NYT : Iraq Incident Was Fueled by Whiskey, G.I. Says

Iraq Incident Was Fueled by Whiskey, G.I. Says

By KIRK SEMPLE and JOHN O’NEIL | August 7, 2006

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 7 — One of the soldiers accused in the rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of the girl and her family said the incident took place after a morning of cards and whisky, when a member of his unit began pestering the group to kill some Iraqis, according to testimony today from an army investigator.

The investigator, Special Agent Benjamin Bierce, testified in an American military hearing today about statements made by one of the accused, Specialist James P. Barker, that gave a graphic and chilling account of the deaths.

Specialist Barker described a former soldier, Steven D. Green, a private who was discharged in May after a psychiatric evaluation, as having taken the lead both in planning the incident and in firing the first shot.

Mr. Bierce testified that Specialist Barker said that while he and another soldier took turns holding down the girl and sexually assaulting her, they heard gunshots from the bedroom, where Private Green had taken three of her relatives.

Private Green then came into the living room looking agitated and said something to the effect of “They’re all dead — I just killed them,’’ Mr. Bierce testified.

Earlier in the day, Pfc. Justin Watt, the soldier whose report led to the investigation that uncovered the killings, told the hearing how he had pieced together information after a sergeant, Anthony Yribe, told him that Private Green had confessed to the killings in confidence.

Sergeant Yribe is accused of dereliction of duty for failing to report the incident.

Private Watt testified that after he reported his suspicions to combat stress counselors he feared for his life. “It’s like this: I find out that guys in my squad, guys I’ve 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.’’

Private Watt also testified that he had heard Private Green say, “I want to kill and hurt a lot of Iraqis.’’

On Sunday, Private Green’s former battalion commander, Lt. Col. Thomas Kunk, testified that Private Green had sought help for combat stress after his unit began taking casualties.

Along with Mr. Green and Specialist Barker, Sgt. Paul Cortez, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman and Pfc. Bryan L. Howard have been accused of rape, murder and arson in the incident, which took place March 12 in the town of Mahmudia, south of Baghdad. Military prosecutors say they set the girl’s body on fire to conceal evidence.

The case, one of several recent ones in which American soldiers have been accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians, has embarrassed the American military, infuriated Iraqis and strained relations between American authorities in Baghdad and their Iraqi counterparts.

The hearing in Baghdad, conducted under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, is roughly equivalent to a grand jury proceeding and will determine whether there is enough evidence to convene a court-martial to try the five active-duty soldiers. Mr. Green faces rape and murder charges in a federal court in Kentucky. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Special Agent Bierce said that Specialist Barker had confessed his role in the killings in a written statement and in two hours of interviews.

In the statement, Specialist Barker said that he and Private Green had been drinking Iraqi whisky mixed with an energy drink and playing cards on the morning of March 12, and then had gone to hit golf balls behind an Army checkpoint.

Private Green then said he wanted to go to a house and kill some Iraqis, Specialist Barker wrote. Private Green was very persistent and kept bringing up the idea, he said. According to Mr. Bierce’s account of the interview, Sergeant Cortez asked Specialist Barker what he thought and Specialist Barker replied: “It’s up to you.’’

Specialist Barker said that after killing the other family members, Private Green raped the girl, then shot her once with an AK-47, paused, then shot her several more times, Mr. Bierce testified.

The girl’s body was then doused with kerosene from a lamp and set ablaze, and the AK-47 was thrown into a canal.

Private Watt testified that after hearing of the incident from Sergeant Yribe, he sought out Private Howard and asked what happened. Private Howard said that Private Green and Sergeant Cortez had planned to rape a girl and that he was the lookout.

Private Howard said when the others returned from the Iraqi’s house, “their clothes were covered in blood,’’ Private Watt said.

Asked why he had come forward, Private Watt said it “had to be done.’’

“We’d come through hell with each other and there were a lot of good men who died,” he said. “And this happened, for what? We’re just trying to do a little good over here.’’

In his testimony on Sunday, Colonel Kunk said the soldiers’ company — Company B of the First Battalion, 502nd Infantry, part of the 101st Airborne Division — had a particularly dangerous assignment to patrol a stronghold of the Sunni Arab insurgency south of Baghdad. The job took a high toll, with eight of the company’s soldiers killed from September through June.

Private Green and two of the other accused soldiers, Private Spielman and Sergeant Cortez, were “wallowing in self-pity” early in the year amid the violence and the death of fellow soldiers, Colonel Kunk said. They were among several soldiers who sought help for combat stress, he said.

Colonel Kunk said at the hearing that others had told him about Private Green’s comment, “all Iraqis are bad people.” He was so concerned about it that he personally discussed it with Private Green, he said, asking him whether he intended to kill Iraqis.

But during the hearing, the line of questioning turned and Colonel Kunk never testified about Private Green’s response.Two Iraqi witnesses also took the stand, but reporters were barred from hearing them, and officials did not disclose details of their testimony. A trial lawyer had requested the restriction out of concern that public exposure might endanger them.

The hearing took place on another day of scattered violence around Iraq.

Three American soldiers were killed Sunday by an improvised bomb planted along a road southwest of Baghdad, the American military said in a statement early Monday.

A suicide bomber wrapped in explosives detonated himself in the middle of a crowd of mourners attending the funeral of a member of the Tikrit city council, an Interior Ministry official said. Five people were killed and 15 wounded, the official said.

At least 15 bodies, all with their hands tied behind their backs and gunshots to the head, were found in different Baghdad neighborhoods, according to the ministry official.

Kirk Semple reported from Baghdad for this article and John O’Neil reported from New York. Iraqi employees of The New York Times contributed reporting from Falluja and Kirkuk for this article.