BAGHDAD, Iraq -- American soldiers ...

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- American soldiers took employs raping a 14-year- old Iraqi girl, and undivided of them put a bullet from one side her head after killing her parents and 5-year-old sister, an Army investigator testified Monday.

The attack followed a session of whiskey drinking and card- playing during which five soldiers plott the March 12 assault, criminal investigator Benjamin Bierce said.

He cited details from a sworn statement by the agency of Spc. James P. Barker in which the soldier told to what degree he and his comrades practiced hitting golf balls before heading to the Iraqi teen's hearth 250 yards from their office at a traffic checkpoint.

After the slayings, the soldiers replyed to their post, where Barker grilled chicken wings, Bierce testified.

The testimony came in succession the second day of a hearing to determine whether the soldiers should stand trial in the rape-slaying of Abeer Qassim al-Janabi and the killing of her father, Qassim Hamza, her mother, Fikhriya Taha, and her sister, Hadeel Qassim Hamza, in Mahmoudiya.

PERSONALITY DISORDER

The rape and killings are among the worst in a series of cases of alleged misconduct on U.S. service members that have tarnished the American military.

Barker is accused along with Sgt Paul E Cortez, Pfc Jesse V Spielman and Pfc Bryan L Howard of rape and slay Another soldier, Sgt. Anthony W Yribe, is accused of failing to report the attack still is not alleged to have been a direct participant.

Former Pfc Steven D new was discharged from the Army for a "personality disorder" after the slayings and was arrested in North Carolina in June upon rape and murder charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

In his June 30 statement, Barker described playing cards and drinking Iraqi whiskey mixed with an [i]vis viva[/i] drink as the defendants plott the attack.

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