When Will It Ever Stop?

Source: Wikipedia






















14-year-old Abeer Qassim Hamza and her family were killed by American soldiers in their village of Mahmoudiyah southeast of Baghdad on or around March 12th. So far 5 soldiers Steven Dale Green, Paul E. Cortez, James P. Barker, Jesse V. Spielman and Bryan L. Howard have all been charged with participating in the crime.

The Qassim family lived in an isolated farm area. Abeer's mother, Fakhariya Taja Muhassain was reported as being worried that her daughter had attracted the soldiers as she worked in the field near a checkpoint manned by U.S. troops. According to neighbors, soldiers had entered the farm house previously to search it and make advances toward Abeer. Abeer's mother was concerned enough about the soldier's advances to request that Abeer be allowed to spend her nights at the neighbor’s house. This proved to be an ineffective deterrent as the attack took place in broad daylight the day after Abeer spent her first night with neighbors.

According to reports the soldiers had planned to rape Abeer days before the event. They established a six-man group and on the day in question left with five soldiers leaving one behind to man the checkpoint. The sixth soldier has been charged with dereliction of duty for not reporting the crime.

The soldiers entered the house and ordered Abeer’s father, mother and sister into another room where Steven Green summarily shot all in the head after emerging to say, "I just killed them, all are dead." After the rest of the family was murdered, Abeer was gang-raped and then killed.

Abu Firas Janabi, a relative of the family and first to arrive at the scene was interviewed by the L.A. Times. He stated that both of the mother’s arms were obviously broken, the father’s head “smashed into pieces” and Abeer's body was found naked and burned, with her head smashed in "by a concrete block or a piece of iron.". The lower part of Abeer’s body, from her stomach down to her feet, was subsequently set on fire, presumably to eliminate any DNA evidence although it is unclear if Abeer was still alive or conscious when her body was burnt. The fire eventually spread to rest of the room and the smoke alerted neighbors.

Abeer Qasim Hamza, her mother Fakhriyah Taha Muhsin, 34; her father Qasim Hamza Raheem, 45; and her sister Hadeel Qasim Hamza, aged 7 are survived by 8-year-old son Ahmed Qassim and 13-year-old son Mohammed who survived the attack because they were at school.

Comments at the forum this was posted on:

...The details... oi...

No comment.

~Kisu

...*kicks*

...If America finds them guilty, the should just send them to the Iraqi government and let them do whatever they want to them. I don't really give a **** what they do, just let them do whatever they want to them in any way they want to do it.

...i AGREE! give them a taste of thier own medicine. or a much higher dosage.

...I'm so sick of this war.

So. Sick. Of this war.

... Amen to that, I am too!

... their trial should be held in iraq, in iraqi court. just becouse amecan (sic) war criminals tend to get away with it in us courts. (an example)
their act was sick, something any army should be able to prevent their personel (sic) form doing. most of cases like this are usally covered up by military organizations.

...Agreed, but that won't happen because they don't think they'd get a fair trial in Iraq. So that's why I suggest that if they're found guilty then send them over there. That why the trial part is out of the way and all that's left is to figure out how to sentence them.

...no war crime suspect has never got fair trial, nothing even close to that. but crimes they comited (sic) were happened iraq, that should be good enogh (sic) reason for trial to be held there, using iraqi laws with addition of "international laws of war" (hague conventions, geneva conventions and united nations charter).