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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsU.S. Soldier Sentenced To Life Without Parole For Afghan Massacre
I haven't seen this in the news. I know this story but forgot about it having to go to trial.
Those who sent this PTSD, head injured solider back in war should also have to do some time.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/23/robert-bales-life-sentence_n_3805952.html
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. The U.S. soldier who massacred 16 Afghan civilians last year in one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars was sentenced Friday to life in prison with no chance of parole the most severe sentence possible, but one that left surviving victims and relatives of the dead deeply unsatisfied.
"We wanted this murderer to be executed," said Hajji Mohammad Wazir, who lost 11 family members in the attack by Staff Sgt. Robert Bales. "We were brought all the way from Afghanistan to see if justice would be served. Not our way justice was served the American way."
Bales, 40, pleaded guilty in June in a deal to avoid the death penalty for his March 11, 2012, raids near his remote outpost in Kandahar province, when he stalked through mud-walled compounds and shot 22 people 17 of them women and children. Some screamed for mercy, while others didn't even have a chance to get out of bed.
The only possible sentences were life in prison without parole, or life with the possibility of release after 20 years. The soldier showed no emotion as the six jurors chose the former after deliberating for less than two hours.
His mother, sitting in the front row of the court, bowed her head, rocked in her seat, and wept.
rdharma
(6,057 posts)abbeyco
(1,555 posts)However, he showed no mercy to those he killed and while I understand his claim of PTSD, this crime, to me, is elevated.
My heart hurts for his family and frankly their hearts should hurt for those he killed - to me, this is what "eye for an eye" is all about. I might be wrong in my understanding of the bible but I do understand Karma and beleves this completely applies.
The bigger issue is our broken soldiers and defenders like this man - we, as a country are condemning them to just being 'killers'
when that is what they're taught when they enter the military. They are taught to dehumanize and criminalize those that they
believe are killers and then massacre them, simply for being "other" and not necessarily known as terrorists.
While Major Hasan was the worst of the worst offenders and killed our own men, his family and friends should not have to hang, along with him, based on their relationships to him. Don't get me wrong- I want justice for our troops, but his family should not have to pay for his grievous sins.
joshcryer
(62,277 posts)What made him a monster is up for historians to say, but he was, no doubt, a pure monster.
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)I see Cheney, Bush, Rice, Rumsfield..etc as the monsters.
He is another homicidal solider paying the price.