Military court hears of combat stress in Iraq rape case

BAGHDAD - A US military court deciding whether four soldiers should be court-martialled for rape and murder heard on Tuesday how troops were "driven nuts" by combat stress and got high on Iraqi cough syrup.

Private First Class Justic Cross described how conditions "pretty much crushed the platoon", which lived in constant fear of being killed in the Mahmudiya area south of Baghdad where the rape and murders took place in March.

"It drives you nuts. You feel like every step you might get blown up. You just hit a point where you're like, 'If I die today, I die'. You're just walking a death walk," he said.

On Monday, the court at Camp Liberty heard graphic testimony of how three of the soldiers took turns raping a 14-year-old Iraqi girl before murdering her and her family.

The case has outraged Iraqis and led Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to call for a review of foreign troops' immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law.

Mahmudiya is part of what Iraqis call the "Triangle of Death" for its frequent attacks and kidnappings by insurgents and al Qaeda militants.

Private First Class Jesse Spielman, 21, Specialist James Barker, 23, Sergeant Paul Cortez, 23 and Private First Class Bryan Howard, 19, face charges of rape and murder among others.

If court-martialled after the Article 32 hearing -- the military's equivalent of a US grand jury -- and found guilty, they could face the death penalty. The hearing began on Sunday and is expected to last several days.

Private Steven Green, 21, faces the same charges in a US federal court in Kentucky, home of the 502nd Infantry Regiment, his former unit. Green, who has pleaded not guilty, was discharged from the army for a "personality disorder".

Asked by a defence attorney if it was possible that Green committed the rape and murders on his own, Cross said: "Green does nothing by himself."

Cross told the hearing how soldiers took Iraqi cough syrup which "makes you feel high" to relieve stress.

"Everybody was very depressed. It was (an) outlet to release," he said.

An Iraqi army medic told the hearing on Sunday he entered the house and found the body of 14-year-old Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi naked and burned from the waist up, with a single bullet wound beneath her left eye.

A fifth soldier, Sergeant Anthony Yribe, is charged with dereliction of duty and making a false statement.

The hearing continues.

- REUTERS