Former US soldier charged in rape and murder of Iraqi girl

Steven D. Green, 21, a former private first class, appeared in a federal magistrate’s court in Charlotte, North Carolina in connection with a March 12 incident in Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of Iraq, involving up to five soldiers from the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division, 502nd Infantry Regiment.

Prosecutors said Green and other soldiers entered the family’s home, where he and others raped the girl, after which Green shot her and three of her relatives to death, and then burned the corpse of the rape victim. Green faces a possible death sentence if convicted of murder.

Four members of the 502nd Infantry have been confined to a US base near Mahmoudiya, according to military officials, and could receive the death penalty under US military law if convicted of premeditated murder. One active soldier has reportedly been arrested after admitting his role in the alleged attack.

Private Green served 11 months with the 101st Airborne Division, based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, but his case is being handled by federal prosecutors because he is no longer in the military. According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint in the case, he was discharged “before this incident came to light. Green was discharged due to a personality disorder.”

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/jul2006/atro-j04.shtml