Justice At Last For Abeer Al-Janabi?

Steven Green took the life of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi after he and fellow U.S. soldiers gang raped her in her family's home south of Baghdad, but now his lawyers want to spare his.

Jurors are scheduled to reconvene Monday for the penalty phase of the trial of the now 24-year-old former private first class after he was convicted in federal court of the March 12, 2006 attack that left dead the girl and her parents and sister.

Green was tried in a civilian court and not in a court martial proceeding. This is because he was technically separated, but not retired, from the Army when charges were filed against him. This would put him beyond the reach of a military court unless higher ups intervened, which they did not.

Iraqi authorities demanded to no effect that Green be returned to Iraq and tried, but the U.S. has been historically protective of servicemen stationed overseas and with few exceptions (none in Iraq), they have been protected against prosecution in local courts.

I have written extensively on this most heartbreaking and sordid case, including a takeout on the events on that day and since. I strongly urge you to read it if the memories of this war have faded, as well as a profile of boy-men like Green by a noted psychologist.

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Should Green's life be spared when he took four others? I don't have it in my heart to play God with this one.

But I do know that Green was unfit to wear an Army uniform, but he not only was fast-tracked through basic training and sent off to Iraq, his readily obvious homicidal tendencies were merely acknowledged and dealt with by medication, "Atta boys" and pats on the back as he was repeatedly sent back into the hell hole that was the region where Abeer lived.

It wasn’t likely that Green would trigger something awful while he was in Iraq, it was inevitable, and the war was a perfect crucible: Not enough troops, vague and changing rules of engagement, negligible efforts to win over an occupied people, and an Army mental-health system that betrays its own soldiers just as their president has betrayed his country.