Iraq ; Winning Hearts and Minds (continued)

BAGnews has uncovered this picture of Steven Green in the town of Mullah Fayed, featured in the Army News Service on December 9th 2005. he seems to be shooting a lock off, presumably the US Army don't spring to a pair of bolt cutters.

Green is the former soldier arrested this week for the brutal pre-meditated rape and murder of a 15 year old Iraqi girl, her subsequent murder and the prior murder of her family on March 12the 2006 near Mahmudiya, 20 miles from Baghdad.

The photo has gone from the site but the article remains it is titled (unbelievably) "Coalition forces keep streets of Iraq safe".

"In order to stabilize the area, the Soldiers and the citizens have established a basic trust, which is why during patrols U.S. troops take care in searching people’s homes."

“This was nothing like a big raid,” Casica said. “We just asked people to open cabinets and looked around in their things.” (Sgt. Kenneth Casica - Patrol leader - B Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment and elements of 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division)

"It was a long successful day for the Soldiers but they knew more patrols awaited them the next day."

"When responsible for maintaining the peace of a city and reducing the effectiveness of the insurgency, there is no such thing as a day off."

Court Appearance

Honourably Discharged from the Army as a private first class for "anti-social personality disorder", Green has been charged in a federal not a military court with rape and four counts of murder in the March 12, 2006, incident.

The case will be presented to a federal grand jury later this month, Green entered a plea of not guilty through his public defenders on Thursday in Louisville, Ky. and waived a detention hearing and a preliminary hearing. Wearing a black Johnny Cash T shirt and flip flops he admitted he had no significant assets beyond a 1990 Lincoln Town Car and a checking account that holds US$6,000.

The other four suspects who allegedly took part in the rape and killings have been confined to a US base in Iraq, but their names have not been released.

In early reports of the incident the U.S. blamed the killings on insurgents.