14 years old {Updated}

ATTENTION EDITORS - CAPTION ADDITION ADDING DATE OF BIRTH A citizenship identification card issued by the Iraqi government in 1993 shows Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi with a date of birth of August 19, 1991, as translated from the identity card in this handout photo from her relatives in Baghdad July 9, 2006. Five U.S. soldiers were charged in a rape and multiple murder case that has outraged Iraqis, as documents obtained by Reuters on Sunday showed the rape victim was a minor aged just 14, and not over 20 as U.S. officials say.
EDITORIAL USE ONLY REUTERS/Handout (IRAQ)

Total 'Disgust' In My Country and Leadership

Light A Candle For
Peace, Tolerance, Understanding
and For The Children - Innocence Lost,
And Future We May Have Given Them!


And a Candle 'Especially' for the Child Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi and her Family




This Country not only allowed the soldier, already widely reported to have a Mental Disorder, to serve in it's Military, but Turned Around And Dumped Him Back Into The Society With An 'Honorable' Discharge!!



{The document above was found on todays Diary by RubDMC Iraq War Grief Daily Witness (photos) Day 493, click on his user name to visit the page with his almost Daily Diaries, posted at 'Daily KOS', 'Booman Tribune', and 'My Left Wing' amoung a few other sites.}


What Eric, over at bushFlash, says and I Agree, feeling much like he does:

JULY 10, 2006
THE NEW FACE OF THE IRAQ WAR
See the identity card to the left? It used to belong to fifteen-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza- an Iraqi girl who lived in Mahmoudiya. Every day, she had to pass through a checkpoint, manned by American troops. She was always scared of them- she told her mother about how these strange american soldiers were making inappropriate advances towards her.

On march 10, 2006, Abeer's mother Fakhriyah had a conversation with a neighbor, Omar Janabi, expressing her fears that her daughter might be assaulted or raped by the americans. Janabi agreed to give Abeer shelter among the women of his household. But, after making his promise, he spoke with Abeer personally, and tried to assuage her fears.

He told her "the Americans would not do such a thing."

Alas- the next day...


American soldiers came to Abeer's house, separated her from her family, and raped her (apparently to death.) In an attempt to cover their crimes, these american soldiers fatally shot Abeer's mother, father and seven-year-old sister, before attempting to burn Abeer's body.

When neighbors entered the house after the incident, they found the dead family, along with Abeer sprawled in a corner, with her dress pulled up to her neck, her hair and a pillow next to her consumed by fire.

Now, before I proceed, the soldiers responsible for this horror have been arrested, and are certain to face a military court- however, they will go scott-free. The punishment for the crimes that these cretins committed, under the uniform code of military justice, is death, and there's no way that the assholes that are running this war are going to allow such a sentence to be carried out- it's just too much "bad press" for them to deal with, right now.

In the months following, this whole incident will be swept under the rug, and will be "old news", as the corporate media continues to spend more time covering "So you think you can dance", than the ongoing war.

I've been to Freeperville, to check their comments about this incident, and quite frankly, what they're saying doesn't warrant repeating- it's just too horrific- people are CHEERING and EXCUSING the rape of a 15-year-old girl, and the murder of her family.

Myself? This is another reason why I can't do animations. When I was reading the details of this atrocity, I was banging my head against my desk, and screaming bloody hell- I wanted to die, out of sheer shame of being a citizen of a country that would allow this sort of crap to happen.

The anger I feel about this war can no longer be portrayed in a flash slideshow, and things are just going to get worse. I don't say this as a pessimist, or a doomsayer- I say this, because that's the way things are going to be.