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Afghan Massacre Suspect Identified
Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales named
The suspect behind Sunday's massacre of 16 Afghan civilians including 9 children has been named as Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, (L) 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. (photo: Department of Defense / Spc. Ryan Hallock) Details on the suspect previously given by the Pentagon included information that he was 38 years old, married and a father of two. He was a 10-year Army veteran who had served three combat tours in Iraq where he was wounded twice, and was deployed to Afghanistan in December with the Army's 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.
Bales was flown out of Afghanistan to Kuwait after the massacre and was transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on Friday.
More details on his past have come into light, including being arrested for assault on a girlfriend. He also participated in a bloody January 2007 attack in Iraq where he said he "discriminated between the bad guys and the noncombatants." Reports indicate he may also have been angry about being passed over for a military promotion.
* * *
McClatchy: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales named as suspect in Afghan massacre
TACOMA, Wash. — U.S. military officials finally named the suspect in the massacre of 16 Afghan civilians as Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who was brought late Friday to the military detention facility in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., to face murder charges. [...]
According to Afghan accounts and some press reports, he's a rogue soldier who trudged from hut to hut in two remote Afghan villages picking out women and children to shoot, stab, kill. [...]
His civilian life wasn't as spotless.
The Des Moines Register: Conflicting portrait of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales emerges
According to public records, Bales was charged with criminal assault in in Tacoma, Wash., in August 2002. The Associated Press reported he was arrested for assault on a girlfriend, not the woman he later married.
Bales pleaded not guilty, and the case was dismissed after he underwent 20 hours of anger management counseling. A separate hit-and-run charge was dismissed in a nearby town's municipal court three years ago, according to records.
* * *
Agence France-Presse: US suspect in Afghan massacre named
According to a cached online article, dated February 2009, from the official US Army homepage, Bales participated in one of the bloodiest clashes of the Iraq war -- a January 2007 battle against a messianic Shiite sect in southern Iraq known as the Soldiers of Heaven.
In the 15-hour engagement, according to the US Army article, 250 fighters were killed, all enemy -- and Bales said he was proud his unit "discriminated between the bad guys and the noncombatants and then afterward we ended up helping the people that three or four hours before were trying to kill us.
"I think that's the real difference between being an American as opposed to being a bad guy, someone who puts his family in harm's way like that," Bales said.
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90 Comments so far
Show AllThere is no excuse for what he did, none.... There are many reasons, but no excuses.
If I say 'Wag the Dog' and the concept of 'Old Shoe', does that ring any bells?
If you don't appreciate Common Dreams, buy your own website and write your own articles... Name it ,,, WWW. more on karlof.
I stopped calling folks (on cd) morons and idiots several years ago, but I do largely agree with your above comment.
It appears a few members of our little family spend as much time criticizing the web site as they do commenting on the articles presented.
I certainly appreciate common dreams. Great news site. Some amazingly insightful comments posted here.
You take care,
Thomas Gilbert-
You are an excellent poster here on CD. I read just about everything you write on this site. So, I should be thanking you.
We all lose our patience from time to time.
Take care, Wayne.
Thomas Gilbert-
Take care of yourself.
Thomas Gilbert-
18 year kids don't have the maturity to decide what to do, and the military easily turns them into murderers. But if a 30 year old gets a draft notice, he or she will think multiple times before showing up.
vdb wrote:
".....what was learned from Vietnam was that the press should be controlled and the army all-volunteer. (this is NOT a suggestion of a return of the draft)....."
Exactly.
Eric Margolis has a perspective article which applies, just posted this St. Pat's Day:
http://ericmargolis.com/2012/03/all-colonial-wars-are-alike/
-----------------I read on another thread that the Canadian Gwynne Dyer had written a state of the art book on war, titled "War" (2004, revised edition).
I had a look at it - may buy it or borrow it from the library. Gwynne's thesis is that war is not in our genes - that the United Nations idea is the way forward.
Facing the prospect of World War Three if plans to attack Iran go ahead - I could use a little encouragement - I've always believed in the UN, as did JFK.
Obviously, those who despise the idea of a co-operative world under some form of shared humanity think otherwise and are now in the driver's seat.
Maybe that can change -
Manysummits
========PS:
I see the Dow is now over thirteen thousand. The ghouls on Wall Street are anticipating war profits.
=======Also true of his compadres if he wasn't the "lone" "rogue" war criminal in this instance.
The military can cultivate the inner psychopath and/or train the natural. This is one area at least in which they are very skilled.
There have been reports from witnesses there were at least two soldiers doing the murders. It was almost pitch black, the guy had nigh observation goggles, he could see his victems and where he was and what he was doing.
Frightened witnesses are often confuced during a shooting, especially in the darkness... Maybe there were more, maybe not?
It is reasonable to understand one witness sees a soldier run out of a house and another witness see a soldier exit another house, and it was actually the same killer they both saw at different minutes.
He was photoed by a NOD, (night observation device) camera returning to his base (alone) with his weapon covered with a shawl... He put the rifle on the ground, raised his hands and surrendered.
If he is remorsful, IF, and there were any others he will tell who they were, if not to the military authorities, to his civilian lawyer... That's my bet anyway... His lawyer would not keep that type of information a secret, nor would it violate the lawyer's code to tell it.
Who got drunk with Staff Sergeant Bales before he went on his final mission? Did they know what was coming? Who talked with him when he got the idea of becoming an American suicide gunman?
Who let this fully armed lone gunman with night goggles off base at 2:00 in the morning? Did anyone ask questions about his mission?
How much has the Pentagon been economizing on psychotherapists? Is there going to be a similar shooting rampage next year because the Pentagon did nothing as usual?
She said that he used to babysit her children-- and that she was "completely blown away" by this news.
I can only wonder if she was given the option to rephrase her choice of words.
Here in UKland there was a scandal involving the removal and storage of deceased children's organs at a major hospital. When this was finally exposed the chief medical officer, at a press conference, stated that "my heart goes out to the parents".