Guess this story is going to be the Independence Day smear to demoralize the Troops. Every news break today from ABC News on WTN (99.7) starts with this story. Is this really the biggest breaking story for today?  Yes, it’s disturbing but still.

There are some really strange segments to this story as presented by the AP. First of all, Chickenhawk has some perspective on the area of Mahmoudiya which is a very dangerous area of Iraq.

“Mahmoudiya is known for its lawlessness and its combination of diverse ethnicities. It lies in an area that has been often referred to as the “Triangle of Death.”

snip….
The stretch along the main highway between Baghdad and Najaf is notorious for guerrilla attacks, kidnappings and robberies, earning it the nickname Road of Death. Mahmoudiya, a mix of Sunni and Shiite Muslims, sits on the tense frontier between the so-called Sunni Triangle and Iraq?s vast southern Shiite heartland.” – Common Dreams

There’s a significant list of atrocities and events which are detailed.

But the AP story has some startling detail that is just weird for soldiers who have been conducting patrols in an area as dangerous as Mahmudiyah.

According to the affidavit’s account, the soldiers changed their clothes before going to the woman’s residence to avoid detection. Once there, the affidavit said, Green took three members of the family – an adult male and female, and a girl estimated to be 5 years old – into a bedroom, after which shots were heard from inside.

“Green came to the bedroom door and told everyone, ‘I just killed them. All are dead,’” the affidavit said.

The affidavit is based on interviews conducted by the FBI and investigators at Fort Campbell with three unidentified soldiers assigned to Green’s platoon. One of the soldiers said he witnessed another soldier and Green rape the woman.

“After the rape, (the soldier) witnessed Green shoot the woman in the head two to three times,” the affidavit said.

There’s more in the story where there is some confusion regarding the ages of the females.  Would patrol soldiers really change their clothes and leave the protection of the camp like this?  I know there are some strange and stupid things that troops in combat can do but this just sounds off the mark.  But, there’s so much detail to the story along with the fellow soldier witness it’s difficult not to believe.

Is it because this Soldier had already been discharged from the Army that the FBI is releasing such detailed information on the case? The Soldier was discharged for a ‘personality disorder’. This doesn’t look good based on the information released by the FBI. 

Remember, innocent til proven guilty. 

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