Unwicked

As reported by the Guardian Unlimited:

The 23-year-old - one of four US soldiers accused over the rape and killings - pleaded guilty and agreed to give evidence against the others to avoid the death penalty.

And…

The rape of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killings happened in Mahmoudiya, a village around 20 miles south of Baghdad. They are among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq.

Barker told investigators that, on March 12 this year, the soldiers - from the 101st Airborne Division - drank whiskey mixed with an energy drink and played cards as they planned the attack on the girl and her family.

Specialist Barker made this illuminating statement:

Earlier, he had wept during his closing statement. He accepted responsibility for the rape and killings, saying the violence he had encountered in Iraq left him “angry and mean” towards Iraqis.

“I want the people of Iraq to know that I did not go there to do the terrible things that I did,” Barker said. “I do not ask anyone to forgive me today.

“To live there, to survive there, I became angry and mean. I loved my friends, my fellow soldiers and my leaders, but I began to hate everyone else in Iraq.”

And finally…

During evidence intended to show the judge that Barker could be rehabilitated, his fellow soldiers described weeks with little support and sleep as they manned checkpoints.

Captain William Fischbach, the lead prosecutor, told the court that such conditions were no excuse for Barker, who led the group of soldiers to the family’s house, and said no one deserved to suffer the horrors inflicted on the teenage girl and her family.

“This … 14-year-old girl never fired bullets or lobbed mortars,” Capt Fischbach said as he held photographs of the victims. “Society should not have to bear the risk of the accused among them ever again.”

The defendants are accused of burning the girl’s body to conceal the crime. Authorities had believed the family had been killed by insurgents until a member of the military unit involved came forward.