#robert bales

[qupritsuvwix]

Robert Bales murdered civilians in Afghanistan. A pardon would be a slap in the face to every service member

"A presidential pardon of Robert Bales would soil our nation’s values and tarnish the honor and integrity of our nation’s warfighters."

[thedevilsporchlight]

http://www.gq.com/story/robert-bales-interview-afghanistan-massacre?mbid=social_cp_facebook_tny

[anthonybourdainpartsunknown]

Brian Ross, James Gordon Meek & Lee Ferran

Anar Gul gestures to the body of her grandchild, who was allegedly killed by a U.S. service member in Panjwai, Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March. 11, 2012. (Photo: AP)

The American soldier who murdered 16 Afghan civilians was based at an Army post with Special Forces teams immersed in a culture of drugs, booze and casual racism – one not overseen by Special Forces leadership because they chose to take a “hands-off” approach, according to newly released military report.

The damning assessment by U.S. military officials came in the aftermath of the 2012 massacre by Sgt. Robert Bales, now serving a life sentence after being convicted in a court-martial of multiple counts of murder. The report was made public today only after a group of journalists challenged a decision by the Pentagon to keep it secret.

“[T]he command climate at VSP [Village Stability Platform] Belambai suffered from low standards of personal conduct and discipline while at the VSP,” says the executive summary of a 500-plus-page Department of Defense report posted online today. “Foremost responsible for the failures in personal conduct at VSP Belambai are the NCOs [non-commissioned officers] that committed, participated in, or tolerated the inappropriate behavior or failed to report the behavior to a responsible authority.”

The 2012 report says some members of the Special Forces teams, and the regular infantrymen attached to them, “tolerated and/or participated in the use of alcohol… use of steroids, and inappropriate remarks and behavior with respect to Afghans.”

“Several NCOs at VSP Belambai uttered offensive racial/ethnic slurs, but the practice was not widespread, and usually comments were made among peers and in a joking manner,” the report says.

If one of the junior soldiers wanted to report any wrongdoing, the report says they would’ve had trouble considering “most often, their higher infantry leadership was committing the misconduct,” and the Special Forces leadership “took a ‘hands-off’ approach and did not overtly provide guidance on standards or expectations.”

The report was compiled by Brigadier General Ricky Waddell on behalf of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan commander Gen. John Allen in 2012.

The report says that Bales’ superiors should’ve known he was potentially dangerous, but it takes pains to say that nothing the sergeant had done prior to the shooting – including disturbing incidents of alleged steroid abuse, Bales describing an Afghan soldier as “not a person” and a violent episode involving an Afghan truck driver just a week prior to the incident – should have alerted anyone that he was going to commit mass murder.

“At a minimum, the [Special Forces] leadership should have known about the incident in which SSG Bales assaulted the truck driver and should have known about the concern of SSG Bales acting erratically due to his use of steroids,” the report says. “Both of these instances of conduct amount to warnings and indicators that SSG Bales would engage in future unwarranted violent behavior against Afghans. These instances, however, do not rise to the level of warnings or indicators that SSG Bales would commit the extremely violent acts he allegedly committed on 11 March 2012.”

ABC News previously reported on the rampant drug and alcohol use by Special Forces members downrange.

“Pills and booze – every A-camp,” one combat-decorated, 10-deployment Special Forces soldier told ABC News last year, referring to bases run by Operational Detachment-Alpha (ODA) teams.

“They can get out of hand for sure,” agreed another Special Forces soldier with a dozen combat deployments. “Most SF [Special Forces] dudes can still work but there are always a few who lose control and can’t even function… It is what it is. Warriors dealing with s*** the public doesn’t want to hear about or try to understand.”

In conversations with ABC News last year, special operations sources did not describe a secret culture of commando junkies but of operators who safely “self-medicate” to keep fighting at peak performance.

More recently, Brett Jones, a gay CIA contractor and former Navy SEAL, described to ABC News the widespread racism and homophobia he has experienced in his decade-plus career surrounded by current and former special operations personnel. Jones spoke out to ABC News after a particularly disturbing incident in Afghanistan in which he said former special operations members contracted to the CIA made displayed repeated racist and homophobic behavior – so much so that he eventually feared for his life.

Bales was not himself a member of Special Forces, but was a regular infantryman attached to a Special Forces team to help provide security during operations. Bales pleaded guilty to the murder 16 Afghans and was sentenced in August 2013 to life without parole.

At his court-martial, Bales said he conducted the March 2012 late-night attack in which he slaughtered men, women and children “behind a mask of fear… and bravado.”

“I’m truly, truly sorry to those people whose families got taken away,” he said.

After a battle over the report, U.S. Central Command published it online today in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by several news outlets, including ABC News’ Tampa Bay affiliate WFTS.

They’re sorry. They’re always sorry. But will an apology bring back the 16 Afghans murdered by Bales? Will sorry bring back the countless Afghans covertly killed by US drones?  Will an apology make you see us as humans, and not as trophies of war? When will your remorse be sincere?

The Kandahar massacre should not have surprised anyone. Bales regularly dehumanized us, referring to an Afghan soldier as “not a person.” He has multiple violent altercations with Afghans. And yet the report shamelessly denies responsibility for the attack. 

The US is simply paying lip service with its empty and meaningless regret. This behavior is commonplace and you aren’t sorry.

[yahoonewsdigest-intl]

Soldier who killed 16 Afghans says he was 'consumed by war'

Middle East

Soldier who killed 16 Afghans says he was 'consumed by war'

The U.S. soldier who murdered 16 Afghan villagers in 2012 says he had lost compassion for Iraqis and Afghans over the course of his four combat deployments. The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain an eight-page letter former Staff Sgt. Robert Bales wrote to the senior Army officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord requesting that his life sentence be reduced. "My mind was consumed by war," Bales wrote late last year.

I planted war and hate for the better part of 10 years and harvested violence. After being in prison two years, I understand that what I thought was normal was the farthest thing from being normal.

Robert Bales

Bales, a father of two from Lake Tapps, Washington state, shot 22 people in all, including 17 women and children, during pre-dawn raids on two villages in Kandahar Province in March 2012. The massacre prompted such angry protests that the U.S. temporarily halted combat operations, and it was three weeks before Army investigators could reach the crime scene. Bales pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty, and he apologized in a statement at his sentencing in 2013. In March, Lt. Gen. Stephen Lanza rejected the request to overturn Bales' conviction or modify his sentence. That automatically sends the case to the Army Court of Criminal Appeal, where it might be considered again by military judges one day.

I became callous to them even being human; they were all enemy. Guilt and fear are with you day and night. Over time your experiences solidify your prejudice.

Robert Bales

[newsdock]

Soldier who killed 16 Afghans says he was 'consumed by war'

TACOMA, Washington (AP) — The U.S. soldier who murdered 16 Afghan villagers in 2012 says he had lost compassion for Iraqis and Afghans over the course of his four combat deployments. http://dlvr.it/B7k2Py

[zileebilee]

Life is cheap if you are a muslim

[paristexaz]

Fuck Robert Bales.

Fuck anyone who wears the U.S Army uniform and commits murder on innocent men, women and children. He fucking deserved the death penelty that monster.

[lescroniques]

Arranca el juicio contra un soldado de EEUU acusado de matar a dos menores sordos iraquíes

Arranca el juicio contra un soldado de EEUU acusado de matar a dos menores sordos iraquíes

Un tribunal militar estadounidense ha abierto este miércoles el juicio contra un soldado acusado de matar a dos menores sordos iraquíes desarmados en 2007, por los que se enfrenta a dos cargos por asesinato premeditado.[...][...] (EUROPA PRESS)

View On WordPress