A US soldier has agreed to plead guilty in the rape of a 14-year-old girl and the murder of her and her family in the Iraqi town of Mahmudiya last year.

Sgt Paul Cortez will no longer face the death penalty and has agreed to co-operate in the trials of three other soldiers, his lawyer said.

A fifth soldier, Spec James Barker, pleaded guilty in November and was sentenced to life in prison.

The case is one of several in which US troops are accused of killing Iraqis.

Prosecutors say the five plotted the attack on the girl and her family.

here is the source

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6277145.stm

This is good news. Any U.S. soldier found guilty of crimes like this should be punished to full extent of the law. It harms their fellow soldiers and brings dishonor upon the unit in question.

I believe he should be put to death, Murder is Murder, he should be killed for dishonoring his country, himself, the family, and the law

what i wanna know is when are they gonna prosecute the guys that bombed baghdad and other iraqi cities at the begininning of the war - and killed countless men, women and children?????????

The real justice will come on the Final Hour - The Day of Ressurrection.

definitely...

you know, these are jst a few out of hundreds of rapes. they get caught out...thats all good...but its like theyre guilty charges are set up jst to shut us up and make it look like the good guys are making sure justice is served...

assalaamu alaykum,

i agree with the poster above,

it is only when the local people took statements and evidences they forced the iraqi government to act so they started to investigate, there have been many other rapes not reported and not prosecuted and it was only the fact that local people forced and published the evidence to the media that forces the US to act against these men.

and where were they prosecuted? in the 'free' land of iraq they have created and where they committed their crimes? or did they get tried in a US court by US judges due to the laws passed into effect by the US pro-consul of iraq before he left office that grants immunity from prosecution for occupying forces?

assalaamu alaykum,
Abu Abdullah

they not that what the islamic soft spots are...our prophet, women...so they only prosecute the "rape" charges. is that their only crime...rape? what about violence, tresspass, ruining a country? hello...a few rapes out of tonnes of rapes and other offences is nothing...and we are being blinded by it. we shud be happy..but its all a part of their regime.no matter what happens, they are still the good guys right...

there was a story in the press last couple of days on how only 5% of rapes reach court in the UK. but the occupying authorities arent even reaching that level in iraq and afghanistan.

Abu Abdullah

I see very much a twist of US military policy here. Some subtle changes over the years. When I was in the Service, if any of us committed a crime on foreign land we were tried for the criminal offence by the laws of the country and then we were tried by a military court for the violation of military laws. Two seperate sets of law for 2 different crimes.

Plain English. An American GI Raping an Iraqi woman back then would have been tried by an Iraqi court and face the sentencing for that, then be tried in a Military court for bringing disgrace to the uniform. The exception Would be if the incident only involved GI's or ocurred on a Military base.

i think they should be tried where it happens. every american knows that rape is not a heavy crime here as it should be. you will serve more time in prison for selling pot than you will be for raping someone. how does the government of this country possibly think that 3-5 years in prison is enough punishment for doing that? for me rape is right next to murder. they are killing the innocence. they are killing the belief of good people in the world.

Maybe sexism is a reason for light rape punishments...They are called the Founding FATHERS for a reason. Sexism...>=(

s he should be hanged