A U.S. soldier charged with the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and three relatives confessed to army investigators how he and his comrades hatched the plot over a morning of whiskey, card games and hitting golf balls.
Spec. James P. Barker, 23, provided the graphic admission in an interview and sworn statement, Army investigator Special Agent Benjamin Bierce testified at a hearing Monday in Baghdad to determine whether the soldiers should face a military trial.
Later that day, Barker and three other soldiers donned black masks and entered the girl's home in Mahmudiyah, south of Baghdad -- a few hundred yards of where the soldiers were manning a vehicle checkpoint, said Bierce.
Three of them -- Barker, former Private Steven D. Green, and Sgt. Paul E. Cortez -- took turns sexually assaulting the girl in her living room, before Green shot her with an AK-47 several times, said Bierce, citing Barker's June 30th statement. Then, Barker poured lamp kerosene on her and someone set her on fire.
Barker, in his statement, said he was in the living room with the girl when he
heard gunshots in the bedroom where the soldiers had corralled her mother, father and younger sister. Then, Green came into the living room looking agitated and said words to the effect of:
"They're all dead. I just killed them," Bierce testified, citing Barker's statement.
After the March 12th murders, the soldiers went back to their checkpoint, where Barker grilled chicken wings, Bierce testified.
The admission came in the second day of hearings in the Article 32 military proceeding to determine if there is sufficient evidence to launch a court martial process. The case is one of the most brutal in a string of recent allegations of U.S. soldiers killing Iraqi civilians. Any sign of leniency towards the soldiers could strain U.S. relations with the Iraq's new government, whose Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called for an independent probe.
Before the attack, Green repeatedly said that he wanted to kill some Iraqis, Bierce testified. Green, according to Barker's statement, was the ringleader in both planning the attack and killing the family, said Bierce. Green has pleaded not guilty to rape and murder charges in U.S. federal court in Kentucky.
Pfc. Justin Watt, the whistleblowing soldier who unveiled the attack during a counseling session, testified he had first heard about it from Sgt. Anthony W. Yribe. His suspicions, he added, were later confirmed by Pfc. Bryan L. Howard. Watt said discussing the attack "had to be done."
"If you have the power to make something right, you should do it. Investigation is not my job. But if something went down -- something terrible like that -- then it's my obligation to come forward," Watt said.
Watt also said that he believed Green was responsible for killing the family and had heard him say: "I want to kill and hurt a lot of Iraqis." Watt added that he was worried for his own safety when he learned about the alleged attack.
"It's like this, I find out that guys in my squad, guys I trusted with my life, are allegedly responsible for one of the most brutal rapes/murders I've ever seen. And everyone has a weapon and grenades," he testified.
The U.S. military has charged four soldiers from the unit-- Barker, Cortez, Howard and Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman,-- with rape and murder. Yribe was charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement for allegedly failing to report the incident.
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