Since US troops have raped locals in countries like Japan and South Korea where they haven't been at war recently, stories like this in a newly occupied country are not surprising and may well be the tip of the iceberg, especially since Muslim societies have a strong taboo about reporting such things.
For example when West Pakistani troops raped many thousands of East Pakistani women before Bangladesh became independent in 1971, many of the victims were shunned by their families, even though the official line of the Bangladesh government was that such women were war heroines. So the fact that US troops are already being accused of rape in Iraq is, I think, significant.

This should be investigated. For those who think the military authorities can't be relied upon to investigate and bring anyone found guilty to justice - it's either that or nothing so get used to it.

As for American soldiers being capable of rape, I don't doubt it for a second.

Do you doubt Iraqis are capable of lying to discredit the American military?

The number of anti-American lies coming out of Iraq (e.g. the 'looting' of the Baghdad Museum by the U.S., which never happened) I wouldn't believe a word ANYONE said.

I think the point that Realist was making was that it was unsubstantiated.

Ah, but that was not the point "Realist" was making. The key word in his brief response was not "unsubstantiated", but "rubbish". As if US soldiers were incapable of committing atrocities against civilians, a view hardly borne out by 20th century conflicts.
I am not in Iraq any more than "Realist" is so I can't prove the specific incident happened, any more than he/she can prove it did not happen. But when we remember that the Americans took over 50 years to admit that they might have carried out a major massacre of civilians at a specific time and place in the Korean war, I'm not holding my breath for them to admit to the truth of rape allegations made in 2003.

Being an American by nationality, and having lived in the USA all my life, I can assure everyone that rape is extremely common in the USA. It is not at all surprising that this horror is being perpetrated by US soldiers. After all, they are recruited by promises of having access to prostitutes. As the world knows, all US military bases around the world are bordered by prostitutes. A prostitute is a woman (among heterosexuals) who allows herself to be assaulted, also known as raped, for money. Often, a prostitute is coerced into this horrifying occupation. The contempt for women is part of the training of all US soldiers, which is based on the general anti-women culture that exists all around the world. A highly militarized society, which American society is, is by definition a viciously anti-women society.

To all the rest of the world: There is absolutely nothing good in the USA. Please stop coming here. If you have problems in your country, organize the workingclass to fight for socialism. The US is the most backward country in the industrialized world, with the highest infant mortality and lowest life expectancy. We have no national healthcare system funded by the government. Instead, most of us have private insurance, which for most people is grossly inadequate. We have some 45 million people (out of 287 million) who have no insurance whatsoever. They are forced to use emergency rooms at public hospitals, which are seriously underfunded. The only leadership the US provides is being first in military hardware. The price we pay is in lack of social services, a rotting school system, use of the death penalty, a growing prison-concentration camp system, a viciously undemocratic electoral system and a complete breakdown of civil society. All of this is because labor is very weak. American labor is only 13% organized and the so-called unions are mostly company unions. There is no class consciousness, labor consciousness or socialist consciousness among most American workers. Most Americans are preoccupied with sports, garbage movies and rock and roll music. Politics of any kind, much less labor organizing, or even reading a newspaper on a daily basis, are not part of the lives of most Americans.

I was somewhat taken aback by "Socialist's" comments, but I'll address the crux of what was egregiously inaccurate and incorrect.

Rape is NOT common in the U.S., and for what there is it's not tolerated and aggressively prosecuted. Rape is something that does happen here, as it does in every country, but there is no tolerance for it whatsoever. Rape is an egregious crime and anyone guilty of it merits extraordinary punishment. To make the comment that it's common here is mind boggling, and reflects a sense of reality that I can assure anyone reading this is not shared by the average American.

Having spent 22 years of my life in the U.S. military I can also state with absolute assurance that rape is no more condoned in the military than it is in the society at large. Military members found guilty of this crime are punished severely, and in this particular case this would be especially the case. Had a rape occurred in Iraq I'm VERY sure that the perpetrators would have been found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of military law. Under any circumstances this is a horrible act, but in this particular situation American soldiers raping, and then killing one and being responsible for the death of the other Iraqi woman would be a public relations disaster.

I didn't and still don't support this war, but I can well enough see that any crime such as this would be something that all concerned would prosecute swiftly, severely and very publicly to ensure that everyone got the message. The idea that 18 soldiers engaged in this sort of action and got away with it is absurd. The western news media that opposed the war would have jumped on this, and the middle eastern media would have been very much on top of it. No one's reporting this and given the opportunity that such a report would provide to give the U.S. a black eye I can only assume that ethical journalists from non-U.S. news agencies haven't found a story, primarily because the whole notion that this would happen is a bit on the absurd side.

As for the U.S. military's attitude toward women, I would suggest that Socialist get out there and talk to some military folks, something he/she's likely loathe to do given our traditional lack of class consiousness and concern with unions. Any force 15% comprised of a given group of people can ill afford to treat those folks with the disdain and contempt that socialist would like to believe is the case.

I agree with socialist, Rape is American not by culture but by way of life, horror, action and fantasy are all now americans and sure young men in the army always think of those as part of Hollywood way of life

why its strange that many US soldiers may raped Iraqi women ?!! How many Female US soldiers have been raped by their colleagues ?!!!