Suspect in Afghan Massacre to face multiple murder and assault charges
41 replies, posted
[url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57402928/afghan-suspect-to-face-murder-assault-charges/]Source[/url]
[quote]WASHINGTON - Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged with 17 counts of murder, assault and a string of other offenses in the massacre of Afghan villagers as they slept, a U.S. official said and CBS News has confirmed.
The charges signed against Bales include 17 counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder and six counts of aggravated assault as well as dereliction of duty and other violations of military law, the official said on condition of anonymity because the charges had not been announced.
The 38-year-old soldier and father of two who lives in Lake Tapps, Wash., is charged with going on a shooting rampage in two villages near his Southern Afghanistan military post in the early hours of March 11, gunning down nine Afghan children and eight adults and burning some of the victims' bodies.
The charges are likely to be to be read to Bales on Friday, pending the signature of a commanding officer and other legal steps. He is being held in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and faces trial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.[/quote]
I say we give him the rope.
[QUOTE=Zillamaster55;35258545]I say we give him the rope.[/QUOTE]
No.
What he did was horrible, and inexcusable.
But, we need to realise what kind of shit we put so many young men through.
[quote]The 38-year-old soldier and father of two who lives in Lake Tapps, Wash., is charged with going on a shooting rampage in two villages near his Southern Afghanistan military post in the early hours of March 11, gunning down nine Afghan children and eight adults and burning some of the victims' bodies.[/quote]
Seriously?
Why the dumbs?
[QUOTE=NoDachi;35258558]No.
What he did was horrible, and inexcusable.
But, we need to realise what kind of shit we put so many young men through.[/QUOTE]
Why, the young servicemen themselves shouldn't realize what kind of shit they are up for in Iraq or wherever?
We should execute him it's obvious he's just a psycho and not broken mentally!!
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;35258668]Why, the young servicemen themselves shouldn't realize what kind of shit they are up for in Iraq or wherever?[/QUOTE]
How could you?
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;35258668]Why, the young servicemen themselves shouldn't realize what kind of shit they are up for in [B]Iraq[/B] or wherever?[/QUOTE]
You didn't even [I]try[/I] to read the title, did you?
Execute him. We don't need such trash.
this guy went through shit and had a complete breakdown
you can't justify execution for that
[QUOTE=NoDachi;35258558]No.
What he did was horrible, and inexcusable.
But, we need to realise what kind of shit we put so many young men through.[/QUOTE]
Having been trough your fair share of shit isn't and shouldn't be a get out alive card.
[QUOTE=kaskade700;35259004]Having been trough your fair share of shit isn't and shouldn't be a get out alive card.[/QUOTE]
because extreme emotional trauma has no long-lasting effects on mental health, right?
[QUOTE=kaskade700;35259004]Having been trough your fair share of shit isn't and shouldn't be a get out alive card.[/QUOTE]
I'm sorry. But this isn't 1914.
You don't throw people against the wall for flipping shit.
In fact you shouldn't do that for... well anything.
don't go if you are concerned about flipping shit, getting killed, or seeing your fellow army mates getting killed, and maybe flipping shit because of that?
not saying they should execute the guy, but to me it sounds like a hate crime of sorts. he probably had a friend who died there so that's why he went and killed innocent Afghan people out of anger. So he should get like life imprisonment.
Of course he is a murderer, and of course he should get life imprisonment or psychiatric care - that's not for me to decide.
But to say there is no responsibility beyond this one man is borderline ridiculous. I'm honestly not surprised this happens when a generation of innocent young men, with their heads full of misguided high abstractions like Honour, Glory, and what ever, went off to a war to make the world safe for democracy. ... and are slaughtered in stupid battles planned by stupid Generals and Politicians. Those who survive are shocked, disillusioned, and embittered by their war experiences.
The people who serve have to make life or death decisions almost everyday where as most of you have to choose raisin bran or chex. They see things that no young man should ever see. Some people don't know how to deal with the stress and as much as we try to weed out those who would break under the stress sometimes they make it through anyways. I just want you guys to know this and put yourself in that position instead of making lazy calls from your chair.
^ obviously, and it's not like we are talking about shit like WWI (which left a lot of ppl borderline traumatized for life.)
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;35259386]^ obviously, and it's not like we are talking about shit like WWI (which left a lot of ppl borderline traumatized for life.)[/QUOTE]
You do realise how stressful low-intensity conflicts are?
My cousin was traumatised in bosnia, and he never was shot at or shot in return.
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;35259386]^ obviously, and it's not like we are talking about shit like WWI (which left a lot of ppl borderline traumatized for life.)[/QUOTE]
i hardly believe you have the qualifications to make blanket statements about mental trauma
especially if you think that the worst people got from WWI was "borderline traumatized"
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;35259386]^ obviously, and it's not like we are talking about shit like WWI (which left a lot of ppl borderline traumatized for life.)[/QUOTE]
A survey conducted by Litz et al. [9] of 3461 active duty personnel deployed in Somalia 5 months after their return to the US revealed that 18% had PTSD.
He shouldn't be executed because death penalty is hypocritical and backwards, it's a terrible punishment that not be exercised no matter the circumstances, not because "he just couldn't take it anymore thus he should be exonerated from it"
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;35258988]Execute him. We don't need such trash.[/QUOTE]
Yes. Execute him. Then we're better than him, right? /sarcasm
It's funny how people are still using the PTSD excuse for the guy despite how light was shown on his past.
[quote]Bales joined the Army in 2001 after a Florida investment business failed and after he had worked with a string of securities operations. Bales and a broker at one company were hit in 2003 with a $1.5 million arbitration ruling after an elderly couple charged that their holdings were decimated.[/quote]
Also,
[quote]He also was arrested in 2002 for the drunken assault of a casino security guard and had to complete an anger management class. There also are reports of a second incident involving alcohol, although Bales was never formally charged.
A sheriff's department report released Thursday says Robert Bales was accused in 2008 in Washington state of shaking hands with a woman, pulling her hand into his crotch and then punching and kicking her boyfriend. It described Bales as "extremely intoxicated."[/quote]
[url]http://news.yahoo.com/army-sergeant-charged-afghan-killings-081156337.html[/url]
And
[quote]Liebschner filed a complaint against Bales in May 2000, claiming Bales took his life savings of $852,000 in AT&T stock and through a series of trades reduced its value to nothing.
The Ohio retiree recalled Bales as a "smooth talker." Asked if he regarded Bales as a con man, Liebschner said, "You've hit the nail on the head." [/quote]
[url]http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-murder-suspect-bales-took-life-savings-says-223934030--abc-news.html[/url]
[editline]23rd March 2012[/editline]
Have fun defending that.
[QUOTE=Tippmann357;35259927]It's funny how people are still using the PTSD excuse for the guy despite how light was shown on his past.
Also,
[url]http://news.yahoo.com/army-sergeant-charged-afghan-killings-081156337.html[/url]
And
[url]http://news.yahoo.com/afghan-murder-suspect-bales-took-life-savings-says-223934030--abc-news.html[/url]
[editline]23rd March 2012[/editline]
Have fun defending that.[/QUOTE]
How do failed business investments and drunken episodes relate to massacring civilians? None of those show any indication of being prone to violence to the same degree as massacring people.
True, it means he wasn't the perfect, stand-up "GI Joe" that he initially came off as but I don't see how this has any further relevance. How do these invalidate PTSD? It seems like people are trying to imply that you need to be a psychopath before joining the military to commit an atrocity, that's not how it works and that's why PTSD is a legitimate problem that needs to be taken seriously.
[QUOTE=Tippmann357;35259927]Have fun defending that.[/QUOTE]
Wow. It looks like he's just a violent, drunken individual.
[QUOTE=Jim_Riley;35261552]How do failed business investments and drunken episodes relate to massacring civilians? None of those show any indication of being prone to violence to the same degree as massacring people.
True, it means he wasn't the perfect, stand-up "GI Joe" that he initially came off as but I don't see how this has any further relevance. How do these invalidate PTSD? It seems like people are trying to imply that you need to be a psychopath before joining the military to commit an atrocity, that's not how it works and that's why PTSD is a legitimate problem that needs to be taken seriously.[/QUOTE]
How do problems in school and with society during childhood relate to a student carrying out mass murder? Same concept.
Those incidents don't invalidate PTSD at all and that isn't my point. People act as if PTSD is cause for all of this even though the individual already had red flags raised everywhere prior to enlisting.
[editline]23rd March 2012[/editline]
I think going to war was simply a medium for him to release his anger.
stop trying to rationalize his actions, because you can't. you can't excuse them nor ignore them either, obviously, but the death penalty definitely isn't the answer.
I don't see why the death penalty isn't fine, he took 17 innocent lives, nine of which were children. Someone like this just shouldn't be re-introduced to society, and that's what prison is for, rehabilitation, imprisoning him for life might as well be the same thing as the death penalty.
[QUOTE=Starpluck;35259874]He shouldn't be executed because death penalty is hypocritical and backwards, it's a terrible punishment that not be exercised no matter the circumstances, not because "he just couldn't take it anymore thus he should be exonerated from it"[/QUOTE]
imprisonment shouldn't be used as punishment to begin with. all that achieves is lining the pockets of corrupt prison systems
What's with all the people saying "young men" in this thread? He's 38 years old. He killed 17 people. There shouldn't be rationalization for his actions, when what we know he did is wrong. No, death penalty is not the answer. Yes, he should spend life in prison.
[QUOTE=Aetna;35263300]What's with all the people saying "young men" in this thread? He's 38 years old. He killed 17 people. There shouldn't be rationalization for his actions, when what we know he did is wrong. No, death penalty is not the answer. Yes, he should spend life in prison.[/QUOTE]
yes because throwing somebody in prison for the rest of their life is so much more humane than killing them
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