Former U.S. soldier Steven D. Green

Steven D. Green, a 21-year-old former private, appeared in court July 3. A federal magistrate ordered him held without bond on murder and rape charges that carry a possible death penalty.

Green is the first person identified in the latest case of alleged killings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. troops. The incident happened in Mahmoudiya, close to Baghdad, in March.

According to a 10-page federal affidavit, Green and three other soldiers had talked about raping the young woman, who they saw while working at a checkpoint. On the day of the attack, the document said, Green and other soldiers drank alcohol and changed out of their uniforms to avoid detection before going to the victim's house.

Once there, the affidavit said, Green took three members of the family -- an adult male and female, and a girl estimated to be 5 years old -- into a bedroom, after which shots were heard from inside.

The affidavit is based on interviews conducted by the FBI and military investigators with three unidentified soldiers assigned to Green's platoon. One of the soldiers said he witnessed another soldier and Green rape the woman.

An official familiar with details of the investigation in Iraq said that a flammable liquid was used to burn the rape victim's body in an attempted coverup.

The affidavit noted that prosecutors have photos taken by Army investigators in Iraq of all four bodies found inside a burned house and a photo of a burned body of "what appears to be a woman with blankets thrown over her upper torso."

The age of the young woman was unclear. FBI documents estimated her age at 25, but a neighbor of the family said the rape victim was 14 and her sister was 10.

Green, who was arrested June 30 in the town of Marion, northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina, is being prosecuted in federal, rather than military court because he is no longer in the Army. According to the affidavit, his 11-month-stint ended when he was given an honorable discharge "due to a personality disorder."

The Japan Times Weekly: July 8, 2006
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