IRAQ

IRAQ
Other developments
U.S. SOLDIER PLEADS GUILTY: One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl last spring and killing her and her family pleaded guilty Wednesday in Fort Campbell, Ky., and agreed to testify against the others. Spc. James P. Barker agreed to the plea deal to avoid the death penalty, said his civilian attorney, David Sheldon. The military judge presiding over the case, Lt. Col. Richard Anderson, asked Barker why he participated in the attack in Mahmoudiya, a village about 20 miles south of Baghdad. It was among the worst in a series of alleged attacks on civilians and other abuses by military personnel in Iraq. "I hated Iraqis, your honor," Barker answered. "They can smile at you, then shoot you in your face without even thinking about it."
MARINE IS SORRY: A Marine told a military court at Camp Pendleton, Calif., at his sentencing Wednesday that he was "very truly sorry" for his role in the killing of an Iraqi civilian last spring. Prosecutors, however, showed a video taken two days after the slaying showing Pfc. John J. Jodka III taking part in profane jokes about killing more people, comments Jodka insisted were just him and his comrades blowing off steam.
U.S. CASUALTY UPDATE: The U.S. military announced the combat deaths of three U.S. Army soldiers and three U.S. Marines on Wednesday, raising the number of American war dead to 2,858. So far this month, 40 American service members have been killed or died in Iraq. The six all died Tuesday, four fighting in the insurgent stronghold of Anbar Province in western Iraq and two whose convoy was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
VICTIMS RELEASED: Kidnappers released about 70 people snatched in a mass abduction in Baghdad by suspected Shiite militiamen who answer to a key backer of the prime minister. Iraqi police, hospital and morgue officials reported 105 new violent deaths Wednesday.
-- Associated Press
COPYRIGHT 2006 ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN, OR REDISTRIBUTED.