Background
Abeer Qassim Hamza al-Janabi (عبير قاسم حمزه الجنابي) (February 28, 1992 – March 12, 2006), 14, lived with her mother and father (Fakhriya Taha Muhasen, 34, and Qassim Hamza Raheem, 45, respectively) and their three other children: 6-year-old daughter Hadeel Qassim Hamza, 11-year-old son Mohammed, and his 9-year-old younger brother Ahmed. Their house was situated approximately 200 meters (220 yd) from a six-man U.S. traffic checkpoint, southwest of the village of Yusufiyah, which lies west of the larger township of Al-Mahmudiyah (in the coalition-termed area "Triangle of Death").
According to her neighbours, Abeer spent most of her days at home, as her parents would not allow her to go to school because of security concerns. From their checkpoint, the soldiers would often watch Abeer doing her chores and tending the garden. The neighbors had warned Abeer's father of this, but he replied it was not a problem as she was just a small girl.
Abeer's brother Mohammed (who along with his younger brother was at school at the time of the killings and thus survived) recalls that the soldiers often searched the house. On one such occasion, Green ran his index finger down Abeer's cheek, an action which had terrified her.
Abeer's mother told her relatives before the murders that, whenever she caught the soldiers staring at Abeer, they would give her the thumbs-up sign, point to her daughter and say "Very good, very good." Evidently this had concerned her and she made plans for Abeer to spend nights sleeping at her uncle's (Ahmad Qassim's) house. According to an affidavit later filed by the FBI, Green discussed raping the girl in the days preceding the event.
The 101st Airborne Division's 502nd Infantry Regiment had been posted at the edge of the 'Triangle of Death' and had been losing one soldier per week. It has been described as a severely undermanned operation that sustained severe casualties in a very short time.
Read more about this topic: Mahmudiyah Killings
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