Out of Iraq

I know its tough, but I don't think that this G.I. should die, although its obviously not my decision. He's going to do a lot of hard time and never be free again, and that should be enough. Frankly, his death is immaterial- he'll never be able to hurt anyone that way again. And this way he has a chance to live the rest of his life differently.

Iraq Tribes Are Upset By Sentence Given to G.I.

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By MARC SANTORA and SUADAD N. AL-SALHY
Published: May 22, 2009

BAGHDAD — Iraqi tribal and political leaders complained bitterly on Friday after an American court spared the life of a United States soldier convicted of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and then murdering her and members of her family in 2006.

The soldier, Steven D. Green, 24, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday after a jury failed to reach a consensus on whether he should be executed.

“There is no comparison between the crimes and the sentence,” said Sheik Fadhil al-Janabi, a Sunni tribal leader in Anbar Province. “That soldier entered an Iraqi house, raped their under-age daughter and burned her with her family, so this sentence is not enough, and it is insulting for Iraqis’ honor.”

On Iraq’s state-run television station, where the case received extensive coverage, the soldier was branded “the killer of innocence.”

The attack in 2006 in Mahmudiya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad, was so brutal that American commanders initially thought it was the work of insurgents. When it was revealed that American soldiers were involved, the attack became a rallying point for opponents of the occupation.

The immediate family of the victims had only a muted public reaction, in part because the sexual nature of the crime is viewed as a mark of deep shame. But leaders of the Janabi tribe, of which the girl, Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi, was a member, were joined by other tribal leaders in condemning the sentence.

“In the name of the Janabi tribe, I reject this sentence completely,” Sameer Sabri al-Janabi said. “This is a tribal issue, and we cannot accept any moderate sentence except death. His life is the only cost that we will accept.”

Like others interviewed in the town where the crime took place and in other parts of Iraq, the sheik said that Mr. Green should have faced Iraqi justice.

“According to our tribal traditions, this soldier should have been killed and crucified, and that is exactly what he deserves,” he said. “It is not just according to our traditions, but also according to the Ten Commandments of the Christians.”

While there was no official government response, Waleed al-Hilly, a high-ranking official in the Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and the head of a human rights group, appeared on state television to calm angry citizens.

He called the decision a “victory for human rights,” and he said that those who wanted to see Mr. Green executed needed to understand that in the American justice system there are conflicting laws governing the death penalty.

Sheik Amash al-Rubbaia, the head of Rubbaia tribe in Mahmudiya, said that there was no sentence short of death that would satisfy the people of Iraq.

“The Americans are not taking the Iraqis’ honor seriously,” he said. “This soldier is a dog. This soldier is an occupier, and he violated our honor. He should die to become an example for his colleagues, and that will only be a small part of what he deserves.”

In an address to the nation on Friday night, Mr. Maliki made no mention of the case but promised to make sweeping changes in his own government. In a speech that was largely seen as a preview of the themes he would run on for the national election scheduled for Jan. 30, Mr. Maliki listed the ways he said his leadership has been a success, focusing on improved security and issuing a new call to battle corruption.

He also seemed to suggest on Friday that there could soon be a major shake-up of the government. “I have suggested several times that there need to be ministerial changes, but those calls were not accepted by our partners in the political process,” he said. “Today, I find the circumstances are suitable to carry out change in my government, and I hope the other political parties will help these moves succeed.”