the victims of political games," Afghan lawmaker Fawzia Koofi told CNN in a recent interview. "I mean, they don't have a gun to fight, they cannot create a mess."

Koofi, and other critics of the law, hope that the supreme court will rule that the legislation is at odds with the Afghan constitution, which promises equal rights to all citizens -- male or female.

Still, despite the international outcry against the bill, many in Afghanistan remain unaware of it. Support can be found among those who do, especially the Shiite population.

***

So, thoughts on this article.  For one, the first thing that bothers me about it - nowhere does Karzai say that they are reconsidering this law because it's detrimental to women, etc.  No, he specifically says that it's because the international community has problems with it.    Which, yay for the international community's opinion making a difference, but really?  Come on, should the rest of the world have to tell the president of a country when he's legalizing rape?   I feel like he either needs to be paying more attention to the bills he's signing, or think more carefully about them.

And the other thing that I'm not too sure about here- what does the Sunni/Shia divide have to do with anything?   There's comments about how this law lets Shias preserve their identity - so that comes down to,"They're the ones who can rape their wives," or "They're the ones that have to be told not to rape their wives because it's bad."  Either view doesn't make them look good.  Personally, I think having a law like this would be kind of embarrassing - it's like, oh yeah, even though the Prophet says we should respect and honor women, we still have to put it into a law that you aren't supposed to rape your wife.  -sigh, shakes head-  Muhammad, where are you and why aren't you laying the smackdown on these people?

And then there was this other article about racism, but I don't feel like writing about it right now.  I have etsy orders to fill!! Yay!!  and some stuff to make as well. and then i think I am going to have breakfast for dinner. or yogurt-rice, not sure which. 

Breakfast for dinner is also apparently completely American, and I have been mocked for that too. 

today was a good day. I got a lot of things done - boxes mailed to neechan and to a fellow Raveler, money on my phone, a time for Gizmo to go to the vet to get fixed, took my jeans to be altered.  I even dropped by Knitting Tree for an hour or so to tell them about the Myeongdong meeting and do a repeat or so on my cowl.  It was fun to be there again - I told them I would come back Friday and bring some of my FOs to show them, since last time I was working on the legwarmers. 

After all my errands, I ended up in McDonalds to meet my new friend.  We had a lot of fun talking for an hour or so before he had to go do homework for a marketing class.  He lives in Kukdong, which is like, right next door to me.  When I walked back by KKW the lights were still on, so I ended up going back to McDonald's with Kim-teacher, Kyung Mi (Violet) and Soh Jin (pansy). We stayed there talking about all kinds of things till 10.  And now I'm home, browsing ravelry and attempting to figure out what pattern I want to make with this cotton/rayon blend from Knitting Tree. 

Also today - yummy kimbap.  MMM...

I'd like to finish this cowl this week so I can be wearing it.  Also, wanna start my dragon shawl but am still working out if it should be double-stranded or single. Need two more balls to make it double. 

And then Jon sent me this article.
Excommunicated doctor hailed for abortion

Archbishop Don Jose Cardoso Sobrinho of Recife excommunicated the doctor, the child's mother and the medical team involved in the procedure.

However, the stepfather was not excommunicated, with Sobrinho telling Globo TV that, "A graver act than (rape) is abortion, to eliminate an innocent life."

Um, no, I don't think so. Because rape isn't the elimination of anything innocent at all.  This is just wrong on so many levels.  First one - 9 y/o raped by stepfather, pregnant with twins.  Abuse had been going on since she was 6.  (Can 9y/os GET PREGNANT?)  Hello, where was the mother in all this?

2ndly - the girl's mother and the entire medical team who performed the abortion have been excommunicated.  Guy who did the raping? Totally cool in the eyes of God.  And the Archbishop has the nerve to say that  "God's law is above human laws."  Of course it is, but I think you are getting confused here, because the law that says it's okay to rape your stepdaughter is probably not God's law.  My two cents, anyway. 

Brazil bans abortion? What?

I've been knitting for most of the past week, and while I have made significant progress on the scarf, I'm wanting a break.  So I think tonight is going to be a watch TV or read or perhaps do some watercolor night.  Also, my wrist is starting to bother me.

Argosy in progress

2 comments

Note that this did not stop me from buying yarn this evening at Gangnam.  Well, to be fair, I bought some on Thursday, and I went back with a new SnB friend looking for the same colorway, cause I really liked it and I decided I didn't want to mix two different ones.  I got my colorway. and some cute light green ribbon-y stuff that I think I wanna try to make a shawl out of.  And the ajuma who runs the place gave me another ball and my needles for free, which was pretty sweet.  She does stuff like that though - She gave me a free ball the other night too. 

I have Kraft Mac now!  I met Robin in Itaewon for lunch today and we went to this place called Macaroni Market.  Their macaroni was decent, but I really have been just craving the cheap stuff, so she took me to a little shop that sells foreign food and I got a box of mac and cheese.  The place was way overpriced, but that's to be expected.  My box was roughly $3.50.  They had Captain Crunch, but it was $12 for the big box and I was like, um, no.  Yes, I'm serious.  But as Robin said, why charge less than what people will pay?  And yes, people will pay that here, to get American foods, especially if they don't have access to the base. 

I ended up reading another Night World book last night/this morning before bed.  I'm perfectly cognizant that, while I mock my sister for her reading tastes (bad yaoi and how to raise pigeons), my own are just as bad.  But that's the huge difference - I recognize that I read bad stuff, and read it precisely for that reason.  Also, I like to flatter myself that, while most of it is completely fluff (both types of metaphorically) there are some good parts.  So this is what I was reading:

Huntress Night World 7 (Night World)

L.J. Smith

Morgead and Jez are awesomely funny.  For one thing, Morgead gets angry really easily, and he has an abandonment complex cause his mom left him when he was 12 and he has really pretty green eyes that Smith (the author) is always comparing to emeralds.  Not the most inventive image, I know.  Oh! And floppy black emo hair that's always getting in his eyes.  But she does come up with cool - a train as a white dragon.  Anyway, my favorite part of the book has to be Morgead in one of his "Excited States" (minds out the gutter, please).  Here's an excerpt:
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Spoiler: At this point Jez has been staked and is trying to die peacefully.  Morgead takes umbridge at this.

And then, through the mist and the gold and the warmth and the peace, came a voice that wasn't gentle at all.  That was roaring in sheer outrage and fury.

"DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME, JEZEBEL! DON'T YOU DARE! Or I'll follow you to the next world and KILL you."

Suddenly, in the pretty gold mist, she could see something else.   The only thing in the universe that wasn't golden. 

It was a silver cord.

"You come back and you do it right now," Morgead bellowed in her ears and in her mind.  "Right now! Do you hear me?"

The peace was shattered.  Nothing seemed quite so warm and wonderful anymore, and she knew that once Morgead got into one of his Excited States, he wouldn't stop yelling until he got what he wanted.

There's some more here but I don't feel like typing it all...

Jez whispered, "I told you never to call me Jezebel."
Then she fainted.

Granted, I love trashy romance novels just as much as the next girl.  Maybe more.  Still, despite this fondness for the pinnacle of literary achievement, even I found Twilight to be bad.  So much so that I talked through reading the book, which my neechan found endlessly amusing.

Lately, I've been listening to it on audiobook whilst knitting, and reliving the horror.  (as someone I read today put it, it's a special kind of masochism to rearead them.  Listening is worse, trust me.)  And one thing led to another, and I've come across some amazing articles that I felt the need to share. 

First up, because it is omfg amazing and the best thing out there:

LDS Sparkledammerung is here!!!