US soldier who slaughtered family blames Iraq War trauma for evil deeds

[sabra]

Source: Daily Mirror UK

An AMERICAN jailed for raping and killing a girl of 14 and murdering her parents and sister in Iraq has blamed trauma in the war zone for his actions.

Steven Green, 25, a former 101st Airborne soldier, in his first interview since the 2006 atrocity, said he didn’t think of Iraqi civilians as human.

He claimed that his crimes were fuelled in part by his experiences in Iraq’s “Triangle of Death”, where he saw two of his sergeants gunned down. He said that “messed me up real bad”.

He also cited a lack of leadership and army help.

“I was crazy,” he said in a phone call from federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, where he is serving five consecutive life sentences.

“I was just all the way out there. I didn’t think I was going to live.”


Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2010/12/21/us-soldier-who-slaughtered-family-blames-iraq-war-trauma-for-evil-deeds-115875-22797205/

[Poll_Blind]

1. This is the classic My Lai "defense" and it doesn't hold water.

PB

[gratuitous]

5. He's in prison, serving five life sentences

So it's not really a defense at this point.

But this is just another exhibit in an exhausting line of exhibits for why all those dirty fucking hippies and kum-ba-yah peaceniks are out there protesting wars, writing letters, issuing statements, and all the other boring things they do whenever the war hysteria starts getting ginned up. Who or what would Mr. Green be today if not for the wonderful assistance of the military and the bloodlust of the upper class? Would Iraq have five more people in its population? And what of Mr. Green's superiors, right up to and including his commander in chief? What's their culpability? We're told by these superiors that Mr. Green's actions were an aberration, that he is not what the military stands for, even though these embarrassing episodes happen with a depressing regularity. What do they do to prevent it from happening yet again? Or do they just wind up and send out their little killing machines and cross their fingers that this time they come back without killing any of the "wrong" people?

[Poll_Blind]

7. That's a really excellent set of questions worth asking!

I think the problem is both systemic (on a bunch of different levels, including the use of drugs in medicating the troops- shades of Blitzkrieg Chocolate) and individual. I believe that almost anyone can be made to do almost anything given the right circumstances but things like rape fall outside of "given orders" and I feel the individual bears responsibility for those actions too.

But it is bizarre: We turn fine young mean and women into killers, put them into situations where they are basically Armed Gods and then act shocked when many of them lose their mind.

PB

[niceypoo]

22. A friend of mine has to wake her brother with a broomstick

Since he came back from Iraq, he wakes up swinging his fists.

[obxhead]

2. This line says it all to me

“I was just all the way out there. I didn’t think I was going to live.”

I didn't think I was going to make it so I did whatever I felt like doing.

I'm glad this animal is locked up for the rest of his life.

[grilled onions]

8. You Picked The Horrific Quote

"..did what I felt like doing." SO in is world of fear what he felt like doing was killing and raping? There are many soldiers who fear their time is near but many deal with those terrible thoughts with more harm to themselves rather then those around them. It's almost like ideas such as these were in that dark closet of his mind for some time.

[obxhead]

14. I agree.

War causes breaks in the mind, I have no doubt about that. However doing something like this was something broken in his mind long before he ever joined the military is my guess.

He's an animal for doing something so horrific and is now in the proper place.

[groundloop]

3. He belongs in prison, however...

I've seen too many reports of the military not providing decent care for PTSD. I'll be thrilled when we can get out of these wars, they're far far too expensive, not only in dollars but more importantly in their toll on people's lives.

[Selatius]

4. Ah, the infamous Haditha Massacre of the Iraq War.

When a Republican gets into the White House, I wonder how long will it take for the guy to pardon Mr Green.

[atreides1]

12. You're thinking Marines!

Green and his buddies did their dirty little deed in a place called Mahmudiyah.

And the Army didn't just go through the motions, like the Marines did with the Haditha murderers! Green and four of his accomplices were tried and convicted for their crimes and are now serving time in prison.

Of the other two, one was the whistle blower and the other negotiated an "other than honorable discharge" and the dropping of the charges against him in return for his testimony against the other men.

[zalinda]

6. Our government has done this to our children

They have been doing this since the Vietnam war. They are taking away their moral compass. There is a reason why so many vets are homeless and are on drugs or alcohol. I met a guy who is in his 60's and is still having nightmares about Vietnam. I can't imagine the hell he has gone through the last 40 years.

Unless we walk a mile in their shoes, we shouldn't judge. Unless we know he was a sociopath before he went into the service, I will believe it's the government's fault for his behavior, because they turned him into one.

zalinda

[beam me up scottie]

11. What's the difference between him and all of the soldiers who didn't rape a child and murder her

and her entire family?

Why do other soldiers instinctively put their lives on the line to protect children in war zones despite their own trauma?

One's "moral compass" can't be taken away by anything or anyone.

The government cannot be blamed for his unbelievably horrific crimes, they are his and his alone.

I doubt he has a conscience, but I wish he did so that the memory of the terrified girl's face and screams would haunt him for as long as he lives.

[elehhhhna]

9. Hey, Steve, you assh0le, when my hubs was misdiagnosed with lymphoma

he didn't rape or slaughter anybody! Not one person! Didn't even kick the dog!

USA!USA! My hubs for Prezzydent!

[MountainLaurel]

10. Considering

That he required a moral character waiver to get into the military, I'm guessing his issues began long before he went to Iraq.

[whathehell]

19. So....All of the young men and women in our military have a "moral character waiver"?

You must be kidding...Or terribly ignorant and judgemental.

[MountainLaurel]

21. No, HE did

Because of his prior arrest record

[whathehell]

23. I'm sorry, I misread the post. n/t

[closeupready]

13. There is a bittersweet photo of the 14-year-old Iraqi girl in the Daily Mail

At this link, halfway down the page. :cry:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340207/I-didnt-think-Iraqis-humans-says-U-S-soldier-raped-14-year-old-girl-killing-her-family.html

It's just too much. I can't comment decently on this.

[bitchkitty]

15. I guessed this was the Daily Mirror before I even opened the thread.

Bright yellow journalism!

[Still a Democrat]

16. Picture

[saigon68]

17. The face of War

[go west young man]

18. I would say the moral compass is lost when the war is unjust.

Deep down people know that therefore they don't respect the rules.
In other words Iraq and Vietnam produce more crazies. WW2 not so much.

[Nordmadr]

20. They added stressors. He handled them badly. You can argue

where his culpability comes in and whether to blame the military, or war; but he did it, and no one ordered him to do it.