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TechnoratiArmy to Probe 5 Slayings Linked to Colorado Brigade
DENVER - Fort Carson soldiers returning from deployment in Iraq are suspects in at least five slayings, and officials want to know why.
Commander Maj. Gen. Mark Graham announced Friday a task force will examine any commonalities in the five killings, all allegedly committed by soldiers from the post's 4th Brigade Combat Team in the past 14 months. A sixth BCT soldier faces an attempted murder charge.
"We have many great young Americans in our Army who have volunteered to serve during a time of war, almost all of whom are great citizens," Graham said in a statement. "However, we too are very concerned about these horrible acts."
Fort Carson also plans to re-screen about 1,200 soldiers from the brigade for potential physical or mental health problems.
Earlier Friday, Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar asked Army Secretary Pete Geren to investigate the slayings. Officials learned of the latest on Monday, when Spc. Robert Hull Marko, 21, led investigators to the body of 19-year-old Judilianna "Judi" Lawrence, whom he met on the social networking Web site MySpace, according to an arrest affidavit released Tuesday.
The affidavit said Marko told investigators he had violent sex with Lawrence before slitting her throat and leaving her to die in the foothills west of Colorado Springs. His next court appearance is Monday.
The issue of homicides by combat-stressed veterans gained national prominence in January, after The New York Times reported that at least 121 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans had committed a killing in the United States or been charged in one.
Karen Linne, a spokeswoman for Fort Carson, said commanders two months ago ordered squad leaders and team leaders to reevaluate soldiers to see if they need additional help following concerns raised after another soldier from the unit was linked to a double slaying.
Pfc. Jomar Dionisio Falu-Vives, 24, and Spc. Rodolfo Torres-Gandarilla, 20, face attempted murder charges in the May 26 wounding of Capt. Zachary Zsody, who was shot twice while standing at an intersection. An arrest affidavit released in August said an AK-47 used in the Zsody case was found in Falu-Vives' apartment and it was also used in the June 6 deaths of two people gunned down on the street while putting up signs for a garage sale.
Killed were Cesar Ramirez Ibanez, 21, and Amairany Cervantes, 28. Prosecutors filed murder charges against Falu-Vives on Sept. 15.
Three other members of the unit were accused in the slayings of two soldiers. Bruce Bastien Jr. was sentenced last month to 60 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to accessory to murder in the December shooting death of Kevin Shields, and conspiracy to commit murder in the August 2007 death of Robert James.
Bastien, and co-defendant Kenneth Eastridge, both agreed to testify against fellow Iraq war veteran Louis Bressler, the alleged triggerman.
Eastridge pleaded guilty July 11 to accessory to murder in Shields' death and will be sentenced Nov. 3. Bressler is scheduled to go on trial in the Shield slaying Nov. 3, while his trial in the James homicide is scheduled for Dec. 1.
"Those who committed these violent crimes should be brought to justice," said Salazar. "But these tragedies also raise a number of questions from the backgrounds and service records of these soldiers, to whether they received waivers to enter the service, to the adequacy of mental health screening and treatment within the Army."
Falu-Vives and Torres-Gandarilla, accused together in one case and Bastien, Bressler and Eastridge, accused in the two slayings, served in Iraq last year with the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Brigade Combat Team. There weren't any immediate indications that both sets of men knew each other.
Marko was a mortarman with Charlie Company, 3rd Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, of the 4th BCT and served from February 2007 until February of this year.
30 Comments so far
Show AllFrom the third presidential debate:
MCCAIN: We need to encourage programs such as Teach for America and Troops to Teachers where people, after having served in the military, can go right to teaching and not have to take these examinations which -- or have the certification that some are required in some states.
He thinks that we can cut veterans benefits and put these guys in a classroom with our children? Clearly this is a man who's out of touch with reality.
We need to do these soldiers right and get them the help that they need to return to society.
title should read: army to probe hundreds of thousands of slayings in iraq.
How many of these killings can be laid at the 'commander-in chief's' doorstep?
There have only been some 4000 Americans killed there. How would there be hundreds of thousands of slayings if there were only 4000 killed?
Idiot.
i was referring to the iraqis..........stupid
No wonder Common Dreams has lost readership. Reading the drivel in these comments is almost as funny as smoking dope and watching T.V. with the sound turned off.
Thanks for the laughs. :)
Fucking turnip heads.
The should let these guys lose in the halls of Congress, they would be doing a great service for their country.
Anyone else having a "problem" with the Colin Powell endorsement of Obama?
Powell was the "liberals" last hope! We al hoped he would bring sanity to this crazy ass administration! Instead he went right along. I about lost my cookies when I saw him in front of of the UN with that little bottle....
He was a four star, and couldve had alot of influence. To be honest, I thought that he should lose his rank!
The "Presidential Medals of Freedom" will never be an honor again!
BTW--I remember my dad (now passed) saying that Powell should run for president--he blew that in my eyes!
People volunteer for military service during times of war simply because they want the chance to legaly murder people....period. fucking psychos
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
How would you know??
Most people stuck there by "stop loss" were there before the start of the war. Unless you come from a very poor part of the country, I suggset you judge not lest ye be judged.
What did you do to stop the war? We are all responsible for this, and, until we accept that, we will just demonize the soldiers, who, while culpible for their own actions, are not responsible for this war.Soldiers are an easy target. Why dont you go after the Big Boys,.
Bush, Congress and the Am peopel are. Including you and me.
Kdelphi,
I am not responsible for any of the shit that has gone down in the last eight years. If you have a Jesus complex that is your problem, chump.
Of course you are if you are a citizen. If you aren't then your opinion is nice, but not really relevant.
If you are a US citizen, and you pay taxes, and you feel that you are "not responsible for anything"--you are simply mistaken.
This govt could not be doing what it is now, if enough people had teh balls (and money) to protest. the reason I protested HERE (and there were scant few of us here in Ohio, I can tell you!) it that I cannot afford to go to DC or NY.
You get arrested and fingerprinted , just the same,. They drop charges (they never have a case in the first place) But spending a night in a cell in Dayton, with guards telling you what a traitor you are and how you "help kill people in NYC" --when you have a sister living there--was not fun.
I am NOT a "chump". I refrain from calling you names, when I disagree. Grow up.
But, I still did not do enough.
BTW--Powell is a war criminal , too.
John J. Coghlan
What did you do to stop the war? We are all responsible for this, and, until we accept that, we will just demonize the soldiers, who, while culpible for their own actions, are not responsible for this war. Soldiers are an easy target. Why dont you go after the Big Boys,.
I am not, in any way, responsible for this war. May be you are, and may be the people who believed George Bush was their elected president did. May be the fools who believed the ridiculous story about what happened on 9/11 helped to start this war. May be the jerks who sit in front of the TV set sucking up all the propaganda are responsible. But I, and millions of other people who have apposed the Bush Administration from the beginning, are not responsible. What did we do to stop it? I have marched on Washington, marched in New York, written to Congress regularly. I have attended meetings and rallies. I have also made films, and photographic essays, and I am in contact with people every day, exchanging ideas on how we can force an end to this war. I often think that I have not done enough.
The Big Boys are the ones that we are going after. It certainly would be unjust to blame our troops. They are as much victims as the people that they have invaded. I stated before that soldiers main job is to kill people. Many people do not join the military to do that. Because of high tuition costs joining the military is often the only way the children of working people can get an education. Most of the first solderers sent to the Middle East were members of the National Guard. These folks never signed up to fight a war. They joined to help out in emergencies, and to provide disaster relief. The people who should held accountable, and tried for war crimes are, most of the members of the United States Congress, Most of the Bush Administration, and many of the heads of our Newspapers, and Television Networks. Without the full cooperation of the Media, and the gullibility of their audience, this war would not have happened.
If I see it YOUR way--I am not rsepoinsible for ANY of it!! I have NEVER voted for the GOP. I was arrested protesting the invasion of Iraq. But one of the problems with the US is that, peope like to complain about it, but will vote in peope who wil openly admit that they wil CONTINUE the uS war crimes!
I am with you John--these bastersds in DC should all be tried for war crimes. But who is going to do that?Obama? Pelosi? Reid? No fucking way...
Who will complaing about paying taxes for the vets care? Everyone. Who will say we can tafford it? The sane goddamn capitalists that we just gave $850 bilion to!!
Dog--I dont have "jesus complex"--Im an atheist. I just get tired of people in the uS blaming easy targets. No on in p0wer seems to have the balls to go after the real ctriminals. If individual soldiers committed crimse--they shoudl be tried also. But to blame individuals, although many are "volunteer" (stop loss is only ONE of the reason that this is BS), seems cowardly, and to be going down the same path we did with Vietnam vets.
I wil not do that again.
John J. Coghlan
Soldiers are professional killers. That is what their job is. They are recruited and trained to kill. All of a sudden a few of them start killing people in the wrong place, and Commander Maj. Gen. Mark Graham becomes very concerned about these horrible acts. I guess when he talks about the wonderful great citizens, and the many great young Americans in our Army, he is talking about the soldiers who only kill people in the designated areas, like Iraq, and Afghanistan. How hypocritical.
Expect more of this in the coming days weeks months, and for many years.
This is the price a "Nation Must Pay to bring Democracy to others"-----
yada yada yada...
Taking into consideration that the Dept of Veterans Affairs, spends 90 Billion (2008) to deliver what most agree are inadequate services to a relatively small number of Veterans 7.8 Million, then they are going to have some major problems in the coming years from this latest "war of liberation". Combat in general is stressful, but urban combat is well known to be the most stressful----and these young men and women are in situations that the US Military has not experienced on this scale ever before-----------they are fighting very dedicated Guerrilla fighters ---in urban terrain. This equates very quickly to a very low tolerance for frustration and a virtual disregard for human (or any other for that matter) life.
So here's a news flash for the conservative element to consider----
if you have a tire that needs to be changed do you wait for it to go flat, or do you change it before hand?
If you have the slightest forewarning of a problem you are a fool not to take steps to avoid the problem---so here is a major problem----just beginning to make its "prior notice"-----I wonder how many are listening?
Has everyone forgotten that this "war" and occupation in Iraq and Afganistan is illegal. It is and has been a war crime.
If these used up and disturbed soldiers are being convicted and imprisoned for murder. When will the leadership who put them in the circumstances to commit those crimes be tried and put in prison? Oh, never. What a double standard we have here.
OK, we know those soldiers are scapegoats.
Yes, they are scapegoats, but, I hardly think that most vets come home and meet another soldier on the internet, violently rape them and slit their throat. Did you guys read the entire article?
We know that all branches of military have "lowered their standards" and are offering citizenship and huge bonuses.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/10/01/ING42LCIGK1.DTL
(There are a bunch more)
The Army granted IQ waivers to 511 recruist and the Marines to 350.
The Marines have all but droped the high school diploma requirement.
There is a "significant increase in the Army of waivers for serious criminal misconduct".(see above) "..including aggravated assault, robbery, behicular manslaughter, receiving stoeln property, and making TERRORIST THREATS" (shades of McVey>??)
1 fifth to 3 fifths of recruits (Army ) are in the lowest quintile on iQ scores (Stanford Binet) (median 92) 100 is median (average)of the population, with former standards for Marines at 115. (you know, the Bell curve--85-115 are all "within normal limits", but , that dosetn mean that they arent lowering standards.) The violent offenses are much more worrisome.
The military's own studies show that recruits who are less educated or who have a long history of trouble with the law, have about a 40% greater chance of involving themselvse or others around them, in "bad actions" (That is what it says--surmise what you will)or "end up in trouble".
They are also recruiting peope who are drug addicted, abuse alcohol , "poorly fit" and PREGNANT!
Google "military recruititng standards in all volunteer force since Iraq War II".
Only check one or two of the military's own sites.
*LOL*
Yeah...we keep forgetting that...maybe because its Horseshit
Swallow this horseshit SnowWolf.
http://www.robincmiller.com/ir-legal.htm
http://www.representativepress.org/ViolatingInternationalLaw.html
http://www.geocities.com/lokrajsangathan/pages2/vTK5720.htm
There is no way to Peace. Peace is the Way.
Oh, I see, then, Congress actually did declare war on Iraq and Afghanistan? I must have missed that. Because, in spite of the bad precedents of Korea and Vietnam and countless other conflicts or "police actions" the wars are illegal unless declared by Congress. Yes, I know the constitution is now considered to be nothing more than a god damned piece of paper but its still theoretically in effect. Iraq and Afghanistan are illegal wars of aggression.
-- EKATON --
The most powerful terrorist group in the world is funded by the American tax-payer and directed by the Bush administration.
They are all war criminals.
But how do we convict them?
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/449.html
It's bad enough that the military is reluctant to admit to, let alone treat, post traumatic stress in veterans. The empire must also recruit young men of questionable background. Gang members are enlisting to receive firearms and organizational training to bring back to the streets.
The part of this imperial military equation that most disturbs me is this. The first Gulf War incubated the paranoia of Tim McVeigh. How many more disturbed vets from the current conflicts are falling through the cracks only to emerge later in their own particular blaze of glory?
http://davedubya.com
This just in. The USA is an extremely violent nation. There are something like 40,000 gun deaths a year in this country. Whats a couple hundred more? Its simply part of the price of keeping America free, don't you know? One is now able to die for his country without even enlisting. Just piss off a returning war veteran. The families of those murdered should be proud of their relatives sacrifice for their country.
-- EKATON --
These men were indoctrinated and taught to kill whatever moves. Now, they have returned home and are expected to turn the switch on and off like a light bulb. "This is not a way to put an end to war"....and violence. The change will come...maybe not in my lifetime...but truth and peace will eventually prevail, despite the Satanic rule of this and other governments.
I worked at a Vet Center, and, it is extremely difficult to "turn off", and becomse worse, as these people are generally forgotten (they will be) and ignored by a society that is too tax phobic to take care of them.
We have to give that money to Wall St. instead.
BTW--to ALL NEO-CONS--I NEVER want to hear that "we cannot afford" ANYTHING again!!
To CD editor: Um, I think you mean "slayings" not "sayings" in the headline.