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Subscribe to RSSThe defense attorney for Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier charged Friday with 17 counts of murder, has said the military lacks much of the physical evidence necessary to establish a solid case against his client. But prosecutors say there is ample evidence: surveillance video, shell casings and more. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
“We don’t have a particularly bloodthirsty military justice program,” said Eugene Fidell, the co-founder of the National Institute of Military Justice who teaches at Yale Law School.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales charged with 17 counts of murder in Afghanistan massacre
There are currently six men on death row in the military’s only maximum security prison -- euphemistically called the “Disciplinary Barracks” -- here on Fort Leavenworth. But the last execution was carried out in 1961, when an Army ammunition handler was hanged there for raping an 11-year-old girl in Austria.
It’s been so long, in fact, that the military prison no longer has the equipment needed to execute a prisoner. Instead, the sentence would be carried out at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., where Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh was executed. The current method is lethal injection; the Leavenworth military prison had an electric chair when that was the method, but it was never used.
Women are going online to show their compassion for the wife of the Army staff sergeant who has been charged with 17 counts of murder. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
None of those currently on death row were convicted of crimes on the battlefield against foreign civilians; all were convicted of murders of U.S. civilians or fellow military personnel.
Death toll in Afghanistan massacre climbs to 17
The next step in the process is what’s called an Article 32 investigation, which will determine if the case should go to trial (which would be a court martial), and if so, what specific charges should be brought (they can be different from the charges originally filed), and if they should carry the possibility of the death penalty.
Analysts say that process will not be quick.
“I would expect that in a complicated case like this, it would be several months before we would see an Article 32 investigation,” said Victor Hansen, a retired Army lawyer who now teaches at New England Law in Boston. “There’s a lot of investigation the government has yet to do.”
Retired Army Colonel and NBC military analyst Jack Jacobs examines the concerns set forth by the attorney for Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier who was charged Friday with 17 counts of murder.
If this becomes a death penalty case, there would have to be 12 jury members, and their guilty verdict would have to be unanimous for it to result in an execution. In other cases, as few as five jurors are required and a two-thirds vote can convict.
“If you have a capital case, we don’t cut corners,” said the Yale Law School’s Fidell.
PTSD: Having the courage to ask for help
And because Bales is an enlisted man, he could request that enlisted personnel make up at least a third of the 12 considering his fate.
Even though Bales is being held at Fort Leavenworth, proceedings may not necessarily be held here. A leading contender for the trial venue is Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Seattle, where Bales is based and near where his wife and two small children live.
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He will not be executed. He is mentally ill or was at the time he went on his rampage. There will be lots of questions of those officers above him for releasing Bales for duty, again, fourth time, in an active war zone. His is not the only career that will be compromised and re-directed . . . The Afghan people deserved better but so did Staff Sgt. Bales.
Mentally Ill??? Bwahahaha. He is a coward and deserves to be executed.
The trial hasn't started yet.
Who knows if he was mentally ill or not? All we know is what the media has thrown at us.
That wouldn't be a great defense in Texas.
How about that traitor Manning ? All sides agree his is the most egregious and worst case of espionage in the history of the country and no one will ever know how many died because of his actions. To me thats a worse case and yet the govt won't even put the death penalty on the table.
Has anybody realized that this guy has already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion?
Manning is not a traitor, he has not committed treason or "espionage" He has been charged with disclosing classified information. Phillip Hanssen was the worst case of espionage in the history of the country. Followed by Aldrich Ames. Both of them revealed the names of spies or assets working in the former Soviet Union. both of those cases lead to the deaths of hundreds of people.
strange to compare with the killing in Fla
I know young people think us old fogies are stupid but we have learned a valuble lesson. Hindsight always being 20/20 I pray that you do not make the same horrendous error we did. Be anti-war all you want facebook tag your congressman most do have a facebook page. March protest whatever but remember the decisions that you hate and the policies you are against were made by our leaders that we elected not by the soldiers that carry them out. So take your anger out on those leaders but respect the service of the soldiers who serve in war. To those on here of the Vietnam era I apologize for the rest of our generation for the way we treated you. I personally did not disrespect a serviceman but I did not do enough to tell others what I am telling this generation now. I hope you will be able to forgive us our stupidity.
Sorry lonereb, but as a retired NCO, I cannot respect SSG Bales' service, because he did not serve honorably. And brought discredit to the country, the Army and the NCO corps.
Amazing how he is NOW mentally Ill, but he wasn't BEFORE he did the callous actions that he did.
Ship his ass off to Afghanistan and let them prosecute him, thats what should be done
Well "meanest one" seems the appropriate name.
The death penalty shouldn't even be on the table. It should never be seen as a legitimate remedy to an injustice and any endorsement or defence of capital punishment is a visceral ad hominem attack on human rights. It's a poignant reflection on American society that in 2012, it's as socially acceptable as it is.
Yes, that is how many liberals feel about our brave armed forces.
Despicible.
Lin1945,
"He is mentally ill or was at the time he went on his rampage."
Was he really mentally ill or just @!$%#-faced, plastered on alcohol, and didn't know clearly what he was doing? I don't think being drunk qualifies as being mentally ill. He may very well be an alcoholic, and that is a medical problem, but I don't think legally it is the same thing as mental illness.
Thousands upon thousands of military personnel, both voluntary and inducted, have gone through as much or more as Bales has without leaving their base without authorization and murdering at random men, women and children.
To say that the death penalty shouldn't be on the table because he was mentally ill at the time of the shootings is ludicrous. I know veterans right now who have been permanently affected by long active deployments who don't go out and start shooting people including some of my family members who haven't been able to function in society for decades.
Murder is murder plain and simple. I don't buy the insanity defense at all. It's a stretch in the best of cases. If he was insane at the time of the killings, then how do you explain all the time it took to leave the base undetected and return as he did? It was premediated from the moment he decided to pick up a weapon and leave the base to shoot civilians.
I felt bad for this sergeant until I found out the following:
He is obviously a con man and joined the army to get away from his legal and financial obligations. I am not saying he is guilty of this atrocity in Afghanistan. That is up to a military court to determine but regardles he is guilty of fraud and deserves as least punishment for bilking the Ohio couple out of their hard earned money. If he is found guilty of these killings then hopefully the Liebshchner's will get some justice.
There will be no insanity plea for this soldier, because it is hard to prove in UCMJ, but diminished capacity could be used, but again hard to prove. His past transgressions will not be permitted to be brought up at his trial either as it will be decided that it has no bearing on the act of violence he committed in Afghanistan. To say murder is murder is correct, but remember that all war is is legalized murder. You are still taking a life.
Question for Steven B.....How do you know that F-you military is how many liberals feel about our military? I'm sure that there are just a many compassionate conservatives that may feel the same way. For the record Steven I can be considered liberal, but since I come from a military family I don't believe that is the way I feel about our brave military.
People should really think about what they post before inserting their foot into their mouths. Don't argue when emotion instead of logic has taken over your thought process.
Wyatt Earp... SSGt Bales could not get away from his legal obligation to that couple in OH simply by joining the Army. The Army could have refused his enlistment because of the debt and if they did accept him eith that debt his pay would be garnished to repay the financial obligation.
EU624, what Bales did was an attack on human rights. More specifically 17 humans' right to live. Mentally ill or not he is a cold blooded killer and doesn't deserve to live.
On top of the murders he should also be charged with treason IMO. The trust of the Afghan people and military are crucial to success in that theater of war. Bales completely demolished the trust that had be built over a decade. Not to mention what a great recruitment tool this is for Al Qaeda and the soldiers now in even more danger of retaliatory attacks.
Also I don't think Rushisapig was being derogatory to our fighting men and women. He was pointing out that the death penalty would be sought if this was a civilian on civilian crime of equal magnitude in the US. Or maybe he is just an ass?
FYI.
"U.S. personnel are immune from criminal prosecution by Afghan authorities,
and are immune from civil and administrative jurisdiction except with respect to
acts performed outside the course of their duties. [The agreement] explicitly
authorized the U.S. government to exercise criminal jurisdiction over U.S.
personnel, and the Government of Afghanistan is not permitted to
surrender U.S. personnel to the custody of another State, international tribunal
[including the ICC], or any other entity without consent of the U.S.
government.[7]"
From:
http://www.speroforum.com/a/20487/International-Court-to-charge-US-military-members
Quote raddave : "Manning is not a traitor, he has not committed treason or "espionage"
Manning is a slimy piece of s***, he is a traitor, and he has committed treason. He also has caused many deaths, as because of him, the Taliban have been able to identify and kill many afghans who helped NATO (among his victims, a 7 year old, they have tortured and killed him, in retaliation against his grand-father, a tribal elder, accusing him of being a spy). The Taliban even thanked Manning for his help (and I'm not kidding here).
Leiya123
FYI.
"U.S. personnel are immune from criminal prosecution by Afghan authorities,
and are immune from civil and administrative jurisdiction except with respect to
acts performed outside the course of their duties. [The agreement] explicitly
authorized the U.S. government to exercise criminal jurisdiction over U.S.
personnel, and the Government of Afghanistan is not permitted to
surrender U.S. personnel to the custody of another State, international tribunal
[including the ICC], or any other entity without consent of the U.S.
government.[7]"
Inl
Leiya123
FYI.
"U.S. personnel are immune from criminal prosecution by Afghan authorities,
and are immune from civil and administrative jurisdiction except with respect to
acts performed outside the course of their duties. [The agreement] explicitly
authorized the U.S. government to exercise criminal jurisdiction over U.S.
personnel, and the Government of Afghanistan is not permitted to
surrender U.S. personnel to the custody of another State, international tribunal
[inculding the ICC], or any other entity without consent of the U.S.
government.[7]"
Including the u s President & Vice President are immune from any "WAR CRIMES" tribunal charges
The World is watching closely.......!
It is enough to make the world turn on the US because of its self exemptions from the same laws it uses to assail other countries. More countries should confront the US and end these double standards.
For all the apologists for this monster, consider this possibility that Bales was a sociopath all along.
After all, the company he was involved in bilked an elderly man for over 2.5 million bucks.
He escaped responsibility for THAT crime by hiding in the Army.
He was probably not part of the Special Forces clique at his base.
He might have denigrated those brown people as subhuman, and then on a drunken rampage decided to annihilate this family's line as an example.
There is a lot of baggage he could have brought into this situation, without his COs OR the Army being in the least big culpable. Maybe in an alternate reality he would have gone off on all the kids in his neighborhood back in Bellingham. Who knows.
The deed is the crime. Who cares what his motivations were. If he could split in the middle of the night, evade security, and commit this crime, he's competent enough to face the hangman's noose. This is no heat-of-the-battle massacre. It's a planned dastardly activity, almost without precedent.
Psycho is as psycho does.
Meanest one, so do you.
We'll kill a soldier in 1961 for raping a girl in Australia. But when it comes to killing infants, among the 17 dead, that is worth just a life sentence. Because, you know, this soldier was 'troubled.'
A little bias here?
So I know all of you are against the neighborhood watch guy that shot the kid, but we do not know this kid, but we don't know if this kid was in a gang. If he was of course he would hide it from his parents. As for the girl friend of course she is going to side with Travon even if she knew he was a gang member; WHAT, gang members don't eat skittles? Also they are saying George Zimmerman said fuc*ing co*n, I have heard the recording and it sounds to me like he says fu*cking phone. There is no evidence that this was murder. Just because everyone says that he was a good kid and he did not have a criminal record doesn't mean that, that that day he didn't snap. Nobody should have a criminal record at 17, maybe he was angry that he was suspended for 5 days or that George was following him and than snapped; nobody knows. WHAT KIND OF GOOD KID GETS SUSPENDED FOR 5 DAYS. Even though he was suspended for skipping school; good kids don't skip school, so maybe when he wasn't at school he was off doing bad things, nobody knows? The constant coverage of this story is so Obama can make another case about gun control. There are 41 murders in the USA everyday 14,750 a year so why do we only hear about the white guy killing a black kid; shouldn't all of the murders be covered like this. The only reason they are covering the story is because like this is like I said it was a white man killing a black boy and Obama wants to make it out to be a race issue that is how the left works. Ask yourself why would an upstanding neighborhood watch man as the claim he was kill just to kill? The left is saying Travon couldn't of been the aggressor he didn't have a criminal record, well neither did George. Obama wants you to believe that the white guy is capable of snapping and in the same breath they are saying Travon couldn't of snapped; does any one else see this as a little hypocritical. Why would George just kill Travon so he could lose everything? This is an election year and of course Obama is going to say George should be arrested, he needs the black vote and he wants to take away our 2nd amendment rights. Now none of use were there so we do not know what happened which one snapped. I know a lot of you will be pissed by my post and think it is an injustice to Travon; well I think if people like me don't speak out that another injustice will be done to George.
I do not buy the "mentally ill" excuse. He was mentally able to do his job and able to murder 16 civilians, but I'm guessing since they were not Americans that makes it "not so bad", right?
While I do not believe in the death penalty, I do believe in life imprisonment with NO parole.
Bill1488 You should really read the story, this is NOT about the kid who was gunned down by the neighborhood watch guy. Maybe you had one too many cookies?
The facts in the case are pretty overwhelming. The attacks took place over an extended period of time, not a spontaneous explosion of violence. Bales was off base (literally as well as figuratively). There are 17 dead and some of the six surviving victims of the multiple attacks have identified Bales as the shooter. It is still uncertain if all of these will survive. Bales was found crawling on his belly through a field heading back to his base and his clothes were covered in blood that was not his own. This is pretty damning evidence. He was not insane. He was fully aware of his actions and actually took measures to conceal those actions. Furthermore, as someone has already pointed out, he has a past history of criminal behavior, including defrauding innocent people of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Consider if this wholesale mass murder had happened on the streets of America. Would people be so forgiving of the slaughter? Why should it be any different because it happened in Afghanistan? Unfortunately, he is under the jurisdiction of the military court and, therefore, the standards of justice are different, independant from any nation.
Of course he won't be executed, he's a "hero" just because he's been in combat. By the way, I'm not a liberal, and I'm not a "libtard" -- I have served my time in the USAF. All you Right-wing Tea-Taggers who are always demonizing others for being "libtards", maybe YOU should get YOUR butts into the Army -- and Afghanistan.
The only thing a soldier actually fights for is his own skin and his "buddies" next to him in combat.
Guess what Quack, already here. My third year, where is your cowardly ass. You said you served but no mention if you were in Iraq or Aghanistan. Just making a distinction, you could have done your time as a recruiter in a mall, in downtown USA. If Bales gets anything that prick that shot up 37 guys in Ft Hood better go before him. ITS BEEN TWO YEARS, no justice for Americans, wheres the outrage, where are the death calls. Major ALLAH AKBAR, That bastard was never in battle. Any of you CHICKEN SH*Ts out there want to come over...waitin for ya. Otherwise, stay home with our sec of defense, ole LEON only needs two things a set of balls or two tubes of VAGISIL. I think the latter is much more fitting.
Mike in Afghanistan
That's right if you murder innocent women and children it only because you mental illness switched on that day and switched off the next so you should now go free.
@Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
Guess what, you volunteered to go! You did not get drafted and now you get compensated with MY tax dollars. You are doing your job..... so what? Want a cookie? If you get back, I'm sure you will be claiming some sort of concocted disability and continue living of the government teat.
You must have not seen the posts on the articles about the shooting. There were not only calls for death of Major Hassan but for all people of Muslim belief or Arabic decent. If this is the type of behavior you condone, I hope your CO takes a long hard look at your conduct.
Not everyone has to join the military and shoot vastly under-armed and under-funded militants (or infants in their sleep) to feel tough and brave.
IMO, you sound like a big coward.
Another article feeding the apologists fire. His family should be left out. Bales confessed. End of story. Funny how that is never reported anymore.
i can't condone this sick f*#@s actions, but i agree with si vis pacem, para bellums post. right on the money brother, stay safe and we'll see you when you get home. and thanks for doing the heavy lifting this time around.
After reading the headlines today about the US soldier who shot up Afghanistan civilians, I couldn’t help noticing an irony.
There is all this clamor to try this guy quickly and execute him, never mind his having suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Yet this Major Hasan, who shot up Fort Hood while screaming Allah akbar, still hasn’t stood trial, and they are still debating whether he was insane, even with the clear evidence regarding his motive: slay as many infidels as possible.
So we have a guy in a war zone who cracks, and he must be executed immediately.
But this Muslim psychiatrist who was stateside in a nice safe office all day murders 13, wounds 29 of our own guys, and they try to argue the poor lad suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome, from listening to real soldiers who had actual battle experience.
Two and a half years later, they still haven’t tried the murderous bastard!
I'm sure Bales needs to face a Court Martial for something because what ever he did, it was done without authorization. Everyone wants to hang him high but none of YOU know all of the ACTUAL facts and probably never will. I'm sure that parts of his "trial" will be banned from publication in the interest of National Security.
Where I have the "hang up", based on the little that is in the public domain, is this does NOT sound like a RANDOM act of violence. He went to two (2) specific locations (probably miles apart) and killed some Afghans. He didn't, at least it seems, just pick a house and bust in. He knew exactly where he was going!
Next, Bales admittedly killed SOME Afghans but there is NO EVIDENCE that he killed ANY "innocent" women or children and he didn't confess that he did. It would NOT be a stretch of the imagination to suspect part of the killing was done, after Bales left, by the Taliban in order to try to make OUR military look bad. With that being a possibility, how many Afghans are going to "rat" on the Taliban who would come back and haul them away to an execution later? The Taliban do this on a REGULAR basis to their own countrymen who they suspect MIGHT be collaborating with US!
To that end (the above), why isn't there ANY evidence left at the scene? MILITARY weapons (especially in an automatic mode) spew spent shell casings everywhere. Where are all of them? Was he that meticulous that he policed the scene that he managed to collect every spent shell casing? Also, supposing this was done, mostly, in the dark was he such a good shot that there were NO missed shots and NO stray bullets left at the scene?
The BODIES were BURNED... There was some speculation that these fires would have had to have an accelerent for the fire to so intense to burn them to the extent they were burned. Did he carry several gallons of gasoline or other accelerent with him to help cover up the killings? That, in itself, would have been a cumbersome task for someone wanting to be so stealthy.
The bodies were "whisked away", under the auspices of Sharia Law, and buried IMMEDIATELY when, in fact, they had two days to conduct an investigation before they HAD to be buried.
All of these, seemingly, little mysteries add up (at least in my feeble mind) to the likelihood that there could well have been some "after the fact" help.
Add to that, that he "could have" been sent on one of our famous BLACK OPS to take out known Taliban collaborators. A FACT that will NEVER come to light if it was the case.
So, let's let him have his day in court BEFORE we convict him in the court of public (uninformed) opinion!!!
PappaDave-956353--Hey, you a big expert on modern weaponry? The M16A4's max rate of fire is in 3-shot bursts. Most M16s the same. Been this way for decades, after it was found this was more effective than full-auto.
So RushISaPig you don't believe Hasan should get death? I live here, I actually hope Hasan doesn't get the death penalty, I think he should live out the rest of his days sh*tting and p*ssing himself in his wheelchair, to me that would be true justice, but the difference between hasan and SGT Bales is apples and oranges.
This monster deserves death for his cowardly act. He killed children in their sleep. The jerk gets no sympathy from me. I say give him to the Afghanis and let them exact justice on this bloodlusting traitor.
Hell has a warm place waiting for him.
^ this
Glad to know people already tried and convicted him. You call yourself Americans? You make me sick.
this is a military trial not a civilian matter, so your opinion is irrelevant. military does not get involved in civilian trials stay out of theirs.
You're defending a child killer and I make you sick..... good!
Meanest, we could wish those children had died in their sleep...but from what I have read, he burned them alive.
Good grief. Hasn't there been enough killing yet? Aren't you sick of it yet?
How about we have a trial first!
The question now is not HIS civility, Afghan's civility, the Military's civility but OURS? Are we a civilized people and nation? One of the things we are told during battle, or were during Desert Storm, the world will judge you on how you treat your prisoners. Right now Staff Sgt. Bales is a prisoner of the United States Government. At the end of all of this I hope the world juges us civil in or treatment of Staff Sgt. Bales regarless of HIS crimes. And also lets not forget his is a producty of OUR soceity, no one else's. I know I am doing a bit of soul serching myself over all of this. The World is watching us.
This is a civilian matter. He murdered civilians in their sleep and then tried to burn them. Should be tried in Afghanistan by civilians and given the sentence he earned. He does not represent the U.S. military in any form. Crawled there to hide.
I wouldn't say that sabine they sure did keep Hassan out of the welcoming arms of Texas justice for the murder and wounding of Texas civilians didn't they. What is good for a Major is good for a sergeant.
The Army better not drag its feet on this guy's trial the way they have with Maj. Hassan. His trial hasn't even started yet, and he was caught red-handed, had to be shot by a cop in the act to stop him. That was two years ago.
The world is watching us. I want Sgt. Bales to get a fair trial, but the culture in which he allegedly committed these horrific crimes only understands blood for blood. They don't give a hoot about legal procedure, evidence or due process. If he is found not guilty, Afghanistan and the Middle East as a whole will erupt in a fury that will make the Rodney King riots look like a 1960s love-in. Every single soldier, sailor, Marine and airman serving in central Asia, as well as anybody that looks remotely American or is even suspected of collaborating with us will become a target overnight. It will be a bloodbath.
I hate to say it, but the best thing we could do on the public relations front is to throw Sgt. Bales under the bus and let the Afghans have him. If we don't, no American will be safe anywhere in any Muslim country ever again.
He should have been honored and be given some Medal of Honor if he had been in Afghan (or in any Muslim country's Army) and killed the Americans.
He took the revenge of the deaths (rather cold blooded murders) of 2 high ranking American Officials few days before he killed 17 persons. I DO NOT FEEL HIM GUILTY.
We Americans have lost trillions of dollars on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq .
Meanest One,, Just by reading your stupid comments it is easy to tell that you are a complete coward, and have never served your country for a minute...and all you other brillent idiots, none of you know the facts,
just crap you read in the paper. I thought in this country you were innocent untill PROVEN guilty, you basterds make me sick,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
bob w
ya that was one hell of a battle
This man is obviously suffering from mental issues, likely related to his injuries and multiple combat deployments. He could be found mentally unfit.
Unless you've served, you have no idea what you're talking about.
"Innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" applies here too, despite the instinctive hatred that the liberals have toward the military.
This man served bravely and deserves to have a complete trial.
Should he get off scot-free? No. He may be locked up in a mental institution.
Exactly, unless you were at Auschwitz you are just an idiot for decrying the murder of 6 million Jews.
Right and wrong are meaningless unless you are there.
StevenB, GFY. I served 25 years in the Army and am "liberal." The "liberals" don't hate the military. I served multiple combat tours and never once came within a mile of sneaking out of camp and wasting 17 civilians. The only reason he served at all was to avoid having to pay a judgement against him.
Well said Raddave, and thank you for your time served...
You weren't there, and you don't have all the facts. I suggest you watch the movie "Twelve Angry Men".
raddave, how about we let the military have the Article 32 before we convict based on what we read on the internet mmk punkin? you served 25 years in the army? Hmmm let me guess..admin much?
He's American Taliban trained terrorist,just like his mentor Bin Laden Taliban did to afghanistan,a CIA payroll employees their favorite blue eyed boy,the Master President Bush said " Terrorist dont deserves any right not even a fair trial".
" Did the Chicken Roost home "President Bush?
This guy was a sociopath before he joined the army. He then became a sociopathic killer. Fry him.
Steven B Do you think it would be okay if everyone who has fought in any war should be able to MURDER 17 men, women, and kids anytime they become"mentally ill"?
Didn't Obama say, if he had a kid he would look like Sgt Bales.
That was Dick Cheney who said that.
Lethal Injection for a war crime? Why can't they use the old "Death by Firing Squad" like they used to do? Every military court-marshal execution I've heard about in history class had the guilty face the firing squad, so why doesn't he? Or they could go the Nazi war crime route- death by hanging. Death by lethal injection is just too merciful for this guy. He's not a common criminal, he's a war criminal. Give him a military execution.
Actually some experts believe that firing squad is the most humane form of execution and argue for its use over hanging.
The problem with the firing squad is not the prisoner but the effects on those who have to do the firing.
because time marches on things change - not you obviously, but the world arround you. for every execution there are those that carry it out that have to live with it not everybody is that ready to this as you seem to be. although if it came down to it i really doubt you would have the stomach for it.
Can we please wait for a trial?
Messes with the minds of the guys who have to pull the trigger. I vote for a trial. It does seem to be the way we usually do things.
I agree that, if he's guilty, then he should be executed. However, we must execute everyone with lethal injection. More than anything else, execution should be done for the sake of ridding him from the world, not for torturing him, which would be hypocritical and also set a dangerous precedent.
I'm always wary of people who call for torturing the guilty. They are a dangerous lot and often seem to possess mentalities scarier than the sociopaths they condemn.
Can any of the radical right wing who EVERYTIME a murder by gun story comes along they inevitably spew:
"Don't blame the gun, blame the individual" are now letting the 'individual" off??
What are you trying to say? I don't see any comments like that here. Stop trying to stir politics into this mess.
This decorated soldier, deserves as Hero & Medal for killing Children and Women .
Well if they wont give the death penalty to that treasonous coward Manning then I can live with with Bales not be subjected to it.
Weary, the Constitution is very specific on what is considered treason. Manning did not commit it.
I think I remember the Bush white house releasing the name of one of our own spies Stephanie Plume If I remember correctly, shouldn't those who gave up her name be tried for Treason?
Turn the guy over to the Afgans. That is where this case belongs. If I'm in Brazil, for example, and shoot anyone, or commit one of their crimes, the jurisdiction is within Brazil. Because he is a US Soldier should not make a difference. Win their hearts and minds? Let them see justice the same way as it applies to them.
You would have been in Brazil on your own decision, Bales was in Afghanistan on the decision of the military and falls under the jurisdiction of the military. You're comparing apples and oranges.
Technically you are correct, but murder is murder no matter wherever it occurs. Bales actions had nothing to do with a military operation -- this was not "collateral damage" or getting "over zealous" in combat. A crime was committed against the Afgan people and they are entitled to the retribution. Bringing him back here and giving him a drawn out trial (years) and a life sentence does not win us "the hearts and minds" nor establish faith with the Afgan people that we respect them and their traditions. It only reaffirms the belief of many of them that we are totalitarian conquers.
The military troops have to know that whatever crime they commit while deployed, they will be protected by the US government and not thrown to the mob rule of the country they are in. If they are not protected, all discipline is lost within the ranks and we would probably not have much of a standing military force. They would not get a fair trial in the foreign country.
Life imprisonment would be a better punishment then the coward would spend the rest of his life thinking of the children that he murdered. I think a light sentence will be more likely because the military justice system will probably consider Afghan lives less important than those of American Christians. Let's not forget the free pass that William Calley, the monster of the Mai Li massacre, received for ordering the execution of 504 civilians, the youngest being one year old. We Americans have the audacity to consider other cultures as being barbaric!
We will see about that Ron in June or July when Hassan comes up for trial. 14 dead 32 wounded about the same lets see how much the muslim Major gets.
Ron-289158
well, thats a typical american double standard when it comes to treatment of criminals both civil and millitary it only shows how hypocrite you are in your justice system and media propaganda.
this disgusts me.... all of the negative comments. I have no right to judge him, god will. not u, not me, god.
sorry to disappoint... but God is a fairy tale, with a million different versions. He killed real, living, humans, child and adult, and should be judged by humans... not their imaginary friends.
It disgust me that there are people older than 12 that still think Fairy Tails are true
He should be sentenced to life before a firing squad.
It would be a short life in front of a gun... and much too good for a man like Bales... he should be handed over to the families of the ones he has slain. I am more than certain they will apply a just punishment.
He will not get the death sentence but unfortunately he has given a death sentence to a number of his fellow soldiers that will die in revenge attacks.
Set him free - in the same Afghanistan neighborhood where he committed his crimes.
Let him try to walk out.
Yea, let's go all Die Hard 2 on him
Because he's white.Duh!
Mental illness, stress, bad-hair-day or whatever is not a defense for murdering children while they sleep.
I am not an American, but to all of you who are asking for death penalty, thanks to Sergeant BALES and thousands others, i can now travel by plane across the USA. Have any of you ever wondered how life for these soldiers are over there? what about these soldiers that are being killed over there, WHO give them justice? I'm not encouraging the killing of civilians but these terrorists will kill whenever they find the opportunity. and they will kill you whether you are military or civilian, think about that
no, because of sgt bales it is conceivable you are LESS safe
Ollll: Where is your head? Have you followed anything? The murdered people were women and children not terrorists --- for your information there are people living in Afghanistan who are NOT terrorists.
Thanks Olllll, this soldier was on his fourth tour, with injuries, a lost foot and has seen many of his friends and comrads die in cold blood. He also was having trouble back in America. It is our governments faults first for placing him on tour again to Afganistan. He needs to be treated and he needs to serve minimal time in prison, if any. He has already been to hell and back and then back to hell 4 times a person can only take so much. The innocent people were the result of our Government putting our men over there when we should not be. Our military needs to be in America protecting us on our boarders and let all those terrorists kill each other and do what they want. They will anyway, we can spend Billions and Trillions but they do not want a democracy and we can not make them live the way the western part of the world lives. We have enough of our own troubles and border problem at home and in many states, plus our country is going broke with this administration.
Four tours of combat duty, suffers head injuries and they patch him back up and send him back to the front, sees a friend blown up and has easy access to alcohol. The entire Pentagon should be on trial for driving this man over the edge and creating the situation that lead to the killings. We need to get all of our soldiers OUT of Afghanistan NOW!
The man was not drafted. He VOLUNTEERED to join. In addition, thousands of soldiers have suffered the strain of multiple deployments and financial problems back home, without going on a rampage and killing children. He didn't just lose it in the middle of the day while on duty. He didn't shoot any of his fellow servicemen. He purposely snuck out in the middle of the night and went house to house killing defenseless, innocent civilians as they slept in their beds. Then proceeded to light them some on fire. If anyone from any other country did that to just one American let alone several including women and children. Nothing less then death would be called for. We definitely would not return the offender to his country of origin for them to punish him. The facts are the facts. He needs to be held responsible for his actions
Complete BS!!!! The only way to deal with this mass murderer is to cuff him,put him in a plane and hand him over to the Afghans to dispose of. How would we feel if an Afghan national killed 17 innocent Americans sleeping in their beds with automatic weapons? i bet we would like to deal with him in US territory,right???
And to the above poster,I served two tours in Iraq with USMC STA 1/8. I've been there,seen everything. There is absolutely no excuse to get away with what he did. PERIOD.
Thank you Jay, for your service and your unflinching assessment, and refusing to make excuses for this man.
So when the other side or a terrorist group executes or kills US civilians, a correct reply would be "we don't remember doing it because we snapped under pressure" or "we don't have the equipment to properly punish those involved". Or better yet...years later: "I did it in a moment of insanity and outrage in revenge for those killed by that US soldier years ago...after an explosion from a US bomb damaged my head yesterday...those people were my friends back then and I just snapped."
As long as we are ready to accept these types of excuses as put forth by a civilized nation that leads through example... then I am OK with it. Remember what I just said in years to come.
And you said all there is to say Jay. Thank you for your service.
I say drop the charges and let him get metal health care in a good hospital-you have to look at his life and what he was dealing with...
Good thing Bailes didn't steal money from the military or he woud be facing the death penalty. The life of innocent civilians is worth nothing but a loss of money and he would hang. I guess to bushay if life treats you bad you can kill and without cause. Bushay, do you live in Florida where the racist pratice the"stand your ground law".
What this man did, alone, deserves execution. The fallout from his actions will result in the loss of more lives and honestly? I don't blame them one bit...this guy murdered civilians in their beds, and was trying to sneak back into camp, couldn't, so he gave up and said 'I did it'...he burned those children alive...
We hold ourselves to a higher standard, or at least we SHOULD...our military are representatives of our COUNTRY...yes, each individual is a human being, but is THIS the face we want to show to the world? That this soldier can sneak OFF base, murder 17 innocent civilians including children, burn them ALIVE, and then try to sneak back ON base to avoid detection, when our own civilians who aren't military personnel are executed for lesser crimes? We will be saying 'all humans are not created equal' non-Americans are less than Americans, and their slaughter by an American doesn't matter...
Yes, he was a soldier, and he saw some pretty awful things over there, but trying to sneak back onto the base indicates consciousness of guilt. Additionally, he MAY have only joined the service to avoid having to pay reparations from his financial dealings...that remains to be seen, if we ever get to the truth of that.
And some people here are painting him as a victim? The only purpose for that is to justify your own hate of Afghanis and the Middle East...
What this man did he deserves execution! Does he, or is he some expendable Pawn of the Army?
You want to know why? I'll tell you why?Because this man had a traumatic brain injury,due to a truck roll over in Iraq,plus the his foot was injured.He did 3 tours in Iraq.When he got home he was told he wouldn't have to do anymore tours,it was over.Was it?No these stupid clowns turned around and sent him over to Afghanistan!Now you don't send some one in that condition BACK TO A WAR ZONE!But some Stupid Idiot or idiots decided they were going to send him anyway!
He was not fit to go back to a war zone.He was unfit right from the get go.No he was no victim,but a ticking time bomb waiting to go off!
The head of the army, the other day, announced in Washington, that they are investigating the Chain of Command,that sent this pawn and ticking time bomb over there!
So if you want to execute anyone,start with him and then the Idiots in the Chain of Command that sent him over there.They're all Guilty!
Plus the fact this has nothing whatsoever to do with his fiances.Those are a whole separate issue!,
yes.
NBC says death penalty unlikely! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Didn't I say that 1 and a half ago?
how can someone be accused of killing 17 people (women and children included) and the death penalty not be on the table???
Because he was a WHACK JOB! That's why!
American soldiers do not get tried for war crimes because the US uses the war crimes court to beat up on other countries' leaders or soldiers, but yet it the US exempts itself. Bush can kill 30,000 Iraqi civilians and admit it, Bales can murder 17 unarmed civilians, Sgt. ? Wutterich can preside over the killing of 24 Iraqis in Haditha- even one in a wheel chair- and never see the interior of The Hague.
Thank you DOU Let Bush pay for his crimes along side of Bales. Just get our people home, let Afgan's decide what is right for them, NOT THE USA.
The recent wars have been a death penalty for thousands of American soldiers, and the perpetrators all went free at the end of the administration..
I bet if he knew in advance that he was going to be beheaded at Kabul townsquare
for his actions, he'd have snapped out of his "mental illness"
Kabul is nearly all Tajik, Panjwei is Pashtun with a small Hazzari minority I think. Yes, Afghan federal law should have prevailed.
There's a parallel here---the unjustified murder of Trayvon Martin. We need to define just what causes our outrage, and just what crime gets what punishment. You can't be outraged in one case, and not the other. The punishment should fit the crime, NOT the criminal.
TWO WORDS.
"FIRING SQUAD"