Green part of Army PR in Iraq

(US Army)
PFC Steven Green in Iraq

Former PFC Steven Green in custody.

The Command TOC posted up the following:

The Army Puts Rapist on PAO Site

Oops, I guess the Army wishes they had this back. Thanks to Today in Iraq, we learn that the Army had highlighted PFC Steven Green of the 101st as "Keeping The Streets Safe in Iraq" on their Public Affairs (PAO) site (I will link but I am sure soon it will be taken down).

One minor problem as this is the same PFC Green who is now being charged with the rape of an Iraqi woman in this complaint here.

If that damn New York Times would stop reporting the truth maybe we could go through all this and not have the American public know our "secrets"! If we only could have just PAO announcements and no independent press, think how "great" this war would be going!

Even if the NYT backs down, thank God we have Blogs such as Today in Iraq to bring us truth!

Unfortunately for the Army, this seems to be the opposite of their headline

Coalition forces keep streets of Iraq safe
By Spc. George Welcome

YUSUFIYAH, Iraq (Army News Service, Dec. 9, 2005) – Soldiers from Task Force Baghdad, alongside Iraqi forces, constantly search the streets and alleyways of Baghdad and surrounding communities for weapons, insurgents and anti-coalition propaganda. The searches are thorough, yet the Soldiers still respect people's rights and property.

.................................

Dogs barked incessantly as Soldiers from B Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment and elements of 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division began their patrol of their sector of Mulla Fayyad. This early in the morning, the Soldiers and the dogs were the only ones awake.

...........................

Iraqi citizens, Soldiers work together
In order to stabilize the area, the Soldiers and the citizens have established a basic trust, which is why during patrols U.S. troops take care in searching people’s homes.

“This was nothing like a big raid,” Casica said. “We just asked people to open cabinets and looked around in their things.”

Even though Soldiers of B Co. did not find any weapons or terrorists, they know their presence helps reduce the chance of the insurgency gaining a stronghold in the city.

“I feel that our patrols make a difference,” Casica said. “I guess the patrols make insurgents nervous because they know…we’ll push them out of this area to make the people safe.”

.................................

Members of this unit were among those charged in the rape/murder of a 15 year old "woman"

The person who sent this to me also had the following thoughts:

Here are some words I quickly penned about the PFC Green/ 1-502 rape/murder situation. Feel free to borrow/cut/paste/appropriate anything you want. I am very considered about this story because it is the tip of the iceberg. More of this has happened and more will happen. The All-volunteer Army is broken, the 101st is on its second tour and recruiters are taking damn near anyone. The applicant/recruit picks the MOS provided they get the minimum AFQT score on the ASVAB test. That's it. That's the entire screening process over who gets placed in the Infantry 1) applicant desire 2) minimum AFQT score. Nothing else. Cynical recruiters - many combat vets - are putting nut jobs in Infantry, Armor and Engineer positions they shouldn't be allowed anywhere near. My other, more nuanced thoughts are below:

I'll say it here ... you will see more of this in the future. Our volunteer force and point-of-sale MOS contracting are to blame.

In wars past (WWII, Korea, Vietnam) a new recruit did not learn their MOS until the end of BCT. Based on the predecessor to the ASVAB and observation, the MOS was picked for the soldier. Often guys with raw talent that never would have considered the combat arms were found to have "the right stuff" and so they were made Infantry, Armor, Air Corps etc. Likewise many who fancied themselves as "steely eyed killers" were viewed so inept or aggressive that they were placed in support MOSs.

Today we have a self-selecting military and a further self-selecting subset choosing the combat arms during a war. Is it just me, or might this cohort include a sizable percentage of deluded, dangerous and aggressive personalities? I think so. This is why I am 110% against the 18X program. We do not/should want a bunch of callow civilian guys fascinated with killing/death/revenge anywhere near our combat formations. Sadly, recruiting shortfalls, coupled with aggressive MEPS guidance counselors and cash bonuses are steering many of the wrong type into the combat arms.

I had 3 great PAs work for me in the Army. All were former 18Ds (SF Medic) and one was a Team Sergeant in 5th Group. The funny thing was their feeder MOSs ... 63B (Mechanic), 54B(Nuclear, Chem. Biologic Specialist) and 31B (MP). None started in combat arms yet all developed the confidence in the Army to try for SF and make it through SFAS. Ditto for me. When I enlisted I didn't thaink I had what it took to be in the infantry. Turns out I would have thrived.

The infantry needs all types of personalities and I submit this is what made it so damn effective in conflicts past.

I shudder for the future. I cry for my beloved Army collapsing before my eyes. I curse those "leaders" uniformed and civilian, taking us over Niagara Falls in a barrel. I shake my head at the career recruiters - many of whom I served with in recruiting - that put people that should be nowhere near combat arms in 11, 13 and 19 series positions simple because there's a quota to meet and a crazy, deranged applicant wants to kill hajis. Rant done

Green is accused of an especially heinous crime:

According to a 10-page federal affidavit, Green and three other soldiers from the Fort Campbell, Ky.-based 101st Airborne Division had talked about raping the young woman, whom they first saw while working at the checkpoint. On the day of the attack, the document said, Green and other soldiers drank alcohol and changed out of their uniforms to avoid detection before going to the woman's house. Green covered his face with a brown T-shirt.

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 Army

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

Investigators also interviewed a fifth soldier, who was left behind to mind the radio at the traffic checkpoint. That soldier said Green and three others returned from the woman's house "with blood on their clothes, which they burned. Immediately after this, they each told (the soldier) that this is never to be discussed again."

An official familiar with details of the investigation in Iraq has told The Associated Press that a flammable liquid was used to burn the rape victim's body in an attempted cover-up.

The affidavit noted that prosecutors have photos taken by Army investigators in Iraq of all four bodies found inside a burned house and a photo of a burned body of "what appears to be a woman with blankets thrown over her upper torso."

The age of the young woman was unclear. FBI documents estimated her age at 25, but a neighbor of the family said the rape victim was 14 and her sister was 10.

The Washington Post reported the rape victim was 15 and that her mother worried her daughter had attracted the attention of U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint. The mother asked a neighbor if the girl could sleep at his house.

The neighbor agreed but the girl and her family was attacked the next day, according to the Post. The neighbor told the Post he was one of the first people to arrive at the house after the attack and found the girl dead in a corner, her hair and a pillow burned and her dress pushed up to her neck.

Green, who was arrested Friday in the town of Marion northwest of Charlotte, is being prosecuted in federal, rather than military court because he is no longer in the Army. According to the affidavit, his 11-month-stint ended "before this incident came to light" when he was given an honorable discharge "due to a personality disorder."

The soldiers accused in the rape and killings are from the same platoon as two soldiers whose mutilated bodies were found June 19, three days after they were abducted by insurgents near Youssifiyah, southwest of Baghdad. Military officials say they believe guilt over the mutilations may have spurred a confession by one of the soldiers during a combat-stress debriefing late last month.

No other soldier has been charged in the case, said Maj. Joseph Breasseale, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. However, military officials have said four Army soldiers have had their weapons taken away and were being confined to their base near Mahmoudiya.

How did he get in the Army, get into combat, only to be found to have a "personality disorder"?
What is most striking is that the family was worried when the soldiers noticed the girl at a checkpoint. They were afraid of her being raped by these men. Which seems to be an unusual fear, unless these guys basically drooled over her. What's even worse is that no one in command even noticed the simple fact that they had a nutjob in their unit. A guy who was discharged for being crazy. Yet, there he was, walking around Iraq with a gun.