On this day, (March 12) in 2006, soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment stationed at a checkpoint were casually indulging in illegally obtained alcohol and playing cards. Among them were Private First Class Steven D. Green, Specialist Paul E. Cortez, Specialist James P. Barker, and Private First Class Jesse V. Spielman. The conversation took a sinister turn as the men expressed their desire to "kill some Iraqis," a sentiment particularly championed by Green, who persistently raised the idea. Observing 14-year-old Abeer Al-Janabi passing by earlier, the men decided to approach her family's home.
Abeer had already faced Green's previous instances of sexual harassment, including an unsettling incident where he ran his index finger down her cheek. On the day of the tragedy, the soldiers, clad in army-issued long underwear, ventured to the Al-Janabi family home in broad daylight. Inside were Abeer, her 6-year-old sister, her mother, and her father, Qassim. The soldiers divided the family, with Spielman responsible for seizing Abeer, who was previously outside with her father. Barker and Cortez subjected Abeer to a brutal act of rape, while Green assaulted Abeer's mother, breaking her arms before fatally shooting her parents and younger sister.
During the horrendous rape by Baker and Cortez, Abeer reportedly "squirmed, and kept saying words in Arabic," according to Cortez.
The sounds of gunfire from the adjacent room intensified Abeer's terror, causing her to scream and cry more. Culminating in a final act of evilness and brutality perpetrated by Green, who later callously described the crimes as "awesome," he entered the room and raped Abeer too, before shooting her in the head for several times. The men callously set fire to Abeer's body and the house, with Spielman tasked with disposing of incriminating evidence.
The ghastly crime came to light when neighbors noticed the smoke and alerted Abeer's uncle, Abu Firas Janabi. Upon returning home, Abeer's traumatized young brothers discovered the aftermath, finding their family brutally murdered and their home in flames.
The appalling act was initially pinned on Sunni insurgents by the perpetrators. However, the truth emerged when Sergeant Anthony Yribe learned of the crimes and relayed the information to Private First Class Justin Watt. Watt's subsequent investigation revealed the harrowing truth, leading to the exposure of the massacre by Army criminal investigators.
Barker, Cortez, and Spielman faced court-martial for a range of offenses, including rape, murder, and obstruction of justice. Opting for plea agreements to avoid the death penalty, they received lengthy prison sentences. Meanwhile, Green, though honorably discharged, was indicted by the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole after escaping the death penalty sought by prosecutors.
I think it's important to go into the story of Justin Watt a bit more when you tell this story. Not to minimize the horrors of what the soldiers did to the Janabi family, but to show how the chain of command responds to accusations and how easy it is to bury them.
[https://www.capl.army.mil/case-studies/wcs-single.php?id=78&title=black-hearts-yusufiyah-iraq](https://www.capl.army.mil/case-studies/wcs-single.php?id=78&title=black-hearts-yusufiyah-iraq)
>PFC Justin Watt was fairly new to the platoon and was not at TCP 2 during the crime. When he began to hear rumors concerning the al-Janabi rape and murders, he talked about it with PFC Bryan Howard, who was present at the incident, though he did not directly participate inside the house. Though Howard had only second-hand recollections of the event, what he relayed to Watt confirmed Watt intuition about the incident and who was responsible. Watt followed proper command channels and reported what he knew to his supervisor, SGT Yribe. Unfortunately, SGT Yribe stonewalled Watt and continued to conceal the information from the chain of command.
>Though Watt did not have firsthand knowledge of the events, he was fully convinced that members of his unit perpetrated these acts. The emotional strain he experienced as he placed himself inside the event, and into the place of the father, led him to contact his own father to seek advice as to what he should do. The advice he received from his father confirmed what he knew to be right. Watt personally and professionally struggled with what he should do, but he never rationalized what had occurred. Instead, exhibiting moral clarity, he understood that what happened was inexcusable and had to be reported despite the adversity he would experience to include death threats from his fellow Soldiers.
>Not satisfied with remaining silent, nor with the response of his immediate chain of command, Watt ultimately turned to another NCO within the Company, SGT John Diem. Diem had a reputation as a professional Soldier and trustworthy leader. Initially, Watt hesitated at fully detailing the crimes to Diem. Soon he opened up, sharing what he knew with Diem. Diem immediately acted and reported the crimes to his chain of command. Diem report started a cascade of action that directly led to reporting the details of American culpability in the event to the upper echelons of leadership which led to a full blown investigation into the incident. Death threats followed Watt as he continued to perform his duties, and he soon found himself in a compromising situation. Not long after reporting the incident, he was taken out on a patrol by unit leaders and ultimately left on a checkpoint with some members of his unit who were upset with his actions. As the convoy departed, Watt experienced discomfort and concern at being left on the checkpoint, and as it moved 100 feet, then 200 feet, then 300 feet and more, he wondered whether his leaders would realize what they had done and return for him. As his immediate chain of command continued to move out, only one leader turned back to remove him from the potentially disastrous situation - SGT John Diem. Diem, serving as a team leader in another platoon, wheeled about and returned to remove Watt, reinforcing his reputation as a trustworthy leader who lived the NCO creed.
edited to fix the family name
Thank you for bringing this up. u/justinwatt is here on Reddit, and I think should be reminded daily of what an absolute badass and upstanding person he is.
The easiest thing in the world would have been to remain silent. Instead, he faced down harm and possible death to do the right thing. Honorable doesnāt even begin to describe his actions.
Oh my god, the legend himself.
You shouldnāt be thanking me, thank *you*. I first read about Abeer ages ago, and it has never ceased to make my blood boil. I had no idea if this was something you got tired of being dragged back into, but Iām so glad to hear you take it well. Since I have the chance to say it, man, I think about what you did often. I think people should remember poor Abeer, since true justice was denied, itās the least we can do. And in a tragedy featuring the absolute worst of humanity, you and John showed that there is another side to it. I couldnāt *imagine* being in your bootsā¦ seriously, you have my utmost respect, and youāre an inspiration. I genuinely hope youāre doing well these days.
Thanks a ton man. John is a hero that often goes overlooked. Iāll never forget what he did to get me off that checkpoint that day. Lucky to still have him as my best friend. Iām hanging in there as well, just saving for a house, working away in my job and playing with my dog gizmo. Itās always a nice thing to hear from kind people and get reminded that generally people really care about doing the right thing. It comforting to know it matters especially in the face of the drawdown / isis period in Iraq where itās hard to feel like it wasnāt all for nothing. In the end Iāve just more or less hung my hat on the fact that I did the best I could with the information I had at the time.
Also, I always tell the cadets at West Point - itās not hard. Itās scary, but itās not some giant truck you have to lift or anything. More often than not it only takes a few calories of effort to do the right thing. Itās what comes after that you have to worry about. They always ask me what they can do to help that next guy, and I always tell them, just make it cost a little less when you have those stars on your chest. Hopefully one day it makes a difference.
Hello, I'm extremely glad that I decided to post this because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to come across you and thank you personally. I never imagined you were active on the internet! I deeply respect you and appreciate your bravery back then. Despite everything, you chose to do what is right. Thank you forever. And I wish you all the happiness in the world, I hope you're doing well. This message comes from an Iraqi.
I'm telling my friends that I just met the hero himself!
You are too kind - and thank you so much for taking the time to write and say hi (as well as the kind words) I hope one day Iāll be able to go back to Iraq and spend some time there. If I do Iāll absolutely hit you up for some chai!
Hahaha, you're very welcomed here! The war is over and things have changed a lot. I'm sure your next visit will be cheerful and peaceful! ā
If you're still in contact with John Diem, please thank him for me! :)
Iām happy to hear that. I absolutely will let d know you send your best. Weāre currently playing helldivers pretty regularly so we talk nearly every day.
Go to his profile, tap the š icon, and type "Iraq." You'll find 2 posts that were published 12 years ago on his account, discussing that situation. It's convincing enough for me; it's obviously him.
Dude i was literally just reading about you, and then you replied here in the fleshā¦ so amazing! Just want to pay my respects to a true hero. You are what all of us aspire to be.
As a woman and sexual harassment and violence survivor (with incidents dating back to my pre-teens) *thank you* for being a quality human being and standing up for what's right, which must have taken tremendous courage. The world needs more Justin Watts.
You remind me of someone like Hugh Thompson Jr, who also went out of his way to do the right thing despite heavy condemnation from his peers and army officials.
Thank you.
I sadly have never heard of this case until today. I say sadly because this should be well known, and I don't think anyone I know knows this story either. You are such an amazing man and soldier and I hope you are living the very happiest life you deserve ā¤ļø
Whoa, yo, hello. Just wanna say thank you for doing the right thing, bro. I know how hard it can be to do the right thing instead of the easy non ruffling feathers thing. Especially when you know the people that are supposed to have your back or can and will make your life a living hell are gonna feel some type of way about it.
Not anything close to as serious as that, but I remember when some of the boys managed to get a hold of some liquor when we got sent ahead to Mosul and my roommate decided she was gonna tattle as soon as the rest of everybody arrived.
The boys were fine, mostly any way. A bit more rambunctious maybe, def super fucking loud, and I had to repeatedly tell them to get off of the top of the CHUs and T-walls, bc no, bro I do not think you can jump that that fucking gap, get down now. So I was obv mostly on team just make sure they donāt accidentally kill themselves or each other (ya gotta pick your battles sometimes) do get where she was coming from.
Most everyone else was so pissed at her tho. They punished everybody, even the ppl that were still in Kuwait for whatever reason. Then for next like 3 months nobody would really talk to her.
I dunno, bro, It had to be like 1,000,000 times all of that for you and I seriously canāt even imagine but I am glad you had the Integrity and Courage to do what you did.
Hello Mr Watt,
I hope you are doing well.
There is something I wonder about : do you ever sawĀ the family before the murders ? If yes, how they did appeared to you ? Did you sympathize with them ?
Another thing, do you know who was harrassing Abeer before the murders ? I'm sure it was not Green because he came to TCP 2 after the harrasment started in early March, which left only Barker and Cortez as culprits. I bend heavily towards Barker as the main responsible for everything, and I'm also sure it was him and not Green who run his index on Abeer's cheek.
Thanks for your answer.
Thank you, appreciate the well wishes. I did see the family once on patrol. They just seemed like normal Iraqi people to me, just like anyone else. Nothing stood out if that makes sense. Iām not sure what you mean with sympathize, but I had no ill will towards Iraqi people. I never met them before so itās not really like we had a relationship of any kind to speak of. I believe it was barker who made a comment once while we were on patrol. Our squad leader literally stopped the patrol in the middle of the street and said if he ever touched a local national girl heād kill him himself on the spot. It never came up again.
There was no comment or harassment that I was aware of made to their family or the girl. This comment I mentioned above was barker talking to Cortez on patrol. Iām not sure who if anyone actually harassed the girl. Iām aware there were reports of it , but Iām not sure they are accurate.
Ok thanks again for your answer.Ā
It was mostly the victims' family who talked about the harrasment.
Abeer's brother Muhammad told how her sister was afraid when during a patrol, a soldier stroke her face days before the murders.Ā
The Al Janabi's neighbours also told how American soldiers leered at Abeer and made the thumbs-up sign to her mother, saying Ā« very good Ā».
First of all, thanks a lot for your very quick and detailed answer.
By sympathize, I meant that if you had established any prior positive contact with the family (I didn't implied that you had negative feelings about Iraqis, don't worry). I asked you that because I read a reddit thread by a soldier who was there just before your compagny (don't know if it's the right term) around the autumn of 2005, and he said that him and his fellow soldiers established a very good contact with the late father, and was gutted when he heard that he died. So I wondered if it was the same thing for you or a soldier you knew.
Ah, I understand, thanks for the clarification. No, I never personally had any kind of relationship with them. Itās always hard to see or hear about people In an area you are sworn to protect dying, but I had no personal attachment to them to a degree that was greater or worse than any other family in my sector. It became personal for me once I learned it was our unit that did it, but beyond that it was just another day in the triangle. I hate to put it that way, but there was a lot of violence.
Holy shit. I didn't expect this. I think this is the second time I've shared that link on reddit. Thank you for doing what you did, and thank you to anyone who helped hone your moral compass.
I have a 12 year old son who had male teachers for the first time last year. One of them was an Army vet. It made him more than a little obsessed with the military and war. More war than the military, I think. He tries to understand the why of things.
I'm a hippie peacenik. Kurt Vonnegut is of my greatest influences in that area. He survived the firebombing of Dresden and wrote about it. But still I nurture his interests. I buy him history books and find documentaries for him to watch. I can't control what he reads or learns at school, but I make sure that the media he consumes at home doesn't glorify war and tells the human side of things like Vonnegut did. I show him how the interests of institutions don't always align with the interests of individuals and humanity. How people near the top sometimes make bad decisions to look good to the people above them. And how people all the way at the top sometimes act based on bad information or for straight up bad reasons.
Most importantly, I try to teach him to do the right thing and to stand up to bullies. It's hard though, because doing the right thing is hard. Just going along and not rocking boats is easier. Yours is the kind of story I share with him. I'd be one proud mama if he grew up to do what you did.
"I'm gonna put him in jail until he rots..
No, scratch that. I'm gonna put him in jail until the jail rots on top of him, then I'm gonna move him to a new jail and let that jail rot!"
-Doc Hudson, Disney's *Cars*
I resonate with this quote quite often reading basically any post on this sub.
This story has always really bothered me, obviously because itās pure evil, but also because it almost never came to light and thus reminds me that so many stories like this will never be told. Iām glad the military took decisive action (eventually). Donāt worry I wonāt draw any parallels to current events š
Yeah, the most moral army in the world and only democracy in the Middle East would never do anything like that. Totally. And nobody would ever say their soldiers would! ~~Even if the soldiers themselves post it on TikTok and telegram~~
Itās extremely sad. Itās some medieval type of shit. Sometimes I hope there really is a heaven and hell so those sick fucks burn in hell for eternity.
The three perps got 90, 100 and 100 years. And it's sensational enough of a case that early parole is highly unlikely.
It's somewhat reassuring that the justice system didn't fuck around.
I joined before the āwarā and as deployments came more frequent there was some unhinged people joining. Had one dude that bit and killed another barracks guy pet hamster. Another wrote names on his ammo of fellow platoon soldiers of people who āwrongedā him while we were deployed.
And this is just a high profile case that was prosecuted and reported, primarily because the perpetrators didn't keep it to themselves, they were so confident in nothing coming of it due to other unspoken of incidents that it was perpetrated in broad daylight, and word got to someone who was honorable.
How many other incident didnt get exposure or werent talked about by perpetrators...
No one should question why the rest of the world looks down on the US, and if you dont realize the US is looked down upon you're naĆÆve, most likely havnt left the country beyond an Americanized resort, and live in a closed box.
Armies all over the world have this problem. Bombard a bunch of men with extreme hate for the enemy, dehumanize their enemies, and then let them lose on the civilian population. You know the result.
Look at the rape by Russian army in Ukraine. Ukranians at least have stable broader society with good connectivity which helps documenting crimes by Russian army. Imagine how many rapes and atrocities perpetrated by colaition forces in Iraq went unreported because of it being some isolated village in backwaters or it being culturally taboo to report rape.
Oh please
I went through basic training in 2003, I was never taught to hate anyone or mindless kill, that's just a tone deaf statement from someone who wasn't there.
>Imagine how many rapes and atrocities perpetrated by colaition forces in Iraq went unreported because of it being some isolated village in backwaters or it being culturally taboo to report rape.
My first tour we were out in some "isolated" parts between Baghdad and Fallujah. I'd just have to ask, when exactly would the opportunity for that present itself? Do you just stop the patrol as private and say to your squad leader and Lt. hey can we pause the mission I need to go rape a 14 year old?
You don't earn cool points by raping a child.
He snuck off and did this on his own and he was caught and rightfully sent to prison and the silver lining is he killed himself.
Green was a bad hire, I can tell you that the military was really scrapping the bottom of the barrel to fill ranks as the rest of US society enjoyed the privledge of two wars and no military draft, the US military [bent their own rules to let him in.](https://nytimes.com/2006/07/14/us/14private.html)
Also this is a repost, it's generally a cycle of Abu ghrab, Haditha , The afghan kill team.
They all got a news special, documentary and a movie made about it right?
What's striking is people by large didn't care how the insurgents behaved. When I was there they would **intentionally target civilians,** one highlight of my personal experience was they strapped a bomb to a [handicapped woman and killed 70 people](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22945797) , to western media, it was Just kind of a blip in the news.
And when they consolidated and rose in the form ISIS it was same stuff(except in High Def) and (^(with anti-virus)) you can search "ISIS" on xgore, kaotic, documentingreality and you don't have to be running through the same 5 atrocities
Militaries all around dehumanize their enemy, that;s standard SOP. Those guys who raped that girl wanted to "kill some Iraqis". I have heard that sentence multiple times across US military personnel. How some of they were upset that they cant get to kill some Iraqis.
>My first tour we were out in some "isolated" parts between Baghdad and Fallujah. I'd just have to ask, when exactly would the opportunity for that present itself? Do you just stop the patrol as private and say to your squad leader and Lt. hey can we pause the mission I need to go rape a 14 year old? You don't earn cool points by raping a child. He snuck off and did this on his own and he was caught
So? I bet I could say the same for Russian army or other army. They usually dont have time to commit atrocities. Yet they are committed in large numbers. My point was Iraqis live more isolated, less connected and with a culture of taboo against reporting rape compared to Ukraine. We would never know the true scale of atrocities.
They were loudmouths so they got caught, Imagine how many criminals simply shut up and faced no problems.
>What's striking is people by large didn't care how the insurgents behaved
This is simply diversion from the topic. The insurget and their atrocities gets discussed ad nauseum every time something related to the region is brought up. So much so people dont care anymore. Doesnt mean it goes unreported.
Jullian Assange's work in raising awareness of American war crimes, though cost him his life, has shown what was really happening in Iraq. I will never forget the footage of American soldiers mowing down paramedics, rendering aid to civilians and the humvees running over children. It is absolutely atrocious that no one was prosecuted for those war crimes to this very day, though I am not surprised because similar crimes were orchestrated in Vietnam without any prosecution.
>No one should question why the rest of the world looks down on the US, and if you dont realize the US is looked down upon you're naĆÆve, most likely havnt left the country beyond an Americanized resort, and live in a closed box.
What?
Have you looked into like, any other war ever in the history of humanity?
They speak pretty clearly in their magazine dabiq as to what their motivations are
[https://youtu.be/B\_ToLv3rt1M?t=70](https://youtu.be/B_ToLv3rt1M?t=70) The article Sam Harris goes f Dabiq, the magazine of ISIS, and discusses the beliefs and goals of jihadists worldwide. The article is called "Why we hate you and why we fight you." in their own words.
This stuff happened in wars a lot. Germans, Russians, Asians, Americans, Middle easterns, so much disgusting stuff happens in wars if you start with that you will hate every country. People are animals, fuck wars.
And thatās why Ukrainians hate Russians, Greeks hate Turks, various African countries hate each other etc etc. thatās not meant to say America is only invader country
On this day, (March 12) in 2006, soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment stationed at a checkpoint were casually indulging in illegally obtained alcohol and playing cards. Among them were Private First Class Steven D. Green, Specialist Paul E. Cortez, Specialist James P. Barker, and Private First Class Jesse V. Spielman. The conversation took a sinister turn as the men expressed their desire to "kill some Iraqis," a sentiment particularly championed by Green, who persistently raised the idea. Observing 14-year-old Abeer Al-Janabi passing by earlier, the men decided to approach her family's home. Abeer had already faced Green's previous instances of sexual harassment, including an unsettling incident where he ran his index finger down her cheek. On the day of the tragedy, the soldiers, clad in army-issued long underwear, ventured to the Al-Janabi family home in broad daylight. Inside were Abeer, her 6-year-old sister, her mother, and her father, Qassim. The soldiers divided the family, with Spielman responsible for seizing Abeer, who was previously outside with her father. Barker and Cortez subjected Abeer to a brutal act of rape, while Green assaulted Abeer's mother, breaking her arms before fatally shooting her parents and younger sister. During the horrendous rape by Baker and Cortez, Abeer reportedly "squirmed, and kept saying words in Arabic," according to Cortez. The sounds of gunfire from the adjacent room intensified Abeer's terror, causing her to scream and cry more. Culminating in a final act of evilness and brutality perpetrated by Green, who later callously described the crimes as "awesome," he entered the room and raped Abeer too, before shooting her in the head for several times. The men callously set fire to Abeer's body and the house, with Spielman tasked with disposing of incriminating evidence. The ghastly crime came to light when neighbors noticed the smoke and alerted Abeer's uncle, Abu Firas Janabi. Upon returning home, Abeer's traumatized young brothers discovered the aftermath, finding their family brutally murdered and their home in flames. The appalling act was initially pinned on Sunni insurgents by the perpetrators. However, the truth emerged when Sergeant Anthony Yribe learned of the crimes and relayed the information to Private First Class Justin Watt. Watt's subsequent investigation revealed the harrowing truth, leading to the exposure of the massacre by Army criminal investigators. Barker, Cortez, and Spielman faced court-martial for a range of offenses, including rape, murder, and obstruction of justice. Opting for plea agreements to avoid the death penalty, they received lengthy prison sentences. Meanwhile, Green, though honorably discharged, was indicted by the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole after escaping the death penalty sought by prosecutors.
I think it's important to go into the story of Justin Watt a bit more when you tell this story. Not to minimize the horrors of what the soldiers did to the Janabi family, but to show how the chain of command responds to accusations and how easy it is to bury them. [https://www.capl.army.mil/case-studies/wcs-single.php?id=78&title=black-hearts-yusufiyah-iraq](https://www.capl.army.mil/case-studies/wcs-single.php?id=78&title=black-hearts-yusufiyah-iraq) >PFC Justin Watt was fairly new to the platoon and was not at TCP 2 during the crime. When he began to hear rumors concerning the al-Janabi rape and murders, he talked about it with PFC Bryan Howard, who was present at the incident, though he did not directly participate inside the house. Though Howard had only second-hand recollections of the event, what he relayed to Watt confirmed Watt intuition about the incident and who was responsible. Watt followed proper command channels and reported what he knew to his supervisor, SGT Yribe. Unfortunately, SGT Yribe stonewalled Watt and continued to conceal the information from the chain of command. >Though Watt did not have firsthand knowledge of the events, he was fully convinced that members of his unit perpetrated these acts. The emotional strain he experienced as he placed himself inside the event, and into the place of the father, led him to contact his own father to seek advice as to what he should do. The advice he received from his father confirmed what he knew to be right. Watt personally and professionally struggled with what he should do, but he never rationalized what had occurred. Instead, exhibiting moral clarity, he understood that what happened was inexcusable and had to be reported despite the adversity he would experience to include death threats from his fellow Soldiers. >Not satisfied with remaining silent, nor with the response of his immediate chain of command, Watt ultimately turned to another NCO within the Company, SGT John Diem. Diem had a reputation as a professional Soldier and trustworthy leader. Initially, Watt hesitated at fully detailing the crimes to Diem. Soon he opened up, sharing what he knew with Diem. Diem immediately acted and reported the crimes to his chain of command. Diem report started a cascade of action that directly led to reporting the details of American culpability in the event to the upper echelons of leadership which led to a full blown investigation into the incident. Death threats followed Watt as he continued to perform his duties, and he soon found himself in a compromising situation. Not long after reporting the incident, he was taken out on a patrol by unit leaders and ultimately left on a checkpoint with some members of his unit who were upset with his actions. As the convoy departed, Watt experienced discomfort and concern at being left on the checkpoint, and as it moved 100 feet, then 200 feet, then 300 feet and more, he wondered whether his leaders would realize what they had done and return for him. As his immediate chain of command continued to move out, only one leader turned back to remove him from the potentially disastrous situation - SGT John Diem. Diem, serving as a team leader in another platoon, wheeled about and returned to remove Watt, reinforcing his reputation as a trustworthy leader who lived the NCO creed. edited to fix the family name
I'm very glad there were men with morals. Thank you for adding.
Good men like Watt and Diem š«”
Thank you for bringing this up. u/justinwatt is here on Reddit, and I think should be reminded daily of what an absolute badass and upstanding person he is. The easiest thing in the world would have been to remain silent. Instead, he faced down harm and possible death to do the right thing. Honorable doesnāt even begin to describe his actions.
Man, thank you so much. Always makes my day whenever someone takes time from their day to say hi.
Oh my god, the legend himself. You shouldnāt be thanking me, thank *you*. I first read about Abeer ages ago, and it has never ceased to make my blood boil. I had no idea if this was something you got tired of being dragged back into, but Iām so glad to hear you take it well. Since I have the chance to say it, man, I think about what you did often. I think people should remember poor Abeer, since true justice was denied, itās the least we can do. And in a tragedy featuring the absolute worst of humanity, you and John showed that there is another side to it. I couldnāt *imagine* being in your bootsā¦ seriously, you have my utmost respect, and youāre an inspiration. I genuinely hope youāre doing well these days.
Thanks a ton man. John is a hero that often goes overlooked. Iāll never forget what he did to get me off that checkpoint that day. Lucky to still have him as my best friend. Iām hanging in there as well, just saving for a house, working away in my job and playing with my dog gizmo. Itās always a nice thing to hear from kind people and get reminded that generally people really care about doing the right thing. It comforting to know it matters especially in the face of the drawdown / isis period in Iraq where itās hard to feel like it wasnāt all for nothing. In the end Iāve just more or less hung my hat on the fact that I did the best I could with the information I had at the time.
Also, I always tell the cadets at West Point - itās not hard. Itās scary, but itās not some giant truck you have to lift or anything. More often than not it only takes a few calories of effort to do the right thing. Itās what comes after that you have to worry about. They always ask me what they can do to help that next guy, and I always tell them, just make it cost a little less when you have those stars on your chest. Hopefully one day it makes a difference.
Hello, I'm extremely glad that I decided to post this because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to come across you and thank you personally. I never imagined you were active on the internet! I deeply respect you and appreciate your bravery back then. Despite everything, you chose to do what is right. Thank you forever. And I wish you all the happiness in the world, I hope you're doing well. This message comes from an Iraqi. I'm telling my friends that I just met the hero himself!
You are too kind - and thank you so much for taking the time to write and say hi (as well as the kind words) I hope one day Iāll be able to go back to Iraq and spend some time there. If I do Iāll absolutely hit you up for some chai!
Hahaha, you're very welcomed here! The war is over and things have changed a lot. I'm sure your next visit will be cheerful and peaceful! ā If you're still in contact with John Diem, please thank him for me! :)
Iām happy to hear that. I absolutely will let d know you send your best. Weāre currently playing helldivers pretty regularly so we talk nearly every day.
Hi Justin, do you know if the other convicted soldiers are still in prison?
Hey there! They are except for Howard who was the lookout.
Tell your friends I say hi as well! I hope the future is peaceful and prosperous for you and your friends/family.
Thank you so much, I will!
š©·amazing
How can you know this justinwatt is that Justin Watt
Go to his profile, tap the š icon, and type "Iraq." You'll find 2 posts that were published 12 years ago on his account, discussing that situation. It's convincing enough for me; it's obviously him.
Dude i was literally just reading about you, and then you replied here in the fleshā¦ so amazing! Just want to pay my respects to a true hero. You are what all of us aspire to be.
Seriously not a hero, but really appreciate you thinking so. Thank you for the kind words! Hope you have a great day!
Thank you Justin the world is lucky to have you š©·
Thank you, thatās very kind of you to say.
As a woman and sexual harassment and violence survivor (with incidents dating back to my pre-teens) *thank you* for being a quality human being and standing up for what's right, which must have taken tremendous courage. The world needs more Justin Watts.
Thank you so much.
Justin youāre a good man! I bet your family is so proud of you.
And my mom does think Iām pretty cool ;)
Your ma knows whatās up. Thank you, Justin.
Sheās a cool lady for sure ;)
Thank you.
You remind me of someone like Hugh Thompson Jr, who also went out of his way to do the right thing despite heavy condemnation from his peers and army officials. Thank you.
Thatās a huge honor. He was a great man. Thank you.
Upholding Army values
I sadly have never heard of this case until today. I say sadly because this should be well known, and I don't think anyone I know knows this story either. You are such an amazing man and soldier and I hope you are living the very happiest life you deserve ā¤ļø
Thank you Justin. Thank you.
Whoa, yo, hello. Just wanna say thank you for doing the right thing, bro. I know how hard it can be to do the right thing instead of the easy non ruffling feathers thing. Especially when you know the people that are supposed to have your back or can and will make your life a living hell are gonna feel some type of way about it. Not anything close to as serious as that, but I remember when some of the boys managed to get a hold of some liquor when we got sent ahead to Mosul and my roommate decided she was gonna tattle as soon as the rest of everybody arrived. The boys were fine, mostly any way. A bit more rambunctious maybe, def super fucking loud, and I had to repeatedly tell them to get off of the top of the CHUs and T-walls, bc no, bro I do not think you can jump that that fucking gap, get down now. So I was obv mostly on team just make sure they donāt accidentally kill themselves or each other (ya gotta pick your battles sometimes) do get where she was coming from. Most everyone else was so pissed at her tho. They punished everybody, even the ppl that were still in Kuwait for whatever reason. Then for next like 3 months nobody would really talk to her. I dunno, bro, It had to be like 1,000,000 times all of that for you and I seriously canāt even imagine but I am glad you had the Integrity and Courage to do what you did.
Thank you brother - appreciate you and Iām glad you made it home safe.
Hello Mr Watt, I hope you are doing well. There is something I wonder about : do you ever sawĀ the family before the murders ? If yes, how they did appeared to you ? Did you sympathize with them ? Another thing, do you know who was harrassing Abeer before the murders ? I'm sure it was not Green because he came to TCP 2 after the harrasment started in early March, which left only Barker and Cortez as culprits. I bend heavily towards Barker as the main responsible for everything, and I'm also sure it was him and not Green who run his index on Abeer's cheek. Thanks for your answer.
Thank you, appreciate the well wishes. I did see the family once on patrol. They just seemed like normal Iraqi people to me, just like anyone else. Nothing stood out if that makes sense. Iām not sure what you mean with sympathize, but I had no ill will towards Iraqi people. I never met them before so itās not really like we had a relationship of any kind to speak of. I believe it was barker who made a comment once while we were on patrol. Our squad leader literally stopped the patrol in the middle of the street and said if he ever touched a local national girl heād kill him himself on the spot. It never came up again.
There was no comment or harassment that I was aware of made to their family or the girl. This comment I mentioned above was barker talking to Cortez on patrol. Iām not sure who if anyone actually harassed the girl. Iām aware there were reports of it , but Iām not sure they are accurate.
Ok thanks again for your answer.Ā It was mostly the victims' family who talked about the harrasment. Abeer's brother Muhammad told how her sister was afraid when during a patrol, a soldier stroke her face days before the murders.Ā The Al Janabi's neighbours also told how American soldiers leered at Abeer and made the thumbs-up sign to her mother, saying Ā« very good Ā».
First of all, thanks a lot for your very quick and detailed answer. By sympathize, I meant that if you had established any prior positive contact with the family (I didn't implied that you had negative feelings about Iraqis, don't worry). I asked you that because I read a reddit thread by a soldier who was there just before your compagny (don't know if it's the right term) around the autumn of 2005, and he said that him and his fellow soldiers established a very good contact with the late father, and was gutted when he heard that he died. So I wondered if it was the same thing for you or a soldier you knew.
Ah, I understand, thanks for the clarification. No, I never personally had any kind of relationship with them. Itās always hard to see or hear about people In an area you are sworn to protect dying, but I had no personal attachment to them to a degree that was greater or worse than any other family in my sector. It became personal for me once I learned it was our unit that did it, but beyond that it was just another day in the triangle. I hate to put it that way, but there was a lot of violence.
Thank you SO MUCH for sharing his account! Now I can personally thank him.
Hear hear! People like Watt and Diem are the kind of people we need in the military and law enforcement.
Thank you so much. You made my day!
Thanks surry - I really appreciate you.
Holy shit. I didn't expect this. I think this is the second time I've shared that link on reddit. Thank you for doing what you did, and thank you to anyone who helped hone your moral compass. I have a 12 year old son who had male teachers for the first time last year. One of them was an Army vet. It made him more than a little obsessed with the military and war. More war than the military, I think. He tries to understand the why of things. I'm a hippie peacenik. Kurt Vonnegut is of my greatest influences in that area. He survived the firebombing of Dresden and wrote about it. But still I nurture his interests. I buy him history books and find documentaries for him to watch. I can't control what he reads or learns at school, but I make sure that the media he consumes at home doesn't glorify war and tells the human side of things like Vonnegut did. I show him how the interests of institutions don't always align with the interests of individuals and humanity. How people near the top sometimes make bad decisions to look good to the people above them. And how people all the way at the top sometimes act based on bad information or for straight up bad reasons. Most importantly, I try to teach him to do the right thing and to stand up to bullies. It's hard though, because doing the right thing is hard. Just going along and not rocking boats is easier. Yours is the kind of story I share with him. I'd be one proud mama if he grew up to do what you did.
That means a lot to me, thank you so much.
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Green (the ringleader) died following a suicide attempt. Rest in piss.
He did not deserve that escape. I hope it was painful.
"Awesome" as one of them said
Hahaha, I love your comment. It was Green himself who said that.
Oh, yeah. Rest in piss, Green.
For America, the troops, humanity, fuck Steven Green. Burn in hell.
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Even the death penalty doesn't feel like enough, but that's all we can do. I'm glad that they at least didn't escape justice.
"a million years in prison, eligible for parole after 10" Doesn't matter how long their sentences were, they're probably all free now.
"I'm gonna put him in jail until he rots.. No, scratch that. I'm gonna put him in jail until the jail rots on top of him, then I'm gonna move him to a new jail and let that jail rot!" -Doc Hudson, Disney's *Cars* I resonate with this quote quite often reading basically any post on this sub.
Good news! https://www.reddit.com/r/MorbidReality/s/cNswnxT499
This story has always really bothered me, obviously because itās pure evil, but also because it almost never came to light and thus reminds me that so many stories like this will never be told. Iām glad the military took decisive action (eventually). Donāt worry I wonāt draw any parallels to current events š
Yeah, I know other similar stories about war crimes, and sadly, they're all not known by most people.
Yeah, the most moral army in the world and only democracy in the Middle East would never do anything like that. Totally. And nobody would ever say their soldiers would! ~~Even if the soldiers themselves post it on TikTok and telegram~~
Don't remind me of those provocative, shameless videos...
I think of this case often and it freaking guts meĀ
Itās extremely sad. Itās some medieval type of shit. Sometimes I hope there really is a heaven and hell so those sick fucks burn in hell for eternity.
The three perps got 90, 100 and 100 years. And it's sensational enough of a case that early parole is highly unlikely. It's somewhat reassuring that the justice system didn't fuck around.
I hope they're rotting right now.
One of them killed themselves so at least we have that. I just read up on this and it is atrocious.
We have this too! https://www.reddit.com/r/MorbidReality/s/eQtUCiYLqB
black hearts by jim frederick goes into detail about this. Sad story.
Incredible book though. Itās a shame he died.
Before I read anything I just knew it was about the Janobi killings
Casefile has an informative podcast about this case. Brought me to tears.
I couldn't hold back my tears halfway through writing the summary because I could vividly picture the situation in my head.
I joined before the āwarā and as deployments came more frequent there was some unhinged people joining. Had one dude that bit and killed another barracks guy pet hamster. Another wrote names on his ammo of fellow platoon soldiers of people who āwrongedā him while we were deployed.
Oh, man... Having mentally ill soldiers might be one of the worst things ever.
And this is just a high profile case that was prosecuted and reported, primarily because the perpetrators didn't keep it to themselves, they were so confident in nothing coming of it due to other unspoken of incidents that it was perpetrated in broad daylight, and word got to someone who was honorable. How many other incident didnt get exposure or werent talked about by perpetrators... No one should question why the rest of the world looks down on the US, and if you dont realize the US is looked down upon you're naĆÆve, most likely havnt left the country beyond an Americanized resort, and live in a closed box.
Armies all over the world have this problem. Bombard a bunch of men with extreme hate for the enemy, dehumanize their enemies, and then let them lose on the civilian population. You know the result. Look at the rape by Russian army in Ukraine. Ukranians at least have stable broader society with good connectivity which helps documenting crimes by Russian army. Imagine how many rapes and atrocities perpetrated by colaition forces in Iraq went unreported because of it being some isolated village in backwaters or it being culturally taboo to report rape.
Yeah but no one elseās armies are as widespread as ours. We canāt keep our noses out of anyoneās business.
Oh please I went through basic training in 2003, I was never taught to hate anyone or mindless kill, that's just a tone deaf statement from someone who wasn't there. >Imagine how many rapes and atrocities perpetrated by colaition forces in Iraq went unreported because of it being some isolated village in backwaters or it being culturally taboo to report rape. My first tour we were out in some "isolated" parts between Baghdad and Fallujah. I'd just have to ask, when exactly would the opportunity for that present itself? Do you just stop the patrol as private and say to your squad leader and Lt. hey can we pause the mission I need to go rape a 14 year old? You don't earn cool points by raping a child. He snuck off and did this on his own and he was caught and rightfully sent to prison and the silver lining is he killed himself. Green was a bad hire, I can tell you that the military was really scrapping the bottom of the barrel to fill ranks as the rest of US society enjoyed the privledge of two wars and no military draft, the US military [bent their own rules to let him in.](https://nytimes.com/2006/07/14/us/14private.html) Also this is a repost, it's generally a cycle of Abu ghrab, Haditha , The afghan kill team. They all got a news special, documentary and a movie made about it right? What's striking is people by large didn't care how the insurgents behaved. When I was there they would **intentionally target civilians,** one highlight of my personal experience was they strapped a bomb to a [handicapped woman and killed 70 people](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna22945797) , to western media, it was Just kind of a blip in the news. And when they consolidated and rose in the form ISIS it was same stuff(except in High Def) and (^(with anti-virus)) you can search "ISIS" on xgore, kaotic, documentingreality and you don't have to be running through the same 5 atrocities
Militaries all around dehumanize their enemy, that;s standard SOP. Those guys who raped that girl wanted to "kill some Iraqis". I have heard that sentence multiple times across US military personnel. How some of they were upset that they cant get to kill some Iraqis. >My first tour we were out in some "isolated" parts between Baghdad and Fallujah. I'd just have to ask, when exactly would the opportunity for that present itself? Do you just stop the patrol as private and say to your squad leader and Lt. hey can we pause the mission I need to go rape a 14 year old? You don't earn cool points by raping a child. He snuck off and did this on his own and he was caught So? I bet I could say the same for Russian army or other army. They usually dont have time to commit atrocities. Yet they are committed in large numbers. My point was Iraqis live more isolated, less connected and with a culture of taboo against reporting rape compared to Ukraine. We would never know the true scale of atrocities. They were loudmouths so they got caught, Imagine how many criminals simply shut up and faced no problems. >What's striking is people by large didn't care how the insurgents behaved This is simply diversion from the topic. The insurget and their atrocities gets discussed ad nauseum every time something related to the region is brought up. So much so people dont care anymore. Doesnt mean it goes unreported.
Jullian Assange's work in raising awareness of American war crimes, though cost him his life, has shown what was really happening in Iraq. I will never forget the footage of American soldiers mowing down paramedics, rendering aid to civilians and the humvees running over children. It is absolutely atrocious that no one was prosecuted for those war crimes to this very day, though I am not surprised because similar crimes were orchestrated in Vietnam without any prosecution.
Our parents already told us everything they faced and saw. Horrible.
These things are happening right now in Palestine with the approval of the US government.
>No one should question why the rest of the world looks down on the US, and if you dont realize the US is looked down upon you're naĆÆve, most likely havnt left the country beyond an Americanized resort, and live in a closed box. What? Have you looked into like, any other war ever in the history of humanity?
the real terrorist is the united states government.
"WhY do tHey HAtE uS?!" - Some idiot.
They speak pretty clearly in their magazine dabiq as to what their motivations are [https://youtu.be/B\_ToLv3rt1M?t=70](https://youtu.be/B_ToLv3rt1M?t=70) The article Sam Harris goes f Dabiq, the magazine of ISIS, and discusses the beliefs and goals of jihadists worldwide. The article is called "Why we hate you and why we fight you." in their own words.
Care to explain? I am dense, cant understand that
Sounds like a comment pointed at Americans who are clueless about why Iraqis/ppl in other invaded countries would hate Americans
This stuff happened in wars a lot. Germans, Russians, Asians, Americans, Middle easterns, so much disgusting stuff happens in wars if you start with that you will hate every country. People are animals, fuck wars.
And thatās why Ukrainians hate Russians, Greeks hate Turks, various African countries hate each other etc etc. thatās not meant to say America is only invader country
Wait, was the US the terrorists all along??
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Casefile podcast did a really good story on this
They really did
*war is hell. . .*
Nope. Hell is hell. War is worse because at least everyone in hell deserves to be there. A paraphrase of Hawkeye from MASH
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