AP: Soldier Tied to Iraq Attack Faces Trial

[Eugene]

Soldier Tied to Iraq Attack Faces Trial

By KRISTIN M. HALL
The Associated Press
Tuesday, March 13, 2007; 5:24 AM

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- The question at the heart of Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard's murder
trial is this: Who ordered the killing of three Iraqi captives?

Military prosecutors say it was Girouard, a 24-year-old squad leader who allegedly
told his soldiers to cut the detainees free, kill them and then cover up the crime by
faking an insurgent attack.

Girouard denies giving such an order and has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.
His trial was expected to start Tuesday at Fort Campbell.

Girouard is the last and most senior soldier from the 101st Airborne Division to
face trial for the killings May 9 during a raid on a suspected insurgent camp
outside of Samarra, Iraq.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/13/AR2007031300263.html

[Supersedeas]

1. There is a scene from the movie Letters from Iwo Jima - reminisent?

[Eugene]

2. (AP) Defense: Soldier didn't order killings

Defense: Soldier didn't order killings

By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer

2 hours, 5 minutes ago

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - A squad leader never ordered his soldiers to shoot three
Iraqi detainees, but he did help cover up the slayings, a defense attorney said
in opening statements of the soldier's murder trial Tuesday.

"He saw what they did," attorney Anita Gorecki told the military court. "He
realized they killed the detainees, and in that moment, yes, he decided to help
his squad members."

Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard is the last and most senior soldier from the 101st
Airborne Division to face trial for the killings during a May 9 raid on a
suspected insurgent camp outside of Samarra, Iraq.

-snip-

"This is a case about fact versus fiction," military prosecutor Capt. Joseph
Mackey said. "Hunsaker and Clagett will tell you about the fiction they devised
to cover up the killings. The facts will reveal Staff Sgt. Girouard orchestrated,
planned and had his subordinates carry out the killing of three Iraqi detainees."

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_re_us/soldiers_charged