Victim was just 14 when she was raped and killed by US soldiers

[Barrett808]

BAGHDAD: The young Iraqi woman who five US soldiers are accused of raping and killing on March 12 was 14 years old, not over 20, as US officials have said.

US court documents described Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi, who was shot dead along with her sister and parents, as an "adult female" and estimated her age as 25. Local officials and relatives had said she was 15 or 16, but her identity card and a copy of her death certificate show she was born on August 19, 1991 in Baghdad.

Her identity card, issued in 1993, features a photograph of her at 18 months, wide-eyed and with a lick of dark hair over her brow.

A copy of her death certificate gives the same birth date.

She was found at home by a relative on March 12 and had died from "gunshot wounds to the head, with burns", said the document, signed by doctor Wael Habib and a registrar.

(more)

http://theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19750354-601,00.html

[The_Casual_Observer]

1. America is supporting this kind of activity?

[BOSSHOG]

2. 19 August - Bill Clinton's Birthday

Are we supposed to give this a pass if the victim were 20 instead of 14? I can imagine a 14 year old in Iraq looking like a 25 year old. She's gone through hell for at least the past 3 years.

[ender]

3. well, since she was born on bill's bday...

she obviously deserved it. (much sarcasm)

[Demeter]

4. She Would Have Been 20 By the Time This Gets Prosecuted

in the Hague, on BushCo BFEE.

[chookie]

27. Afraid not

Not long after Sept 11, the Bush administration strong-armed an exclusion from prosecution in the Hague for war crimes committed in the "War Aginst Terriers."

How they pulled if off, I have no idea -- but it sure laid the groundwork for making sure our Glorious Army would be able to get away with anything, just like the Bush adminstration who ordered them into the Mother of All Meatgrinders.

Also -- if the army is unable to successfully cover-up war crimes as they endeavor to do with such focus and determination, the perps will only be prosecuted in US courts. Iraqis and Afghanis do not have access to bringing American criminals to court for crimes committed in their country against their people.

[leftchick]

5. Jamie McIntire on CNN STILL saying "they are not sure of her age"

Here ya go Jaimie. This is what reporters do, they look at the FACTS and not take US Military reports as Gospel....



A citizenship identification card issued by the Iraqi government in 1993 shows Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi with a date of birth of August 19, 1991, as translated from the identity card in this handout photo from her relatives in Baghdad July 9, 2006. Five U.S. soldiers were charged in a rape and multiple murder case that has outraged Iraqis, as documents obtained by Reuters on Sunday showed the rape victim was a minor aged just 14, and not over 20 as U.S. officials say. EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Handout (IRAQ)

[Tunkamerica]

6. the first reports i heard on npr last week

said that us officials said the girl was 14 local officials said fifteen, us officials said her sister was eight while local officials said her sister's age was nine. I hadn't heard over 20 anywhere. But maybe I don't listen in the right places to hear that type of thing.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. That's because most people outside the US

Use the year of birth without regard for the day when speaking about age in general. All my Italian relatives do this. So, for example, I'm turning 33 later this year, but if you ask my father (Italian) how old I am, he will say 33 right now, because I was born in 1973 and it is 2006. This is probably why local officials said 15 and 9 when their ages - going by date of birth rather than just year - are 14 and 8. Both girls probably had a birth date later in the year. Little known cultural fact. Most people in the US will say you're 13, even if you turn 14 the very next day, whereas in other places, most people (or at least older people) will say you're 14 as soon as the year hits, with some exceptions for very late birthdays.

[Tunkamerica]

17. very interesting

still, we knew pretty immediately about how old they were. when did 20 year old's come into it?

[Kber]

30. Is this a translation error

Some people would say a newborn is "in her first year", and, after her first birthday, when, in the US she'd be "one", in some countries she'd be referred to as "in her second year". Both are technically correct and accurate, just expressing the same thing in a different way.

Might account for the confusion between the two girls being described as a 14 / 15 and 8/9.

No guesses about where 20 came from though.

[MISSDem]

7. This is one year older than my precious neice. But the age doesn't

matter. And to make bad matters worse, these soldiers planned this heinous crime. Up to a week before they did it, they planned how they would carry it out.

[Dyedinthewoolliberal]

8. In the final analysis

her age is not the most important thing here. The represhensible behavior of our military, put into a situation that allows this kind of thing to seem rational, is what needs addressing.
They need to be held accountable and punished, as if that could make things all better. However, there isn't much else that can be done short of leaving Iraq.......

[rocktivity]

10. There goes the "she asked for it and it was consensual" defense

rocknation

[geomon666]

11. What fucking difference does it make?

14, 20, 99...SHE WAS STILL RAPED AND MURDERED! Fucking animals.

[Xipe Totec]

13. The only difference is showing how fast and lose

our military is with the facts, and how desperate and pathetic it is to try to minimize this atrocity.

Quibbling over her age shows a fine grading of degrees of monstrosity, which can only come from long and repeated exposure to similar situations.

My skin crawls just thinking about it.

[chookie]

25. Gotta love the army's "apology"

The official response of the army to the surviving relatives was that the event was "inexcusable" and the behavior of the soldiers "unacceptable." Ha ha -- you'd think they just got caught skinnydipping in the Euphrates!

That mealy-mouthed equivocation by our idiotic government makes *me* burn with rage, and I am thousands of miles away from the event. I can't imagine how outraged the family felt, or ordinary Iraqis felt, when the fucking army called this vicious brutal crime "unacceptable." Better to have used stronger words and not insulted those most impacted by this sadistic violence.

[maxrandb]

15. Damage Control geomon666, just SICK Damage Control

Rape, murder, and corpse mutilation are terrible, hideous (no adjective fits) crimes. Committing them against someone 25 is repulsive enough, committing them against a "child" is extremely repulsive.

It's an attempt to make us appear not quite so repulsive. It's the same as standing on a streat corner chanting "We're not worse, We're not worse, We're not worse".

Thinks of it in terms of the "missing pretty young blonde girl stories". Thousands of people go missing in this country everyday, yet the 24/7 news only covers it if they look like Jessica Simpson, or mom and dad have money. The more sensational the deed, the more attractive the victim, the more news were going to get.

This "debate" about the age of this girl is an attempt by those that control our government and our media to "play down" this story a little bit.

It's sick, but that's what I think is happening.

[0007]

32. The gift of democracy that just keep giving!

Even before the rape-murder investigation surfaced, the military was investigating the incident in which three soldiers from the same battalion were killed by insurgents near Youssifiyah. Two of those apparently were abducted and then slain, with their bodies mutilated.

The Army said it was trying to determine how the soldiers were left by themselves with a single vehicle in a known stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq.

At a news conference Wednesday, the U.S. military spokesman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, said U.S. officials were looking into the leadership of the unit "from an administrative standpoint."

Brown said the case demonstrated a bigger problem facing the strapped U.S. military.

"Maybe it's a case where the manager knew that he had disciplinary and morale problems but he was under pressure," Brown said. "They have limited resources ... and something's got to give."

[norml]

18. It makes a difference.

It makes a big difference, both in court, and in the court of public opinion.

It not only makes the crime that much more vile, it makes the crime that much more criminal.

Think of what it would mean if the stalking rape and murder of a 14 year old, verses a 20 year old, and the murder of her and her family had happened here, as far as what charges would be brought, how the case would be prosecuted, and as an aggravating circumstance to consider in sentencing.

[geomon666]

21. Murder is murder. n/t

[norml]

22. Not in court, it isn't.

There are all sorts of things to consider.

http://www.courttv.com/home_primetime/index.html

[geomon666]

24. The only thing to consider is if he killed her. n/t

[norml]

28. There are aggravating and mitigating circumstances in any crime.

It's in the nature of most of our legal system to take pertinent circumstances into consideration.

[niyad]

20. except that animals don't do this sort of thing.

[kwolf68]

36. Thank you

I just hate it when someone like this is called an animal.

An animal kills for one reason: To survive.

We kill out of enjoyment, lust, power, greed, hatred...

[rustydog]

12. If she was over 20 she DESERVED IT??? Is that their rationale?

How the fuck did the military think they could put lipstick on this pig using that weak-assed Republican defense tactic ?

[Dhalgren]

14. All the Republican Army is looking for is getting a "pass" from

their base. If the good 33 percenters say, "Well, too bad. Next!" that's all they care about...

[AbsoluteArmorer]

16. I'm totally disgusted by those jerk(s) raping that child!!

Then killing them all!! Chickenshits to the 1st degree!

[NickB79]

19. Well, if she was 14 but looked 25, she was asking for it, right?

I will bet you that some Reichwing talkshow host WILL say this eventually. They're dying to blame the victim here, to smear her reputation, because that's all they can do.

[coalition_unwilling]

23. Link between this atrocity and Abu Ghraib -- anyone remember

the Abu Ghraib videos\photos that didn't get released, supposedly including some featuring the rape of children in front of their Iraqi parents in order to induce parents "to talk"? I remember hearing a few eliptical references by Seymour Hersh and others way back when. (I also remember reading\hearing that at least some of the alleged child rape were done by Iraqis on Iraqis, with American soldiers standing by and not intervening.)

The first thing modern war does is to blur the line between combatant and non-combatant. Once that distinction is blurred, others, like the distinction between adult and child, are soon to follow. If American soldiers witnessed or participated in child rapes at Abu Ghraib, then that awareness has probably proliferated widely through the enlisted ranks and . . .

The reason we have a Geneva Conventions and UCMJ is precisely because war is always so brutal.

I highly recommend to all DUers Brian DePalma's "Casualties of War." IMHO, one of the best Vietnam War movies ever, if only because DePalma manages to show us for a few brief instants what the war and atrocities feel like through the eyes of the civilian victims.

[chookie]

26. Another disturbing aspect of this....

...is that this band of vicious thugs operated under the assumption that they would get away with this crime, or any crime in Iraq. Yes, Green was diagnosed (before this crime became known, at least allegedly) as having an anti-social personality disorder (a quite serious condition), which can cause those with it to act violently and think there will be no consequences -- but what has been going through my mind is wondering how much of this crime is the result of *personal* pathology, and how much is a more general *political* pathology -- as in "they're only ragheads -- let's waste 'em" -- and we can fully expect the army to cover it up and the American public to 'support the troops.' There is probably a measure of "command influence" -- when they see their Commander in Chief and HIS band of thugs ordering brutality and murder upon Iraqis, and getting away with it, why should they think he would disapprove of them?

What I predict will happen with this case is -- I disagree that the right-wing fuckwads, at least the public ones, will say that this child was "asking" for it and got her just desserts-- I think they will focus in on the "personality disorder" thing and minimize it as yet another isolated "bad apple" somehow getting into our Glorious Army.

If I can be indulged for putting my tin foil hat on -- gee -- why, when and under what circumstances did this guy get kicked out of the army (but still honorably discharged) for getting diagnosed with a serious mental disorder while in Iraq? What the heck else did he do over there? Or was this a CYA on the part of the army -- that there were ALREADY rumors that this SOB committed this heinous act, and they wanted to label him a "bad apple" ASAP to make it seem as if this crime was a rare anomaly, and had NOTHING to do with the prevailing sentiment shared by the supporters of Bush that Iraqis and Arabs in general are monsters who should be exterminated by any means necessary (which of course NEVER influences the behavior of certain servicemen -- yeah RIGHT!).

[coalition_unwilling]

33. Interesting response -- I remember when the first reports of the

two U.S. troops being killed were aired hearing (or reading) that it was a reprisal by the Iraqi Resistance for various and sundry offense committed by U.S. troops. (I don't think the Mahmoudiyah atrocity had yet surfaced, so most speculation centered around reprisal(s) for Hadditha mass murder allegations.)

Randi Rhodes (on AAR) yesterday said it best -- most Americans prefer "not to know" what is being done in their name, but most Arabs and Persians not only want to know but are only too well aware of what our occupation looks like on the ground.

I'm not sure they (the RW Christian Fascists) are going to be able to dismiss this case as easily as they dismissed Abu Ghraib under the rubric of a "few bad apples" because t he tide has turned in the general public and the MSM towards the war and occupation. On ABC's GMA this a.m., they led with the story. Having written that, however, I did hear a reporter on National Pentagon Radio this a.m. refer to the Mahmoudiyah victim as a "14-year old woman" -- couldn't believe my ears. I have given up on NPR, will never donate to them or to the Pentagon Broadcasting Service ever again, until their executive board(s) go on the air and apologize for their coverage of the lead-up to the war and their coverage of the occupation up until Abu Ghraib. (Since I see very little chance of that ever happening, I will never contribute another dime to either organization.)

[kanukistan]

29. Raed Jarrar says Abir was only 12 years old!

There are no words to convey the rage I feel.

----------------------------------------------------------

http://raedinthemiddle.blogspot.com/

A few months ago, Abir was just another 12 year old Iraqi girl in a small town called Al-Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad. Both of her parents are from the Al-Janabi tribe, one of the biggest tribes with Sunni and Shia branches.

Omar Al-Janabi, a neighbor and relative of Abir, was informed by Abir’s mother that the young girl was being harassed by U.S. soldiers stationed in a nearby checkpoint. That is why Abir was sent to spend the night in her neighbor’s home. The next day, Omar Al-Janabi was among the first people who found Abir with her 34 year old mother Fakhriyah, her 45 year old father Qasim, and her 7 year old sister Hadil murdered in their home. Abir was raped, killed by a bullet in her head, and then burned on the 12th of March, exactly two weeks before her thirteen birthday.

[0007]

31. junior and his fuzzy math is at it again

Steven D. Green
Another Midland Texas boy with a moral compass and family values, 'eh?

[osaMABUSh]

34. Maximum penalty = Death

Seems appropriate in this case.

And some hard jail time for his superiors for dereliction of duty.

[kwolf68]

35. But But

Anyone who goes after these soldiers is a traitor right? Isn't this kinda what John Kerry got crucified for? Exposing the unethical, immoral conduct of some of the servicemen?

You can't do that now can you? At least not and hope to be President.