Unbelievable Criminal Neglect... Or An Unbelievable Scapegoat

US Soldier Diagnosed As Homicidal Threat Before Mahmudiya Rape-Murder

It is noteworthy that not only did these folks identify the soldier in question as a homicidal risk, they put him on some serious psychotropic medication (Seroquel) usually reserved for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and Alzhemer-related dimentia-initiated mood disturbances. One would think that if they made a judgment to use such a potent drug, they would also use the same judgment to evacuate him to a military psych facility, which by the way is not only the standard of care, but is also part of military regulations. Psychiatrically impaired persons are not allowed to be members of combat teams or serve in combat areas. People on psychotropic meds are not allowed to be in combat areas. They can be evacuated to a field hospital and held in that area for a limited period of time for PSTD assessment and treatment, but other diagnoses--such as the one made in this case--call for immediate evacuation to a military psychiatric facility.

US military mental health workers had diagnosed an Army soldier as a homicidal threat three months before he was involved in the alleged rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the murder of her family in the Mahmudiya (also "Mahmoudiya") area in March 2006, AP reported Tuesday. Former US Army soldier Pfc. Steven D. Green, who has pleaded not guilty to rape and murder charges, had sought treatment from an Army Combat Stress Team in Iraq in December 2005, complaining that he was angry about the war and that he felt driven to kill Iraqis to avenge the deaths of fellow soldiers. He was prescribed Seroquel, a mood regulator, and told to get some sleep, before he reported to duty the next day at a notoriously violent post in South Baghdad.

Green pleaded not guilty in November in his home state of Kentucky to the rape and murder allegations, where he faces a civilian trial in federal court. Green was discharged from the military before the Mahmoudiya allegations surfaced due to a diagnosed personality disorder. Another member of Green's 101st Airborne Division, Spc. James P. Barker, pleaded guilty in November to his role in the incident, and testified that he and other members of the Division were involved with the rape of the girl, while Green raped then shot her, after shooting her father, mother, and sister.

US Soldier Pleads Guilty In Samarra Iraqi Detainee Deaths Case

Between Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, prisons in Afghanistan, extraordinary rendition and five major atrocities, we can only conclude that something is wrong in the manner in which things are being done in the US military.

One of my jobs during my stint on active duty in the US Navy was to evaluate recruits that were not adjusting well while attending recruit training at boot camp. At other times I evaluated active duty members experiencing and demonstrating psychiatric symptoms and episodes. There are regulations, procedures, standards of care and laws in the military that regulates who can be in the military. Somewhere along the lines we have apparently omitted something: either standards, processes or judgment... perhaps all three.

US Army Spc. Juston R. Graber pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the deaths of three Iraqi detainees in Thar Thar, a town near Samarra, some 60 miles north of Baghdad, but pleaded not guilty to more serious charges of attempted premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder. Graber, of the Third Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, will be required to testify against other soldiers implicated in the incident under the plea agreement [Reuters report]. Graber told the Fort Campbell military judge presiding over the court-martial proceedings that he knew his actions were unlawful.

Pfc. Corey R. Clagett, Spc. William B. Hunsaker and Staff Sgt. Raymond L. Girouard, still face courts-martial for premeditated murder, attempted murder, and conspiracy for allegedly shooting three Iraqi men as they fled from a raid on a suspected insurgent stronghold in Thar Thar. Graber said Tuesday that after helping to secure the area, he returned to the helicopter for a body bag. He claims to have then heard gunshots and returned to the scene whereupon he saw three men on the ground. Graber admits to then shooting one of the wounded men in order to put him "out of his misery."