An American soldier has been jailed for the rape and murder of a 14 year old girl in Iraq, as well as the killing of her family. Sergeant Paul Cortez admitted four murders, rape, and conspiracy to rape on Thursday, February 22nd. Cortez will be eligible to receive parole in 10 years, he also received a dishonourable discharge from the US military. This type of case is one of many in which US soldiers are being charged with murder or assault on Iraqi citizens in the towns that troops are patrolling. Cortez has admitted to conspiring with three other soldiers. These soldiers are still awaiting court martials.
Obviously these types of cases are overly disheartening and disturbing to read about, however it is not surprising that they are surfacing more often these days. Due to the high casualty rate in Iraq, it is understandable why events like these occur. They are, in all likeliness, easy to get away with (Iraqi rights and freedoms are limited) and the people whom these actions are being committed on have limited access to any type of media outlet which will tell their story. Seeing stories like these is quite disturbing.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6388585.stm
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