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US Sergeant Robert Bales Charged With Afghan Massacre Of 17 Civilians

The Huffington Post UK  |  By Posted: 23/03/2012 06:54 Updated: 23/03/2012 06:58

Robert Bales
Sergeant Robert Bales Will Be Charged For Killing 17 Afghans

US Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is to be charged with 17 counts of murder in the Afghan massacre, a US official said.

The soldier is accused of attacking Kandahar villagers in their homes and faces the death penalty if convicted.

Bales will also be charged with six counts of assault and attempted murder.

Despite Afghan insistence, Bales is currently the only suspect. He will have a full list of charges read to him later on Friday, at the military Fort Leavenworth Prison in Kansas.

Bales' lawyer claims his client remembers "very little" of the mass killing spree.

According to John Henry Brown, the "decorated soldier" was unhappy about embarking on a fourth tour of duty and had previously recieved brain injuries while serving in Iraq.

Brown insisted there was no forensic evidence to prove the guilt of his client.

"I don’t know about the evidence in this case. I don’t know that the government is going to prove much. There is no forensic evidence. There is no confession," he said."

On Friday, a Taliban spokesperson told Reuters news agency the group did not trust the trial and would "certainly take revenge" on American forces in Afghanistan.

Nine children and three women were among those killed on 11 March, shot as they slept in their beds. Four men were also killed and five others were wounded.

At the time of the massacre, Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai described the attacks as "impossible to forgive", saying in a statement on Sunday:

"When Afghan people are killed deliberately by US forces this action is murder and terror and an unforgivable action."

The shootings followed an "unintentional incident" in February when US soldiers burned copies of the Qur'an holy book, which resulted in an Afghan soldier shooting dead two American militaries.

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US Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is to be charged with 17 counts of murder in the Afghan massacre, a US official said. The soldier is accused of attacking Kandahar villagers in their homes and faces ...
US Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is to be charged with 17 counts of murder in the Afghan massacre, a US official said. The soldier is accused of attacking Kandahar villagers in their homes and faces ...
 
 
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Delparc
3 Fans
11:12 PM on 03/23/2012
If the Sergeant left camp armed and on his own how was his departure not observed? If he used his weapon to kill was the contents of its magazine examined when arrested? Were any bullets obtained from the scene that could be connected to the weapon carried by the Sergeant? Was his clothing examined immediately after arrest? How did he manage to get back into his compound; was he seen by others and what was his condition? Does he sleep alone or in company and when he dressed to leave did others notice him? Did he require the authority of his CO to leave the compound on any occasion and especially when alone? It looks as if others will be called to account for the Sergeant's movements which happened, was it during the 'wee sma' hours? Was a written statement obtained from the Sergeant when arrested? How many others might bear guilt for this Sergeant's actions; those who should have seen him and wondered? Was he under medication? Many questions in search of answers. This incident does not appear to be normal behaviour nor the conduct of a veteran soldier. There has to be extenuating circumstances which is the reason why he was returned to his home territory. To have placed him in the custody of the Afghanistans would be like handing him over to the 'lynch mob'. He is more certain to find justice among his own more civilised people who trained him to kill.
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wincanton man
110 Fans
10:04 AM on 03/24/2012
An intelligent post asking many of the questions that the "hang him high", brigade should be asking before they condemn Sergeant Bales out of hand.
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CharlesBrown008
91 Fans
08:16 PM on 03/23/2012
"I don’t know about the evidence in this case. I don’t know that the government is going to prove much. There is no forensic evidence. There is no confession," he said."

I don't think it will matter to the military if there is no evidence. If there is a good probability that this soldier didn't act alone, he will get the firing squad. There is no way they would give him a chance to write a book about his part in a 'revenge sortie'. His best defense would be to 'confess' to all of the killings, and hope that he would be sent to a mental institution.
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Saucy Toms
0 Fans
04:48 PM on 03/23/2012
While it's true, there could be other circumstances involved that lead to this guy to massacre 17 people, but the details of his past are concerning. He already displayed an anger problem with a former relationship and the biggest problem I have with this guy is the fact he was found guilty of defrauding people. Wow, that alone should have made him ineligible for duty. Morals like that is not the kind of guy you want holding a gun with a license to kill. Is this what the Army has to choose from in the U.S.? Everyday this Country shows its ever faster decline.
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wincanton man
110 Fans
06:46 PM on 03/23/2012
It may have escaped you, but the armed forces need men and women prepared to and capable of killing others, you are unlikely to find these sort of persons running youth clubs.
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Torontotoad
48 Fans
02:00 PM on 03/23/2012
Meanwhile, the Afghans are insisting they have witnesses saying there were mulitple shooters.

We hear that many of the 16, including the children, were shot as they slept in their beds. This would, of course, require multiple shooters and a synchronized attack, as the first shots of a lone gunman would likely wake the entire village.

Is the military convering a much larger conspiracy with the old tried and true 'lone nut theory...”
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HisScaliness
90 Fans
03:11 PM on 03/23/2012
It would indeed, but the entire village would very sensibly stay indoors in order not to get caught up in a shooting incident. You cannot tell from indoors exactly what is happening elsewhere in the night. It does not need to have been more than one murderer at all.

Leaving such mad conspiracy theories aside, the real issue is being ignored on this thread, which is simply this:

This is not a military criminal offence, it is a civil criminal offence. normal practice is to hand soldiers over to the civilian authorities for trial. Why is this not being done here?

It seems as if yet another US soldier is going to get a light sentence - much lighter than if he had gone berserk outside Fort Bragg killing 16 US citizens. In that circumstance he would be locked up and never get out, or else be executed.

£10 says he gets less than 10 years.
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Roger Cottrell
95 Fans
01:00 PM on 03/23/2012
It had to happen - the Afghan War's equivalent of the My Lai massacre. Was Bales enacting US policy in carrying out this atrocity as the Taliban cliam? Of course not. But the policy of brutalizing the civilian population of Afghanistan since the invasion (on the pretext of 9/11) in 2001, through extraordinary rendition, torture, drone attacks, etc., was bound to lead to this kind of thing the moment that battle fatigue was thrown into the lethal mix. It now seems that the US adminsitration lied about its motives in invading Afghanistan as surely as it lied aboiut WMD and al-Qaida links in Iraq. Given that it was all about oil and strategic access to the Caspian Shield the Iranians were never going to be called upon to help tackle the Taliban and as Rumsfeld was against "nation bulding" you could kiss goodbye to any contructive economic or political initiatives. By 2005 they were trying to soften up the Taliban for a negotiated settlement by repression alone and t's this that provides the sordid background to ths grubby incident. He should stand trial in Afghanistan and as for the US-British deployment, things are fast going beyond a point where, in being part of the problem, they might still be part of the solution. Another military and political failure to be clocked up by a declining Imperialism.
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TEMPLAR73
55 Fans
10:32 AM on 03/23/2012
The US army should be on trial, for sending a very sick human being to serve in combat when he has BEEN injured during previous combat and clearly suffering from PTSD and or possible ICP.
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Tony Booth
55 Fans
10:21 AM on 03/23/2012
i suspect that he was 'persuaded' to take 'just one more tour' by bribery or threats from above. these are the people who are ultimately responsible for this man's mental decay and who should be investigated. the US is short of experienced soldiers in war zones but sending them back time after time is asking for this kind of trouble.
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sgillhoolley
Occupy the discussion.
356 Fans
01:27 PM on 03/23/2012
He is a soldier...I doubt he was given a choice at all.

Support the troops, end war.
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Tony Booth
55 Fans
01:49 PM on 03/23/2012
he could have been given a 'softer' posting but i suspect that experienced soldiers are too valuable to the brass not to use in combat. he could have been offered extra benefits to go back and looking at reports of his past life and financial turmoil i suspect a money angle.

i'm with you on supporting the troops though, they're doing what they're told, it's the tellers we should be prosecuting. bring the boys home and stop colonial wars.
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tetleys
73 Fans
02:38 PM on 03/23/2012
Probably the best post on here, well said!
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Equestrienne85
14 Fans
10:19 AM on 03/23/2012
"Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room!"
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rabidrightwatch
Green lefty & active environmentalist
2974 Fans
10:08 AM on 03/23/2012
Without the full facts, it's difficult to be precise, but assessing the geography of events, it seems inconceivable to me that only one murderer was involved... I hope the US military authorities investigate the matter thoroughly, although to 'discover' that a rogue soldier had done all this alone, would be extremely convenient; much more convenient than to find that several rogue soldiers were working in unison, for example?

How different the scenario in Toulouse currently; a single gunman, on three separate occasions, kiills seven people - the French authorities are concentrating on finding accomplices...

Strange how the two incidents, similar in many ways, are being investigated in very different ways..
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Rob Vann
Hope for the best,Plan for the worst,Take what cms
206 Fans
11:57 AM on 03/23/2012
The American military already know how many were involved.. the real question is it a lie or the truth. This smells like My Lai. No one is going there if they can peddle a plausible alternative
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rabidrightwatch
Green lefty & active environmentalist
2974 Fans
05:20 PM on 03/23/2012
..I fear you're right... My Lai all over again..?? I sincerely hope not, but...
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mokgee
Sabu.Satsang, Samsara, Solitude...
132 Fans
08:29 AM on 03/23/2012
This is a very sad situation for the people who were killed in their beds, there are no words to fit this horror of war. The Al Queda killer in France, who also took innocent lives, which was premeditated. He took advantage of being in a democratic country to commit his dastardly deeds. Sadly, the American soldier was driven to his act of killing by his altered state of mind. Let us be totally correct here, the Taliban, do not need any excuse to kill, they do it naturally to anyone, even their own people. So whatever they say matters not, they are pure evil without compassion. Then again, it is their country to do as they like under their chosen politics. It is not the right of any Western nation to interfere with their political process. The soldiers they sent to do their dirty work, are the ones who have to live with the fear and horror of death every living moment. And please, do not use the old Chestnut of, it is what they signed up to do. They have no idea who the real enemy is in that hostile country, and that is enough to send anyone over the top.......
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Rickykwak
19 Fans
08:40 AM on 03/23/2012
Closer to Home we didnt know who the Enemy was in NI either m8, Thank God theres some kind of Peace there, i dont think there ever will be in Afghan or Iraq!!
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mokgee
Sabu.Satsang, Samsara, Solitude...
132 Fans
08:57 AM on 03/23/2012
The evil we believed existed in NI, became a kind of understandable reason for injustices going on in the country. We were only being given one sided information by the corrupt politicians on both sides. The evil that those people were supposed to represent, are now politicians themselves, with their injustices appeased. The countries you mention, have no real idea what they are killing for, even so, both are inexcusable in many ways we will never understand.....
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nete peedham
154 Fans
 
02:51 PM on 03/23/2012
Do you prefer your kool-aid red, white, and blue?
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mokgee
Sabu.Satsang, Samsara, Solitude...
132 Fans
03:46 PM on 03/23/2012
Any order of colour will do, as long as they are the representing colours of the Union. Why what is your question, it is very vague with a question mark, explain your self man...
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