| Haditha: War and Rape |
The Unites States military is not taught to consider the real and heartbreaking
character of death. War itself, within the mechanistic consciousness of such a
man, comes to be nothing more than a “game-plan.”
“Rape accompanied years of revolution: George Washington’s paper for July 22, 1780, records that
one Thomas Brown of the Seventh Pennsylvania regiment was sentenced to death for rape at
Paramus, and it was Brown’s second conviction at that. Rape in warfare is not bound by definitions of
which wars are “just” and “unjust.” Rape flourishes in warfare irrespective of nationality or geographic
location. Rape got out of hand- “regrettably” as the foreign minister was later to say- when the
Pakistani Army battled Bangladesh. Rape reared its head as a way to relieve boredom as American
GI’s searched and destroyed the highlands of Vietnam. In modern times, rape is outlawed as a
criminal act under the international rules of war. Rape is punishable by death or imprisonment under
Article 120 of the American Uniform Code of Military Justice. Yet is persists as a common act of war”
(Brownmiller).
It may persist because it acquires, at its most powerful, the intensity of a high definition motion picture
screen for people like Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, who was found not guilty of premeditated murder and
conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in the March 2006 incident.
Cortez has now entered a guilty plea Tuesday to four murders, rape, and conspiracy to rape. With
the approval of the plea agreement by the judge, Col. Stephen R. Henley, Cortez will avoid the
death penalty.
At a hearing before Henley's decision on the guilty plea, Cortez broke down in tears while
recounting events on the day of the attack. He described his role and that of Spec. James P.
Barker, who is already sentenced to 90 years in military prison.
"I lifted up her skirt and took off her stockings while Barker held her hands with his knees," he
said before admitting that he raped the teenager as she screamed. "After I was done, myself and
Barker switched spots."
character of death. War itself, within the mechanistic consciousness of such a
man, comes to be nothing more than a “game-plan.”
“Rape accompanied years of revolution: George Washington’s paper for July 22, 1780, records that
one Thomas Brown of the Seventh Pennsylvania regiment was sentenced to death for rape at
Paramus, and it was Brown’s second conviction at that. Rape in warfare is not bound by definitions of
which wars are “just” and “unjust.” Rape flourishes in warfare irrespective of nationality or geographic
location. Rape got out of hand- “regrettably” as the foreign minister was later to say- when the
Pakistani Army battled Bangladesh. Rape reared its head as a way to relieve boredom as American
GI’s searched and destroyed the highlands of Vietnam. In modern times, rape is outlawed as a
criminal act under the international rules of war. Rape is punishable by death or imprisonment under
Article 120 of the American Uniform Code of Military Justice. Yet is persists as a common act of war”
(Brownmiller).
It may persist because it acquires, at its most powerful, the intensity of a high definition motion picture
screen for people like Sgt. Paul E. Cortez, 24, who was found not guilty of premeditated murder and
conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in the March 2006 incident.
Cortez has now entered a guilty plea Tuesday to four murders, rape, and conspiracy to rape. With
the approval of the plea agreement by the judge, Col. Stephen R. Henley, Cortez will avoid the
death penalty.
At a hearing before Henley's decision on the guilty plea, Cortez broke down in tears while
recounting events on the day of the attack. He described his role and that of Spec. James P.
Barker, who is already sentenced to 90 years in military prison.
"I lifted up her skirt and took off her stockings while Barker held her hands with his knees," he
said before admitting that he raped the teenager as she screamed. "After I was done, myself and
Barker switched spots."
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prosecutors and be sentenced to life in prison, plus reduction in rank and a
dishonorable discharge. In the plea agreement, read in court Tuesday, Cortez
said he conspired with three other soldiers -- Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman
and Steven D. Green, who have been discharged -- to rape 14-year-old Abeer
Qassim al-Janabi.
According to the plea deal, Cortez, Spielman and Barker illegally went into the home of the girl's family
in Mahmudiyah, and Cortez held her while Barker raped her. While Cortez raped her, Green shot and
killed the girl's parents and younger sister, the agreement said.
Cortez then acted as a lookout while Green raped the girl, and Green shot her, the document said.
Cortez helped burn the girl's body and the home, then burned his clothes.
War often allows a man to forge defenses where there are no defenses at all. Air strikes on villages
kill hundreds. Soldiers push inhabitants out of their homes and set fire to them. Governments lock up
prisoners for years without trial, assassinate them, or else render them off to foreign countries to be
tortured or die.
The same maneuver is used today. Pentagon experts, going back to 1945, in reference to the impact
of an air attack on non-strategic targets, employed the phrase: “profound psychological impression.”
It comes out as a simple and clear cut description: maximum civilian slaughter. The words soldiers
use when talking about death is only slightly monstrous. A witness in the trial of the Vietnam My Lai
murderer, William Calley, explained to the court that the military uses the word “waste” for “kill”
because the use of this word (“kill”) would create a psychological dilemma for a man who has
previously been taught that murder is unjust.
A soldier at My Lai reported his inability to feel. “You feel that it is not real at all.”
It is as if death, murder and rape are not real at all. It the case of the young Iraqi girl and her family it
meant nothing at all.
It has been argued that when killing is viewed as not only permissible but admirable behavior
sanctioned by the government that sent you, the distinction between destroying a human life and the
other forms of sadistic behavior gets lost, and rape becomes a by-product of the violence of war.
War provides men with the perfect psychological setting to vent their contempt for their enemies.
dishonorable discharge. In the plea agreement, read in court Tuesday, Cortez
said he conspired with three other soldiers -- Barker, Pfc. Jesse V. Spielman
and Steven D. Green, who have been discharged -- to rape 14-year-old Abeer
Qassim al-Janabi.
According to the plea deal, Cortez, Spielman and Barker illegally went into the home of the girl's family
in Mahmudiyah, and Cortez held her while Barker raped her. While Cortez raped her, Green shot and
killed the girl's parents and younger sister, the agreement said.
Cortez then acted as a lookout while Green raped the girl, and Green shot her, the document said.
Cortez helped burn the girl's body and the home, then burned his clothes.
War often allows a man to forge defenses where there are no defenses at all. Air strikes on villages
kill hundreds. Soldiers push inhabitants out of their homes and set fire to them. Governments lock up
prisoners for years without trial, assassinate them, or else render them off to foreign countries to be
tortured or die.
The same maneuver is used today. Pentagon experts, going back to 1945, in reference to the impact
of an air attack on non-strategic targets, employed the phrase: “profound psychological impression.”
It comes out as a simple and clear cut description: maximum civilian slaughter. The words soldiers
use when talking about death is only slightly monstrous. A witness in the trial of the Vietnam My Lai
murderer, William Calley, explained to the court that the military uses the word “waste” for “kill”
because the use of this word (“kill”) would create a psychological dilemma for a man who has
previously been taught that murder is unjust.
A soldier at My Lai reported his inability to feel. “You feel that it is not real at all.”
It is as if death, murder and rape are not real at all. It the case of the young Iraqi girl and her family it
meant nothing at all.
It has been argued that when killing is viewed as not only permissible but admirable behavior
sanctioned by the government that sent you, the distinction between destroying a human life and the
other forms of sadistic behavior gets lost, and rape becomes a by-product of the violence of war.
War provides men with the perfect psychological setting to vent their contempt for their enemies.
