Ex-US Soldier Guilty of Rape, Murder in Iraq

A jury in Kentucky convicted a former US soldier of raping a 14-year-old lraqi girl and killing her and her family, Reuters reports. Former Private 1st Class Steven Green faces the death penalty when the sentencing phase of his trial begins Monday. Green, 24, was the leader of a group of five US soldiers who took part in the 2006 assault in Baghdad.

Green shot the girl's parents and her 6-year-old sister while other soldiers raped the girl. He then raped the teenager himself before killing her. The other four men have been imprisoned, though they all could be paroled. Green's defense team said he suffered from combat stress, though he later described the assault—which triggered international scorn—as "awesome."
(More Steven Green stories.)