johnny
16-11-2006, 08:57 AM
I have witnessed this side of humanity myself. It reminds me that we truly are animals at heart.
There is often nothing human about humanity.
Iraq rape soldier jailed for life
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6156656.stm
A US soldier who raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and helped to kill her family has been sentenced to life in prison with possible parole.
Specialist James Barker was one of four serving soldiers charged over the killings in the Iraqi town of Mahmudiya in March 2006.
He pleaded guilty and agreed to help prosecutors in an effort to avoid the death penalty.
He could serve up to 90 years in prison, the presiding judge said.
"This court sentences you to be confined for the length of your natural life, with the eligibility of parole," Lt Col Richard Anderson said.
He is expected to be eligible for parole in 20 years. Specialist Barker was among four soldiers accused of the rape of the girl and the murder of her family.
The three others - Sgt Paul Cortez, Private Jesse Spielman and Private Bryan Howard - are facing court-martial proceedings.
A fifth man, former soldier Stephen Green, has been charged in a civilian court in Kentucky with murder and sexual assault. He has denied the charges.
'I hated Iraqis'
Before the judgement was handed down on Thursday, James Barker told the court that Mr Green had come up with the plan for the rape and killings.
"He brought it up to me and asked me what I thought about it," Barker said.
"By the time we started changing clothes, it was more or less a non-verbal agreement that we were going to go along with what we were discussing."
He also confessed that he "hated Iraqis", telling the judge: "They can smile at you, then shoot you in your face without even thinking about it."
But he added that Iraq had made him "angry and mean" yet that he regretted his actions, telling the court he did not set out to kill or deliberately harm people in Iraq.
"I want the people of Iraq to know that I did not go there to do the terrible things that I did. I do not ask anyone to forgive me today."
Military prosecutors did not comment after the judgement was passed because the three other soldiers still face courts-martial.
I know this to be true: war changes you. Before I went into the small scale combat that I did, I was the tough c**t, I was the gunslinger that prided aggression and disdain. I came home with nothing but pity in my heart for those who have war forced upon them. For volunteer soldiers, this life is fine, but war never happens in a sterile environment. It was the innocents, men, women and children, that changed me.
Unfortunately, those who already have pity in their hearts prior to deployment can be changed too.
Lawyer arrested for Osama prank
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/lawyer-arrested-for-osama-prank/2006/11/16/1163266669409.html
November 16, 2006 - 6:57AM
A US lawyer and democratic activist spotted on a highway overpass dressed as Osama bin Laden and wielding a toy assault rifle on Halloween faces additional charges for the stunt.
Tom Connolly was charged today with terrorising and reckless conduct, in addition to the original charge of criminal threatening for the stunt in Portland, Maine, prosecutor Stephanie Anderson said in a statement.
"Halloween or not, in this day and age you do not get to dress as an international terrorist and wave what appears to be an AK-47 at rush hour traffic," Anderson said.
Police responded to calls from motorists about a man on an overpass wearing a white robe and carrying a fake assault rifle. The costume included plastic dynamite and grenades, in addition to the toy assault rifle.
Before he was arrested, Connolly walked toward officers as plastic grenades tumbled onto the ground, an officer said.
Connolly is fortunate that he was not shot, Anderson said.
"Not only was it ill conceived, it was criminal behaviour," he said.
Connolly, a lawyer, made headlines when he divulged President George Bush's drunken-driving arrest days before the 2000 election. He also has been known to don a Bush mask and dance for passing motorists.
Yeah, like bin Laden is going to be walking down the street in the middle of the US.......it's almost the Holocaust all over again. This is something that many in the US will hold onto for generations and bring it out whenever they feel like being portrayed as the victim. Of course, the hundred thousand dead Iraqis, who died so America didn't have to fight the terorists on their own soil, barely rate a mention. I just don't understand why it's ok for the US government to take a fight to a country that has nothing to do with the conflict, where it kills untold amounts of innocents, yet a bloke gets farked over for dressing like bin Laden on Halloween. There is something desparately wrong in the US today.
No, I'm not anti-American. I'm anti-post 9/11 mindset.
There is often nothing human about humanity.
Iraq rape soldier jailed for life
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6156656.stm
A US soldier who raped a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and helped to kill her family has been sentenced to life in prison with possible parole.
Specialist James Barker was one of four serving soldiers charged over the killings in the Iraqi town of Mahmudiya in March 2006.
He pleaded guilty and agreed to help prosecutors in an effort to avoid the death penalty.
He could serve up to 90 years in prison, the presiding judge said.
"This court sentences you to be confined for the length of your natural life, with the eligibility of parole," Lt Col Richard Anderson said.
He is expected to be eligible for parole in 20 years. Specialist Barker was among four soldiers accused of the rape of the girl and the murder of her family.
The three others - Sgt Paul Cortez, Private Jesse Spielman and Private Bryan Howard - are facing court-martial proceedings.
A fifth man, former soldier Stephen Green, has been charged in a civilian court in Kentucky with murder and sexual assault. He has denied the charges.
'I hated Iraqis'
Before the judgement was handed down on Thursday, James Barker told the court that Mr Green had come up with the plan for the rape and killings.
"He brought it up to me and asked me what I thought about it," Barker said.
"By the time we started changing clothes, it was more or less a non-verbal agreement that we were going to go along with what we were discussing."
He also confessed that he "hated Iraqis", telling the judge: "They can smile at you, then shoot you in your face without even thinking about it."
But he added that Iraq had made him "angry and mean" yet that he regretted his actions, telling the court he did not set out to kill or deliberately harm people in Iraq.
"I want the people of Iraq to know that I did not go there to do the terrible things that I did. I do not ask anyone to forgive me today."
Military prosecutors did not comment after the judgement was passed because the three other soldiers still face courts-martial.
I know this to be true: war changes you. Before I went into the small scale combat that I did, I was the tough c**t, I was the gunslinger that prided aggression and disdain. I came home with nothing but pity in my heart for those who have war forced upon them. For volunteer soldiers, this life is fine, but war never happens in a sterile environment. It was the innocents, men, women and children, that changed me.
Unfortunately, those who already have pity in their hearts prior to deployment can be changed too.
Lawyer arrested for Osama prank
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/lawyer-arrested-for-osama-prank/2006/11/16/1163266669409.html
November 16, 2006 - 6:57AM
A US lawyer and democratic activist spotted on a highway overpass dressed as Osama bin Laden and wielding a toy assault rifle on Halloween faces additional charges for the stunt.
Tom Connolly was charged today with terrorising and reckless conduct, in addition to the original charge of criminal threatening for the stunt in Portland, Maine, prosecutor Stephanie Anderson said in a statement.
"Halloween or not, in this day and age you do not get to dress as an international terrorist and wave what appears to be an AK-47 at rush hour traffic," Anderson said.
Police responded to calls from motorists about a man on an overpass wearing a white robe and carrying a fake assault rifle. The costume included plastic dynamite and grenades, in addition to the toy assault rifle.
Before he was arrested, Connolly walked toward officers as plastic grenades tumbled onto the ground, an officer said.
Connolly is fortunate that he was not shot, Anderson said.
"Not only was it ill conceived, it was criminal behaviour," he said.
Connolly, a lawyer, made headlines when he divulged President George Bush's drunken-driving arrest days before the 2000 election. He also has been known to don a Bush mask and dance for passing motorists.
Yeah, like bin Laden is going to be walking down the street in the middle of the US.......it's almost the Holocaust all over again. This is something that many in the US will hold onto for generations and bring it out whenever they feel like being portrayed as the victim. Of course, the hundred thousand dead Iraqis, who died so America didn't have to fight the terorists on their own soil, barely rate a mention. I just don't understand why it's ok for the US government to take a fight to a country that has nothing to do with the conflict, where it kills untold amounts of innocents, yet a bloke gets farked over for dressing like bin Laden on Halloween. There is something desparately wrong in the US today.
No, I'm not anti-American. I'm anti-post 9/11 mindset.