Howard Stern: Afghan massacre suspect deserves 'compassion and understanding' - Polidicks

Source: [URL]http://www.examiner.com/howard-stern-in-national/howard-stern-afghan-massacre-suspect-deserves-compassion-and-understanding[/URL] [quote] Howard Stern says that Staff Sargeant Robert Bales, the American solider who allegedly killed 17 Afghani civilians earlier this month, deserves "compassion" and "understanding". Bales is accused of going on a shooting rampage in two villages in the Kandahar province of Afghanistan, killing his victims while they slept and burning some of the bodies. At least nine of the victims were children. In addition to the 17 counts of murder, the 38-year-old Ohio native is charged with 6 counts of attempted murder. Stern expressed empathy for Bales on Wednesday morning's Howard Stern Show: "I just want to say, if anyone ever deserved some sort of mercy or understanding, it’s this guy because war is hell...There’s no understanding…what it’s like to do three tours of duty in Iraq and then do a fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan, especially after you’ve had a head injury—a brain injury…And the guys in the military are just as much to blame for this guy going off, in the sense that they knew he was ill. They knew he was having trouble, and they sent him to Afghanistan for a fourth tour of duty. Now, I know he did a terrible thing and I know there are guys who have done multiple tours of duty, they come back, they haven’t done anything wrong and they fight under the rules of war. But this guy cracked. He cracked. He cracked. And from what I read about his family and his wife and stuff, there as perplexed by this as well. This guy cracked…Imagine this room—a bunch of friends, and I find out that Robin, Fred and Benjy, the next day, were blown up by a bomb… I’m not making excuses. I’m not saying what he did was right. It’s a horrible thing what he did, but he’s a soldier who went beserk. And it wouldn’t be the first time and it wouldn’t be the last time. A lot of these soldiers aren’t getting the proper help they need when they come back. They don’t even know they’re fucked in the head. They don’t know what’s going on." Howard Stern Show co-host Robin Quivers, who is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, said that Stern's comments were out of touch with military psychology: “The military has a whole different view of this thing," said Quivers. "You don't screw up." Bales is currently being held in military prison at Fort Leavenworth. He could face the death penalty if found guilty. [/quote] I can't agree with Howard this time. Dammit fucking copypaste, I can't edit the thread title. Can somebody fix this?

Holy title

[QUOTE=Blah360;35267227]Holy title[/QUOTE] Didn't look that way when I pasted it from the article. Not my fault.

He does have a good point, but I don't think it applies to this particular guy.

fix'd title

[quote]A lot of these soldiers aren’t getting the proper help they need when they come back. They don’t even know they’re fucked in the head. They don’t know what’s going on."[/quote] He does raise a good point here, if the guy turned out to be suffering from mental illness. I don't think that's teh case here though (I don't recall reading anything about him suffering from mental illness)

Jingo'ism or morals aside, the man broke the code he signed when he enlisted and he will be punished accordingly.

[QUOTE=Orkel;35267284]fix'd title[/QUOTE] Thanks dude.

[QUOTE=Mabus;35267306]Jingo'ism or morals aside, the man broke the code he signed when he enlisted and he will be punished accordingly.[/QUOTE] I agree, however I hope that when/if he does go to serve time, emphasis is placed on rehabilitation and a trek to realization of guilt and creation of remorse.

[QUOTE=Prez;35267334]I agree, however I hope that when/if he does go to serve time, emphasis is placed on rehabilitation and a trek to realization of guilt and creation of remorse.[/QUOTE] In America, one can only hope...reality is a different story.

[QUOTE=SPESSMEHREN;35267293]He does raise a good point here, if the guy turned out to be suffering from mental illness. I don't think that's teh case here though (I don't recall reading anything about him suffering from mental illness)[/QUOTE] If he is suffering from mental illness, an incident like this might be the tipping point the VA needs to get soldiers proper psychological care.

I agree with Howard, but this is kind of past the sympathy point. What this event SHOULD be is a catalyst for actually treating PTSD instead of sweeping it under the rug, and not forcing people back into combat for FOUR FUCKING TOURS.

American soldier kills Afghans: financial stress, brain injury, marital problems, no promotion. Afghan soldier kills Americans: Evil and hatred.

[QUOTE=acidcj;35268477]American soldier kills Afghans: financial stress, brain injury, marital problems, no promotion. Afghan soldier kills Americans: Evil and hatred.[/QUOTE] Once you get passed the sensationalist gutter press, there is some compassion for the average taliban solider - as the majority of them are poor farmers tricked into believing their homeland is being invaded. It's a sad war on all fronts.

I agree with understanding why he did it. War changes people. There is a people comeback scarred for life because of what they saw. There is no one who can overcome the tragedies of war. It's those tragedies that cause these incidents. We barely know the guy who massacred the people, we just know that he did it and that it was bad. But think about how much shit he had to put up with, it's amazing how many soldiers can overcome this and at least keep themselves together.

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[QUOTE=MrEndangered;35268523]Once you get passed the sensationalist gutter press, there is some compassion for the average taliban solider - as the majority of them are poor farmers tricked into believing their homeland is being invaded. It's a sad war on all fronts.[/QUOTE] Exactly. Both fronts are suffering, but it's typical when you're on one side that shows the other as "the enemy". I agree with Howard here.

[QUOTE=SPESSMEHREN;35267293]He does raise a good point here, if the guy turned out to be suffering from mental illness. I don't think that's teh case here though (I don't recall reading anything about him suffering from mental illness)[/QUOTE] The guy had a head injury and actually had one of his fellow soldiers step on an IED that blew off both of his legs just two days earlier (and gave him a more minor injury). That was probably just the straw that broke the camel's back, considering he had actually asked the military several times for help prior. Unless I'm missing a very key component of the case against him, he had no real reason to go out in the middle of the night and open fire on civilians, so this whole incident can easily be attributed to him completely snapping after what was probably years of seeing the atrocities of war.

Facepunch is very mixed on this topic, everyone agreed that he needed compassion and help in a similar thread.

Andres Behring Breivik deserves compassion and understanding too :downs: Edit: Also was the head trauma connection proved? Papers said he had completely recovered some time before this happened. It's kinda convenient to say that "Oh he just hit his head, there are no other underlying problems".

[QUOTE=Falchion;35271083]Andres Behring Breivik deserves compassion and understanding too :downs:[/QUOTE] Actually, yes. Again, he is clearly mentally disturbed, probably through outside causes that he had very little control over.

[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;35270220]Facepunch is very mixed on this topic, everyone agreed that he needed compassion and help in a similar thread.[/QUOTE] To be honest, it's not right to just declare this guy a child murdering demon, fuck it's not like he's a normal sane guy who just woke up and thought "I'm gonna murder the fuck outta some afghan civilians today" he's been through a lot, seen a lot of people he's cared about be maimed and hurt by these people and he told his higher up he needed help. In my opinion, he can't just get away with it, but the more I discover about this situation the less I want to blame him and the more I want his higher ups to suffer for this. He told them he needed help and they never gave it to him, this could have been prevented if he was sent back home and treated for PTSD instead of being sent out on another tour.

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[QUOTE=darkedone02;35271211]17 people lost their lives by this person, why give understanding and compassion to a blood thirsty person who can't control himself? i doubt the people want him to lock away in a mental asylum, they want him to face the god damn piece of shit god that made this dumbfuck. The only help he can get is a fucking bullet in the brain, the only medication for these sick bastards.[/QUOTE] Well done and congratulations on being a knuckle dragging cave man, you're a credit to your people. Consider what sort of health your mind would be in when you've been on four tours of duty, seen your friends shot and bleed to death, seen your friends stand on an IED and have their legs blown off in front of you. This guy fucking asked for help, and was denied help by the higher ups so if you want to find those responsible how about hating those who didn't prevent the situation when they had the opportunity.

If he deserves "compassion and understanding" then all of the rapists and child molesters do.

[QUOTE=Pepsi-cola;35271322]If he deserves "compassion and understanding" then all of the rapists and child molesters do.[/QUOTE] Yeah cause I'm sure they all went through post traumatic stress disorder and watched their whole family get raped to death right? How the fuck, is extending compassion to a mentally unstable soldier put through 4 tours of duty who wanted psychological help and was denied it, even remotely close to extending compassion to rapists and child molesters?

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;35271359]Yeah cause I'm sure they all went through post traumatic stress disorder and watched their whole family get raped to death right? How the fuck, is extending compassion to a mentally unstable soldier put through 4 tours of duty who wanted psychological help and was denied it, even remotely close to extending compassion to rapists and child molesters?[/QUOTE] You need to remember that half of facepunch couldn't give a rats ass what happens to their fellow man even if he's mentally ill.

[QUOTE=markg06;35271438]You need to remember that half of facepunch couldn't give a rats ass what happens to their fellow man even if he's mentally ill.[/QUOTE] Oh believe I do remember that, it's just amazing that this kind of rampant stupidity is accepted. This guys went through hell fighting a war that he probably doesn't want to fight and he snapped under the crushing pressure and now folk are judging him without ever being in his situation. I fucking cannot stand it, this guy went there and tried his fucking hardest to help people in the name of the American public and when the inevitable happens they turn their back and want him dead, it's fucking bullshit.

[QUOTE=SPESSMEHREN;35267293]He does raise a good point here, if the guy turned out to be suffering from mental illness. I don't think that's teh case here though (I don't recall reading anything about him suffering from mental illness)[/QUOTE] Post Traumatic Stress Disorder could explain it, which is a mental illness. I doubt it though

[QUOTE=Pierrewithahat;35271230]This guy fucking asked for help, and was denied help by the higher ups[/QUOTE] Well i take back what I said cause this is an entire different story then a fucker who can do this out of sheer hatred. The people who should be blamed for this is the hire up, if asked for help as he is suffering from this horror, since they denied him for help, they are placed among the blame and they should of suffered.