Update in Soldier Rape and Murder Case in Iraq

One of the soldiers is accepting a plea bargain.  From USA Today:

One of four U.S. soldiers accused of raping an Iraqi girl last spring and killing her and her family pleaded guilty Wednesday and will testify against the others.
Spc. James P. Barker agreed to the plea deal to avoid the death penalty, said his civilian attorney, David Sheldon.

Talkleft connects the case to the larger struggle over the uneasy relationship between the United States and international law:

To prove we believe in the concept of international law, however, we have to try punish own who have been found guilty of war crimes. If not, the superiors who condone or refuse to act are themselves guilty of violations of the Geneva Convention, which Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said was so "quaint" that it could be made "flexible" out of existence. MSNBC has an excellent piece on the Roots of Torture. 

We have already treaded dangerously close to the edge of the limits of the Geneva Convention, if not already falling over it, in torturing people for information.

If a factually verifiable prosecution of soldiers for unjustified homicide and a never justifiable rape is not pursued, then we are the bad guys, too.