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US soldier to be court-martialed, could face death penalty
US soldier to be court-martialed, could face death penalty
A US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a shooting rampage could face the death penalty if he is found guilty in a court-martial. The military has referred the case of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales to a court-martial authorized to consider capital punishment, according to a military statement released Wednesday. Another six Afghans were wounded in the spree near a small US base in Afghanistan's Kandahar province last March, the military said. "The charges are merely accusations, and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty," the military emphasized in its statement. Sgt. Bales wife: "We are truly blessed" Charges added to Afghan shooting suspect Bales' attorney: Military broke promise Bales' defense attorney John Henry Browne said Wednesday he didn't receive any notice from the Army or the prosecutors about the decision to pursue the death penalty; he said he found out about it through the media. "That's how much we seem to matter to the prosecutors and the general," quipped Browne. "I am concerned this is a death penalty case, but I am not surprised. We've prepared him for this. He knows he's being singled out," Browne said. "We understand that decision, but we think it's totally irresponsible of the government and the Army," Bales' lawyer said. "We think the Army is attempting to escape responsibility for the decision to send Sgt. Bales to Afghanistan for his fourth deployment, knowing that he had (post-traumatic stress disorder) and a concussive
... - published: 20 Dec 2012
- views: 22
- author: susiescorner
1:25
Fraudster,thug,good-guy dad? Bales.
Fraudster,thug,good-guy dad? Bales.
The home of Robert Bales, the US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, in Lake Tapps, Washington, stood empty last night. The family of the 38-year-old sergeant, who has plunged US policy in Afghanistan into one of its worst crises, has been moved to Lewis-McChord army base where Bales's unit, the 3rd Stryker Brigade, has its headquarters. Now his house is up for sale. The first journalists from a Fox news affiliate -- the network that revealed his name after a six-day blackout imposed by the Pentagon -- found neighbours surprised and baffled by the revelation that the man they knew as Bob was accused of massacring women and children during a murderous rampage through a village in Afghanistan's Panjwai district. "Bob's a normal guy," former neighbour Paul Wohlberg told Fox. "Not normal now but, yeah ..." Another neighbour, Kassie Holland, told US media: "He always had a great attitude about being in the service. He seemed just like, yeah, it's my job, it's ... what I do." The picture of Bales that is emerging is a long way from the man who spoke to the Northwest Guardian three years ago after the battle of Zarqa in Iraq, when he insisted that what differentiated soldiers like him from those they were fighting was the ability to distinguish between combatants and civilians. "I've never been more proud to be a part of this unit than that day," Bales said in that article. "We discriminated between the bad guys and the non-combatants, and then afterwards we ended up
... - published: 24 Mar 2012
- views: 285
- author: MediaRuger
105:58
The Vietnam War: Reasons for Failure - Why the US Lost
The Vietnam War: Reasons for Failure - Why the US Lost
In the post-war era, Americans struggled to absorb the lessons of the military intervention. As General Maxwell Taylor, one of the principal architects of the war, noted, "First, we didn't know ourselves. We thought that we were going into another Korean War, but this was a different country. Secondly, we didn't know our South Vietnamese allies... And we knew less about North Vietnam. Who was Ho Chi Minh? Nobody really knew. So, until we know the enemy and know our allies and know ourselves, we'd better keep out of this kind of dirty business. It's very dangerous." Some have suggested that "the responsibility for the ultimate failure of this policy [America's withdrawal from Vietnam] lies not with the men who fought, but with those in Congress..." Alternatively, the official history of the United States Army noted that "tactics have often seemed to exist apart from larger issues, strategies, and objectives. Yet in Vietnam the Army experienced tactical success and strategic failure... The...Vietnam War...legacy may be the lesson that unique historical, political, cultural, and social factors always impinge on the military...Success rests not only on military progress but on correctly analyzing the nature of the particular conflict, understanding the enemy's strategy, and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of allies. A new humility and a new sophistication may form the best parts of a complex heritage left to the Army by the long, bitter war in Vietnam." US Secretary of
... - published: 19 Jun 2012
- views: 1063162
- author: thefilmarchives
0:55
Lawyer: Military 'Abandoning' Bales
Lawyer: Military 'Abandoning' Bales
The military judge overseeing the case of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales says he will require Bales to undergo an official review of his sanity before he can present any mental health defense to charges of massacring Afghan civilians. (Jan. 17)
- published: 18 Jan 2013
- views: 766
- author: AssociatedPress
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US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghans
US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghans
US soldier accused of killing 16 Afghans The US soldier accused of callously murdering 16 Afghan villagers in a killing-spree has attended a preliminary military hearing, with the prosecution pressing for a death penalty court-martial, a punishment the military has not used on one of its own since 1961. The accused soldier, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, did not enter a plea, although his defence attorney is pressing for the case to be dropped due to a lack of evidence, despite blood from the shooting victims being found on Bales' clothes. Bales family says he should be presumed innocent. Stephanie Tandberg, sister-in-law of US soldier Robert Bales: "There has been no trial yet, and our family member is presumed by law and by us to be innocent. We know Bob (referring to Robert Bales) as a bright, courageous and honourable, as a man who is a good citizen, soldier, son, husband, father, uncle and sibling. We in Bob's family are proud to stand by him." The prosecution has alleged that Bales was drinking whiskey prior to the incident on 11th March, while several soldiers have testified that he returned to base covered in blood on the fatal evening and uttered the words "I thought I was doing the right thing". Bales is being charged with 16 counts of premeditated murder and six counts of attempted murder.
- published: 15 Nov 2012
- views: 247
- author: JewishNewsOne
3:12
US Army Seeks Death Penalty in Afghan Rampage in Kandahar
US Army Seeks Death Penalty in Afghan Rampage in Kandahar
December 20, 2012 A US soldier is charged with killing 16 Afghan civilians in Kandahar, but those who know him don't believe it. Kyung Lah reports.The US Army is seeking the death penalty against a soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a predawn rampage in March, a punishment some experts say could be hard for prosecutors to obtain given that he was serving his fourth deployment at the time. The announcement Wednesday followed a pretrial hearing last month for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 39, who faces premeditated murder and other charges in the attack on two villages in southern Afghanistan. Prosecutors said Bales left his remote southern Afghanistan base early on March 11, attacked one village and returned to the base, then slipped away again to attack another nearby compound. Of the 16 people killed, nine were children. The decision to put the death penalty on the table drew harsh words from Bales' lawyer, John Henry Browne, who met with Army officials last week to dissuade them from seeking execution. "The Army is not taking responsibility for Sgt. Bales and other soldiers that the Army knowingly sends into combat situations with diagnosed PTSD, concussive head injuries and other injuries," Browne said. "The Army is trying to take the focus off the failure of its decisions, and the failure of the war itself, and making Sgt. Bales out to be a rogue soldier." AP FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011 file photo... View Full Caption FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2011 file photo
... - published: 21 Dec 2012
- views: 333
- author: TheAbdaliBacha
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