NYT/AP: Soldier Gets 90 Years in Iraq Rape Case

[DeepModem Mom]

Soldier Gets 90 Years in Iraq Rape Case
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 16, 2006

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) -- A soldier was sentenced Thursday to 90 years in prison with the possibility of parole 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 and killings, pleaded guilty Wednesday 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 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. Afterward, he smoked a cigarette outside as a military bailiff watched over him. He grinned but made no remarks as reporters passed by.

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....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Iraq-Rape-Slaying.html

[opihimoimoi]

1. How sad this man...War can make strange decisions seem passable

then comes the guilt/punishment unseen at the time of the crime...

One more casualty of the War...W's War....

[lapfog_1]

2. I'm sorry, not that much sympathy from me.

He got a real gift in that he can be paroled in 20 years.

While the war is hell, and maybe screwed with their brains, these guys sat around at their post, drinking, and plotted the whole thing. Premeditated rape and mass murder. And they knew it was wrong because they were trying to cover it up right away.

[bklyncowgirl]

20. There are over 100,000 American soldiers in Iraq

The politicians who put these men into Iraq bear an overall blame for creating a hellish situation where young men are forced to make life and death decisions at a moment's notice. The overwhelming majority have conducted themselves as honorably as human beings can in such a hellish situation.

This was not a case where soldiers overreacted in the heat of battle. This was premeditated murder. These men acted like savages. They deserve to be treated like savages.

[uppityperson]

5. stalking, raping, murdering and mutilating a family happens during war

war is the last option. This is not to excuse anyone involved in these sorts of atrocities, or explain them. Lord of the Flies.

[daleo]

11. War is the mother of all war crimes

That's why initiating and waging illegal war is itself a war crime. Bush, Rumsfeld, et al share in this soldier's guilt.

[Election]

7. Raping and murdering a 14 year old girl and her family is not a casualty of war

Jeebzus!!!

[MetaTrope]

8. Sure, didn't you know the Manson Family were driven to their crimes by Vietnam?

:smoke:

[opihimoimoi]

9. I did not mean to imply the girl /family were casualties....they were victims

The Casualty in this case is the CRIME itself...we lose some fighters who face jail/prison...we lose FACE to the World, We lose Credibility and Respect as well...All are Casualties of WAR...a needless war that did not have to start in the first place...

Where O Where is the War on Ignorance....its almost as if we are addicted to it...

[Election]

17. OK, I see what you're getting at

I'm guessing we both agree that the perpetrator has no excuse whatsoever, but do war planners bear responsibility for giving him opportunity?

I would say yes, for the mere reason anytime you give someone a gun (metaphorically and literally speaking), you give him power and you're responsible to make sure that power is used responsibly.

[colorado_ufo]

14. Including her baby sister.

[Diode]

16. Sad And True

Brutal rape and brutal murder of a 14 yo girl, and her family,
is a sick choice, not collateral damage as some might suggest.

Jeebzussssssssss !!!!!!!!

This guy should be hung along side Saddam.

[colorado_ufo]

15. Compassionate response.

However, we must remember that thousands of other people have served under these circumstances and did not commit such atrocities. Also, these crimes were not in reaction to the stress/passion of battle; these were premeditated and planned. The girl was even aware that she was being watched and sought protection from her family.

[AlamoDemoc]

3. "....with the possibility of parole" Gimme a break!

[uppityperson]

4. Good. They need to highly prosecute Stephen Green.

seems he was the instigator and planner and main evil doer (sometimes that phrase works). Kick for Abeer, Hadeel, Fakhriya and Qassim.

[anotherdrew]

6. why don't they just turn him over to the Iraqi girl's next of kin?

as it stands, we're now going to have to pay to feed and house this thing for 90 years? I don't see it, the whole bunch of them, turn them over to the locals. A powerful deterrent message must be sent.

Let's the Iraqi's deal with him, it's their people he murdered.

[daleo]

10. It was a rape/murder case

I wish they wouldn't play down the murder aspect.

On edit - in the headlines, I mean.

[uppityperson]

12. mass murder too. and mutilation also.

all of that. War is hell and should never be entered into lightly and anyone who participates needs to be screened before and helped afterwards as war is hell.

[yurbud]

13. these guys should be punished, but not spend a day more in prison than the civilians who sent them

[JI7]

18. is the media reporting on this ?

i don't mean just a mention, but giving it the coverage it deserves ? because i'm not seeing it.

people need to see and hear about the Iraqi victims of this war. not just statistics. but actual details of specific cases. this wasn't an accident or anything either. it was all planned.

i can't get over this girl. and from what i read she had complained about these soldiers and another family or friend who lives somewhere else assured the mother that everything will be ok. can you imagine what that poor guy is going through now ?

[saigon68]

19. Nope apparently the Chimp is sending 25,000 more to the meat grinder

[tblue37]

21. Everything in their experience of Iraq told them that

they could do anything they wanted to innocent Iraqis and no one at all would do anything to them for it. This comes from the top--the idea that the Iraqis are less than human and that there is open season on them.

They were right, too. They would have gotten away with it, except for the capture, torture, mutilation, and killing of 2 members of their unit by the Iraqis, in retaliation for this rape and murder. That scared the other members of the unit enough that one of them spilled the beans to a counselor.

Otherwise, this girl and her family would just be considered a few more dead "insurgents."