Soldier Charged With Murder After Deaf Iraqi Boys' 2007 Deaths

A US soldier has been charged with two counts of premeditated murder following the 2007 deaths of two deaf Iraqi boys, NPR reports. The teen boys—a pair of cattle herders, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review last year reported—had no apparent connection to insurgents and were unarmed when small-kill team leader Michael Barbera allegedly shot them. He also ordered the death of a third boy, telling superiors the teens were insurgents, according to the newspaper. Squad members told Army investigators the story, and investigators said then-Staff Sgt. Barbera, later sergeant first class, should be charged. When military officials rejected the idea, the squad members went to the Tribune-Review. His arraignment is likely to come in early 2014, the paper reports. (More Iraq stories.)