Rape, murder, and complicity in Mahmudiya

Eli Stephens, Left I on the News

January 9, 2007

Back in June the world learned of one of the more horrifying incidents in the U.S. figurative rape of Iraq, and that was the literal rape and murder (by fire) of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi, along with the murder of her entire family.

There have been rumors before about the soldier who seems to have been the principal instigator of the attack, but now it appears they're being confirmed:

An Army private charged with the slaughter of an Iraqi family was diagnosed as a homicidal threat by a military mental health team three months before the attack.

Pfc. Steven D. Green was found to have "homicidal ideations" after seeking help from an Army Combat Stress Team in Iraq on Dec. 21, 2005. Green said he was angry about the war, desperate to avenge the death of comrades and driven to kill Iraqi citizens, according to an investigation by The Associated Press.

The treatment was several small doses of Seroquel — a drug to regulate his mood — and a directive to get some sleep, according to medical records obtained by the AP. The next day, he returned to duty.
Three months later, Abeer al-Janabi and her family were dead. But the take home message of this incident isn't that a soldier with "homicidal ideations" (whatever they might be) went on to murder someone in a horrific fashion. It's that the Army was well aware of his problems and sent him back on duty anyway, and that four other soldiers, who we presume did not have the same "issues" as Pfc. Green, were perfectly happy to accompany him on his "mission" of terror. Not to mention that they, and quite likely various superiors, managed to keep the entire incident covered up for months.

Note this rather suspicious sequence of events:

Three months passed [after his diagnosis in December] without Army doctors and clinicians from the Combat Stress Team having any contact with Green. He was summoned for a second examination on March 20, 2006 — eight days after the killing of the family. Green was diagnosed as having an anti-social personality disorder and declared unfit for service. The process of discharging him began a week later and he was sent home.
What a remarkable coincidence, eh?

Let me close by repeating a portion of my post from back in July:

The killing of the family was originally reported by the military as due to "insurgent activity." The same was true in the Haditha massacre of 24 Iraqis, who were also originally reported as being killed by "insurgent activity" (i.e., IED). So the next time you see statistics, also reported by the American military, about the percentage of the deaths in Iraq which are caused by "insurgent activity," keep these incidents in mind. Statistics only have validity when the underlying data is valid. When the underlying data is provided by the U.S. military, forget about it.
Out now!

continua / continued