US soldier goes off in afghanistan - kills 16

[ribbit]

Sixteen Afghan civilians killed in rogue U.S. attack


(Reuters) - Sixteen Afghan civilians, including nine children, were shot dead in what witnesses described as a nighttime massacre on Sunday near a U.S. base in southern Afghanistan, and one U.S. soldier was in custody.

While U.S. officials rushed to draw a line between the rogue shooting and the ongoing efforts of a U.S. force of around 90,000, the incident is sure to further inflame Afghan anger triggered when U.S. soldiers burned copies of the Koran at a NATO base.

U.S. officials said an American staff sergeant from a unit based in Washington state was in custody after the attack on villagers in three houses. Multiple civilians were also wounded, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) coalition said

President Barack Obama called his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai promising to establish the facts quickly and "to hold fully accountable anyone responsible."

There were conflicting reports of how many shooters were involved, with U.S. officials asserting that a lone soldier was responsible, in contrast to witnesses' accounts that several U.S. soldiers were present.

The incident was one of the worst of its kind since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said anti-U.S. reprisals were possible following the killings, just as the Koran burning incident a few weeks earlier had touched off widespread anti-Western protests in which at least 30 people died.

Neighbors and relatives of the dead said they had seen a group of U.S. soldiers arrive at their village in Kandahar's Panjwayi district at about 2 a.m., enter homes and open fire.

An Afghan man who said his children were killed in the shooting spree accused soldiers of later burning the bodies.

Obama said he was deeply saddened. "This incident is tragic and shocking and does not represent the exceptional character of our military and the respect that the United States has for the people of Afghanistan," Obama said in a statement.

"INTENTIONAL MURDERS"

Afghan President Karzai condemned the rampage as "intentional murders" and demanded an explanation from the United States. His office said the dead included nine children and three women.

Afghan officials also gave varying accounts of the number of shooters involved. Karzai's office released a statement quoting a villager as saying "American soldiers woke my family up and shot them in the face."

Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs Asadullah Khalid said a U.S. soldier had burst into three homes near his base in the middle of the night, killing a total of 16 people including 11 people in the first house.

The ISAF spokesman said the U.S. soldier "walked back to the base and turned himself into U.S. forces this morning," adding there had been no military operations taking place in the area when the incident occurred.

Panjwayi district is about 35 km (22 miles) west of the provincial capital Kandahar city. The district is considered the spiritual home of the Taliban and has been a hive of insurgent activity in recent years.

"I saw that all 11 of my relatives were killed, including my children and grandchildren," said a weeping Haji Samad, who said he had left his home a day earlier.

BLOOD-SPATTERED WALLS

The walls of the house were blood-splattered.

"They (Americans) poured chemicals over their dead bodies and burned them," Samad told Reuters at the scene.

Neighbors said they had awoken to crackling gunfire from American soldiers, who they described as laughing and drunk.

"They were all drunk and shooting all over the place," said neighbor Agha Lala, who visited one of the homes where killings took place.

"Their (the victims') bodies were riddled with bullets."

A senior U.S. defense official in Washington rejected witness accounts that several apparently drunk soldiers were involved. "Based on the preliminary information we have this account is flatly wrong," the official said. "We believe one U.S. service member acted alone, not a group of U.S. soldiers."

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called Karzai to offer his condolences. "I condemn such violence and am shocked and saddened that a U.S. service member is alleged to be involved, clearly acting outside his chain of command," Panetta said in a statement. "A full investigation is already under way. A suspect is in custody and I gave President Karzai my assurances that we will bring those responsible to justice."

The Afghan Taliban said it would take revenge for the deaths, in an emailed statement to media.

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul said an investigation was under way and that "the individual or individuals responsible for this act will be identified and brought to justice."

ISAF Commander General John Allen promised a rapid investigation.

Civilian casualties have been a major source of friction between Karzai's Western-backed government and U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan. NATO is preparing to hand over all security responsibilities to Afghans and all foreign combat troops are scheduled to leave by end-2014.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the alliance remained firmly committed to its mission and said anyone responsible would be held accountable.

The Koran burning and the violence that followed, including a spate of deadly attacks against U.S. soldiers, underscored the challenges that the West faces as it prepares to withdraw.

Sunday's attack may harden a growing consensus in Washington that, despite a troop surge, a war bill exceeding $500 billion over 10-1/2 years and almost 2,000 U.S. lives lost, prospects are dimming for what the United States can accomplish in Afghanistan.

"These killings only serve to reinforce the mindset that the whole war is broken and that there's little we can do about it beyond trying to cut our losses and leave," said Joshua Foust, a security expert with the American Security Project.

[Cantona007]

They keep saying that it is one soldier, but eye witnesses seem to say that there were others. They talk about "the Americans" burning the bodies. I wonder which account is true...

[weary1969]

They keep saying that it is one soldier, but eye witnesses seem to say that there were others. They talk about "the Americans" burning the bodies. I wonder which account is true...

1 or 100 d Tailban just got a gr8 excuse 2 retaliate not that they need 1.

[vb]

They keep saying that it is one soldier, but eye witnesses seem to say that there were others. They talk about "the Americans" burning the bodies. I wonder which account is true...

1 or 100 d Tailban just got a gr8 excuse 2 retaliate not that they need 1.

The locals say how one man could have had time to kill, burn bodies and then go to other houses and repeat this.

Talking to some locals here and they say brace for the lashback. It go be bad.

VB

[Cantona007]

They keep saying that it is one soldier, but eye witnesses seem to say that there were others. They talk about "the Americans" burning the bodies. I wonder which account is true...

1 or 100 d Tailban just got a gr8 excuse 2 retaliate not that they need 1.

The locals say how one man could have had time to kill, burn bodies and then go to other houses and repeat this.

Talking to some locals here and they say brace for the lashback. It go be bad.

VB

Wow.. you are still in-country?? Stay safe. Here are eye witness accounts:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17339780

[fari]

sad thing is i think with all these long deployments i could foresee many more of these incidents occurring in the near future.  i am sure that there are many smaller incidents that probably get covered up, these fellas get brazen with it and now they get ketch.   

[Bakes]

sad thing is i think with all these long deployments i could foresee many more of these incidents occurring in the near future.  i am sure that there are many smaller incidents that probably get covered up, these fellas get brazen with it and now they get ketch.   

The fella was only recently deployed (December) to Afghanistan... he had two prior deployments to Iraq.

[truetrini]

Lord, first of all...that part of Afghanistan is a virtual ghost town.  People are just moving back into that area.

Protests in Afghanistan are seldom spontaneous...they are usually organized by the government there..yes the government who have to balance supporting the US and the tiredness of the people to having an occupying power/forces there.

To date there has been absolutely no protests in the area!  The Taliban cannot organize protests for obvious reasons!

There is some evidence that bodies were burnt or there were attempts to burn bodies, there is NO EVIDENCE thus far that more than one man acted out here!

IS this a major set back?  yes it is and it can be used by the Taliban as a recruiting tool..absolutely.  Can there be reprisals?  YES!   Just as the lone US asshole acted to kill civilians, so too can a lone Afghan or group of Afghans.

The word is that Afghans feel totally disrespected by the US and NATO and want them out to deal with the Taliban on their own, as for the US, they feel that they cannot trust the local government to do the job as yet, and that the risk of a resurgent Taliban is too dangerous for US security.

There is also a shifting of the Taliban's strategy there.   Infiltrating security forces and government agencies is their new tact!   

The Haqqanis are a major threat to Afghan and US security...this group was once supported, funded and trained by the US CIA etc. to fight off and disrupt the Soviets during their invasion of AFghanistan.  this group far more deadly than the Taliban!!!

[ribbit]

interesting piece on the cost of doing business in afghanistan. may remind some of another time.

==


The price of a life? In Afghanistan, it's as little as $210


By Jack Kimball | Reuters


KABUL (Reuters) - In Afghanistan, if NATO forces kill a member of your family, it is better in terms of money if they come from Germany or Italy than the United States or Britain.

In the cold calculation of how much to pay for victims of the decade-old war, British forces have doled out as little as $210, while German forces have paid as much as $25,000, according to a study by the human rights NGO CIVIC.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces hunting insurgents are a major source of friction between the Afghan government and its Western backers - all the more so after a lone U.S. soldier gunned down 16 Afghan villagers at the weekend.

"They have to ask themselves the question how much is one's life worth? You can't put a price on it," Rafi Nabi, 33 and unemployed, said in a market in the Afghan capital.

"If one were to kill an American and offer to compensate their death with money, they wouldn't accept it."

It was unclear if the United States intends to pay reparations to the families of 16 people suspected to have been killed by the U.S. staff sergeant in a remote area of the southern province of Kandahar, the traditional Taliban stronghold. Eleven victims were said to come from one family.

The United States usually pays up to $2,500 for civilians killed in lawful operations such as air strikes, according to an investigation by CIVIC, a rights advocacy group. The study, compiled two years ago, has been regularly updated.

"The shooter clearly violated the laws of war, human rights law and the U.S. military code of justice. In these type of situations, we call for accountability and justice as well as compensation for harm done," Trevor Keck, an investigator with CIVIC, told Reuters in an email.

British forces have paid out between $210 and $7,000 while German troops provided $20,000 in cash and a car worth $5,000 after shooting three people at a checkpoint in 2008, the report said. In 2009, Italy disbursed $13,500 to the family of a 14-year-old girl who was shot dead, it said.

A series of incidents over the past month, including the burning of Korans at a NATO base and the massacre in southern Afghanistan, have stirred debate about the withdrawal timetable for foreign troops, with some asking for a faster pullout.

HEIGHTENED TENSIONS

The blunders have also heightened tensions between Kabul and Washington at a time when the United States is in delicate talks with Afghanistan over its future presence after most combat troops pull out at the end of 2014.

Based on interviews with NATO and Afghan civilians, CIVIC found that compensation payments plus an apology were key to lowering hostility toward foreign troops in Afghanistan, now at a peak again over the Koran burnings and the shootings.

There is no standard mechanism for Afghans to report civilian casualties, much less seek compensation, reducing both the hope of redress and any sense that justice is being done.

Rules often require even illiterate villagers to decipher which unit came to their home and then go to its main base - sometimes hundreds of km away down unsafe roads. And to complicate matters, most villagers do not readily distinguish between foreign troops from different countries.

As the war drags on into its 11th year, security forces battling the militants killed 410 civilians in 2011, a drop of 4 percent from 2010, the United Nations said, with the total number of civilians killed last year exceeding 3,000.

"The Americans have seen that the Afghan people are poor and desperate. If a woman loses her husband, she needs money to sustain her living. What else can they do? They have no power," said film maker Maroof Nazir, 27.

"Will the government hear their voices or help them? No. When you have no power, you're forced to take the money and say thank you to the same people who killed your families, what else can you do?"

[ribbit]

I am in awe how de big media have, in just a few days, humanized de culprit and almost erased de victims from memory. Story coming out how de soldier was standing next to he fren the day before and he fren step on a mine.

De military surely burning these soldiers out - these cases of PTSD are exacerbated by inadequate preparation.

De irony of de IED is how de usa, for donkey years, doh want to sign the landmine treaty. Look at ting now eh.

[ribbit]

next excuse is bales was about to lose his home due to foreclosure. like half of america have excuse.

[JDB]

Don't know if this is part of an excuse or an attempt to make him look more sympathetic. If you read between the lines he looks like an irresponsible money-chaser.

Bales Fought Losing War on Home Front as Mortgage Debt Mounted
Clea Benson and Elliot Blair Smith, ©2012 Bloomberg News
Tuesday, March 20, 2012

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales took his first step toward financial ruin while on a second tour of duty in Iraq. The man now accused of killing at least 16 Afghan civilians agreed to repay more than $500,000 in mortgages on two properties he owned in Washington state.

It was 2006, when many Americans thought the rise in home prices would never end. Bales's wife, Karilyn, was working as a project manager at Washington Mutual, whose later collapse would be the biggest U.S. bank failure in history. The Bales family found subprime lenders who financed their two homes on terms that included balloon payments and floating interest rates starting at 8 percent.

Six years later, the houses are worth $148,000 less than the initial loan amounts. The couple defaulted on one mortgage in 2009 and recently attempted to sell the second property for less than they owe on it. For Bales, 38, it was a double nightmare of being ensnared both in unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a housing-market meltdown at home.

"It's not an unfamiliar story, but it's sad," said Richard Eastern, a co-founder of Bellevue, Washington-based Washington Property Solutions, which negotiates short sales. "We're going to send you off to war but we're going to foreclose on your home." He said many lenders offered loans they knew borrowers couldn't repay. "And it's not just soldiers, it's everybody. We set them up."

The scenario is especially common in an area of Washington where almost half of property sales are either short sales or foreclosures, according to Washington Property Solutions.


Fraud Charges


Bales's money problems went beyond mortgage debt, to the time when he worked in the financial-services industry, records show.

He owed an Ohio couple about $1.3 million in damages, plus interest, for defrauding them in 2000 when he served as their investment adviser, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees the industry.

An arbitrator found that Bales "engaged in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading, and unsuitable investments," according to a 2003 report on the FINRA web site. Bales, who grew up in Ohio, worked in the industry there from 1996 to 2000, according to FINRA records.

Bales never paid the money and the couple could never find him, one of the victims, Gary Liebschner told WCPO TV, the ABC affiliate in Cincinnati.

Emma Scanlan, an associate of John Henry Browne, who is defending Bales against the military's current accusations, didn't immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.


'Heartbreaking Tragedy'


By the time the judgment was rendered, Bales had already joined the U.S. Army, having signed up less than two months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He served a total of three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan.

After the March 11 killings in southern Afghanistan, he was flown to a U.S. military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Army will probably file charges against him on March 22, Browne said in an interview yesterday.

Karilyn Bales said in a statement yesterday that what happened "was a terrible and heartbreaking tragedy."

Browne has suggested the incident may be connected to a brain injury Bales suffered. The military has suggested Bales snapped under marital stress and the influence of alcohol, an account Browne disputes.

Whatever led to the killings, it's clear from court records that the Bales family was facing mounting money troubles.

A federal law, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, provides some protection against debt collectors and foreclosure for military personnel. Those protections were no help to Bales, because they only apply to debt incurred before active service.

"The whole concept of the SCRA vaporizes when you're on active duty," said John S. Odom Jr., a retired Air Force judge advocate and partner in the Jones, Odom & Politz LLP law firm in Shreveport, Louisiana. "You are expected to know the debt you can and cannot service."

In King County, where one of the Bales' properties is located, home prices have dropped 20 percent since 2006, according to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. In Pierce County, where the Bales family now lives, property values are down almost 30 percent.

County records show Robert and Karilyn Bales refinanced their properties several times as the housing market took off, but slid into a debt spiral they couldn't escape as soon as home prices began to drop.


Falling Behind


Karilyn Bales -- then Karilyn Primeau -- bought her first house in Auburn, Washington, in 1999, taking out a traditional loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration. The agency promotes home ownership among low- and middle-income borrowers, often with modest down payments. County documents show she took out a loan for $99,308, almost the full amount of the $99,950 purchase price.

According to the documents, she fell behind on the payments by about $5,600 in 2003, but managed to avert a scheduled trustee's sale.

She refinanced the property in 2004 for $99,400.

Whether Karilyn Bales' position at Washington Mutual gave her any special access to lenders is unclear. The couple was paying relatively high adjustable interest rates as they continued to take out mortgages.

After they married in 2005, they refinanced the Auburn house again, this time for $166,000 and a floating interest rate of almost 8 percent.


Second Home


The Bales family rented out the first property and bought their second home at the end of 2005 with two different loans. The first was a mortgage with an adjustable interest rate of 6.75 percent that could go as high as 13.45 percent, according to county records. The second was a standalone loan for $56,000. County records don't show the interest rate.

Prepayment on the first loan carried a penalty equal to six months of interest payments, the documents state.

Nonetheless, in 2006, as Bales was in Iraq, his wife used her power of attorney to refinance both houses, into new adjustable rate loans. They soon found they couldn't support the debt.

In August 2009, the lender on the couple's rental home sought to auction the property. The Bales family owed $15,644.19 on the house plus $1,333.46 in trustee's fees, according to the auction notice.

The auction subsequently was canceled without explanation.

Rick Simon, a spokesman for Bank of America Corp., the servicer of the loan, didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment.

Today, the couple's two houses have a combined assessed value of $358,100, 29 percent below the initial loan amounts, county records in Washington state show.

"The tale used to be: We would speak to a family and it seemed like a predatory lending environment," Eastern said. "But it's the American dream, right? Go buy a house and we'll give you the opportunity to do so. And they did."

[Dutty]

wayyz,, they does really dig into people background oui
ah 8 percent floating rate? she credit rating was in shambles

dey really doin a good job of humanizing that savage with wounded warrior bullshit

[truetrini]

wayyz,, they does really dig into people background oui
ah 8 percent floating rate? she credit rating was in shambles

dey really doin a good job of humanizing that savage with wounded warrior bullshit

Yuh drinking frog kool aid now?   ribbit agin talking ah crocus bag ah assness and yuh jumping on he shit?

If anything the reports making him look dastardly.

He owed an Ohio couple about $1.3 million in damages, plus interest, for defrauding them in 2000 when he served as their investment adviser, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which oversees the industry.

An arbitrator found that Bales "engaged in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading, and unsuitable investments," according to a 2003 report on the FINRA web site. Bales, who grew up in Ohio, worked in the industry there from 1996 to 2000, according to FINRA records.

Browne has suggested the incident may be connected to a brain injury Bales suffered. The military has suggested Bales snapped under marital stress and the influence of alcohol, an account Browne disputes.

It is funny that some jackass brays the media "almost erased the victims, when the first paragraph of the report sates: 

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales took his first step toward financial ruin while on a second tour of duty in Iraq. The man now accused of killing at least 16 Afghan civilians agreed to repay more than $500,000 in mortgages on two properties he owned in Washington state.

And if perchance the media is trying to find out what was behind his bizarre and inhuman actions they stated FACTS that his friend was killed and he had marital and financial problems.

People certainly will want to know who this killer was....steups...

Maybe those Afghans killed should have worn more European styled clothes, lived more like people in the West and learned english they would have been alive today???   just like Trayvon...should not have worn a hoodie or run in the rain???

As an ant, I jes asking the dung beetle.

[Dutty]

wayyz,, they does really dig into people background oui
ah 8 percent floating rate? she credit rating was in shambles

dey really doin a good job of humanizing that savage with wounded warrior bullshit

Yuh drinking frog kool aid now?   ribbit agin talking ah crocus bag ah assness and yuh jumping on he shit?

If anything the reports making him look dastardly.

I now start drinking, but dat kool aid coursing through your veins how long now?......you eh even realizing the media fading out the victims

when it first happen they kept harping on how many were killed always including women and children..with pictures..as time moved on, you eh seein no pictures of the dead only bales smiling..and his neighbours talkin bout what ah nice guy he is  etc etc
The "killing 16 afghan civilians" wording stating to fade into "killing 16 afghans" 

Months from now dem little 2 year olds who get dey head blown off will become a footnote and the story will be entirely focused on how he hit hard times and he tours of duty and how he get passed over for promotion bla bla

by the time the case call, most people could care less wuh he do...the slow transitioning of the story is as poweful as the red white and blue kool aid that overthrow your objectivity years ago

media 3 card monty

[truetrini]

Nonsense.   So what if they show him smiling?  He has been held and will face a court for his crimes.

And you are making shit up.  When that sicko in Canada did rape and kill the women, the Base commander, the Canuck press did the same thing.  People want to know his story, what could have made him into such a beast.

Telling his story does not absolve him..except in the minds of cunnies

[Dutty]

Nonsense.   So what if they show him smiling?  He has been held and will face a court for his crimes.

And you are making shit up.  When that sicko in Canada did rape and kill the women, the Base commander, the Canuck press did the same thing.  People want to know his story, what could have made him into such a beast.

Telling his story does not absolve him..except in the minds of cunnies

Not sure what shit I making up...clear dat up for me

but when the base commander fellash story buss...dey stop showin he in uniform and start to show pics of him wearin woman panty and bra
he wasnt no 'hero' to nobody....google yuh archives if yuh must

I understand your pressing need to defend parts of the military you are very proud to serve with..good for you..but if a bulgarian, polish,japanese or antiguan soldier did the same thing the same savage stigma would apply and I'm quite sure the coverage of the accused woudnt be as 'tepid'....but I suppose you would call that balanced

"The medium is the message"--Marshall McCluhan

[truetrini]

Nonsense.   So what if they show him smiling?  He has been held and will face a court for his crimes.

And you are making shit up.  When that sicko in Canada did rape and kill the women, the Base commander, the Canuck press did the same thing.  People want to know his story, what could have made him into such a beast.

Telling his story does not absolve him..except in the minds of cunnies

Not sure what shit I making up...clear dat up for me

but when the base commander fellash story buss...dey stop showin he in uniform and start to show pics of him wearin woman panty and bra
he wasnt no 'hero' to nobody....google yuh archives if yuh must

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/russell-williams-a-murderer-with-a-soft-side/article1962279/  look at that link ah google for you and that is AFTER he was convicted and ALL the facts came out too!  Steups...... And exactly what in any article shows this US soldier to be some hero?  Exctly what leads you or has led you to such a conclusion?  The FACT that they said he was a swindler?  That he had maritial problems or that he had bad money management skills?

In the same way they showed the history of the Canuck Base Comander, and reported how trusted he was...in the same token they stories surrounding this man thus far are showing details of who he was and how he lived, even possibly WHY he chose to join the military

I understand your pressing need to defend parts of the military you are very proud to serve with..good for you..but if a bulgarian, polish,japanese or antiguan soldier did the same thing the same savage stigma would apply and I'm quite sure the coverage of the accused woudnt be as 'tepid'....but I suppose you would call that balanced

You understand nothing or you would not be lead to talk unmitigated shit.  The feces that is spouting from your mouth right now about my need to defend the US military, when I did no such thing.  Show me where in any of my posts where I have defended this man???  If you accuse me of ATTACKING shit talk from you and ribbit I would concede!   You may call the coverage tepid, but I see no evidence of such.   I have heard and seen news coverage referring to his attacks as a massacre, unwarranted and heinous.  I am yet to see ANYONE defend this man's actions, or condone it, NOT the US Army noone...his friends say that they were stunned, but that is typical when men go off and do such things.  And the only one I see defending him is HIS LAWYER and that is his job!  His lawyer is the only person heard so far DEFENDING his client claiming traumatic head injuries.

"The medium is the message"--Marshall McCluhan

The shit is spouting again

~~~truetrini SC

[Dutty]

 

okay!!! you see de same way yuh does take yuh viagara to give yuh totie focus and clarity..ah want yuh to up yuh ritalin dosage and focus yuh next head before yuh continue in this thread

focus focus

the issue at hand is the media attempt to paint a rounded picture of this fellow as a broken soldier..(.I refer to him as depraved savage because me eh think he really crazy) ...whilst distancing his despicable act with every follow up story
initially the act was the headline...now he and his issues are the headline while what he did and who he affected becomes a mere passing mention. Moreover I'm sure you aware of the sublimal power of image over wording

you on some ragin hard on tangent bout 'when did you defend the man? and the u.s. army did not defend the man? and he lawyer have to defend the man...etc etc
I really have no idea what you and yuh ADHD thought process goin on about..but all whey yuh type dey is irrelevant
anyway we go just have to agree to disagree on what we seein..because since dat fellah reach us soil, I eh see no words like heinous or massacre show up in no newscast...so your news more judgemental dan mine
Focus
ah see after all yuh hours of googlin,,the russel williams link yuh post is not an op ed piece but an article is about a book that was written about williams ....but deception is the way of the floridian,, dias how it does go

as it is taught in yankee cultural mores you may now have the last word with caps and bolded letters but remeber..up the ritalin dosage and focus

ok just to bring yuh blood pressure down ah eatin piece of apple pie right now and hummin a paul revere ditty

[truetrini]

Dutty you have to be kidding.  In the annals of this message board I have never heard you talk such shit before.  Now yuh on baout ritalin and adhd etc to defelct again.

YOU specifically mentioned my defense of the US military and I addressed your shitty assertion.

YOU and ka ka hole ribbit specifically mentioned that

I did not say that he is not responsible.  The press did not say that, neither did the army, I pointed out the only defense for his actions is coming from his lawyer!

I also stated that people want to know who this guy was, and the press is informing us about him, and in a not so flattering light like you and ka ka hole ribbit are trying to assert.

Now show me where I defended the man, or where the US press is trying to paint him as a wounded warrior  or shut to f@ck up with yuh shit.

As for the apple pie I had poontang pie.  try it it may mellow out yuh hatred of all things US

[Dutty]

Dutty you have to be kidding.  In the annals of this message board I have never heard you talk such shit before.  Now yuh on baout ritalin and adhd etc to defelct again.

YOU specifically mentioned my defense of the US military and I addressed your shitty assertion.

YOU and ka ka hole ribbit specifically mentioned that

I did not say that he is not responsible.  The press did not say that, neither did the army, I pointed out the only defense for his actions is coming from his lawyer!

I also stated that people want to know who this guy was, and the press is informing us about him, and in a not so flattering light like you and ka ka hole ribbit are trying to assert.

Now show me where I defended the man, or where the US press is trying to paint him as a wounded warrior  or shut to f@ck up with yuh shit.

As for the apple pie I had poontang pie.  try it it may mellow out yuh hatred of all things US

I eh tell up yuh cuderrsmunt ritalin dosage dis kissmihass mornin?

yah I mentioned the us military that you defend (you have done that consistently in the past and we are talking about the military right)..nobody eh mention that you defended the man

I never mention who said or didnt say he is responsible...I pointed out the morphing of his image and the fading story of the victims and his actions....all in one sentence I might add......look like bales eh de only broken soldier who home or wha?

go outside and straighten de flag on yuh house nah, dat go calm yuh ADDDHDDD

[truetrini]

Dutty you have to be kidding.  In the annals of this message board I have never heard you talk such shit before.  Now yuh on baout ritalin and adhd etc to defelct again.

YOU specifically mentioned my defense of the US military and I addressed your shitty assertion.

YOU and ka ka hole ribbit specifically mentioned that

I did not say that he is not responsible.  The press did not say that, neither did the army, I pointed out the only defense for his actions is coming from his lawyer!

I also stated that people want to know who this guy was, and the press is informing us about him, and in a not so flattering light like you and ka ka hole ribbit are trying to assert.

Now show me where I defended the man, or where the US press is trying to paint him as a wounded warrior  or shut to f@ck up with yuh shit.

As for the apple pie I had poontang pie.  try it it may mellow out yuh hatred of all things US

I eh tell up yuh cuderrsmunt ritalin dosage dis kissmihass mornin?

yah I mentioned the us military that you defend (you have done that consistently in the past and we are talking about the military right)..nobody eh mention that you defended the man

I never mention who said or didnt say he is responsible...I pointed out the morphing of his image and the fading story of the victims and his actions....all in one sentence I might add......look like bales eh de only broken soldier who home or wha?

go outside and straighten de flag on yuh house nah, dat go calm yuh ADDDHDDD

ok I now understand your position..yuh jes talking shit for the sake of talking shit and trying to rile me up.  Carry on smartly.

when last you had sex?   








with a partner?

[ribbit]

de western journalists get real lazy and dis will have an impact on this trial. so far no coverage of the victims and no coverage on how bales could leave his post just so. de reporters just going to the easiest sources and completely dehumanizing de victims as a consequence. shameful. ah swear de house cats swept away by katrina get more coverage then these victims.

tt, ah find yuh real defensive about de us military - like yuh does hope dey call yuh up for a black ops mission or something. hear nuh, doh worry, allyuh soldiers in afghanistan go be taken care of by vlad. he taking dat supply route over soon enough.

[truetrini]

de western journalists get real lazy and dis will have an impact on this trial. so far no coverage of the victims and no coverage on how bales could leave his post just so. de reporters just going to the easiest sources and completely dehumanizing de victims as a consequence. shameful. ah swear de house cats swept away by katrina get more coverage then these victims.

tt, ah find yuh real defensive about de us military - like yuh does hope dey call yuh up for a black ops mission or something. hear nuh, doh worry, allyuh soldiers in afghanistan go be taken care of by vlad. he taking dat supply route over soon enough.

The newspapers are not supposed to have an imact on a trial. evidence is!

And ka ka hole, show me where I defend the US military??? Thanks.

Besides, yuh so full ah shit yuh should go and get pumped.

[truetrini]

Defense official: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales to face 17 murder counts in Afghanistan massacre
By NBC News' Courtney Kube

WASHINGTON -- Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged with 17 counts of murder and six counts of assault and attempted murder in connection with the March 11 massacre in Afghanistan, a senior U.S. defense official told NBC News on Thursday.

The charges are expected to be released Friday.

On Thursday, defense officials changed their official death count in the incident to 17 from 16. Bales is accused of leaving his base in Panjwei, entering a village and killing the civilians in their homes.

Death toll in Afghanistan massacre climbs to 17
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Bales is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.


Death toll in Afghanistan massacre climbs to 17

By NBC News' Courtney Kube

Two senior U.S. defense officials confirmed Thursday that 17 Afghan civilians were killed in the shooting in Panjwei on March 11.

Thursday morning, Gen. John Allen told the Senate Armed Services Committee that 16 civilians were killed, but now defense officials put the number at 17.

Why the discrepancy?

How Staff Sgt. Bales' lawyers are fighting for his life

One senior U.S. defense official said one of the injured has died in the past few days, but the other senior U.S. defense official believed the U.S. military has evidence there was a 17th body at the scene.
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Either way, the death toll is now at 17.

One of the senior defense officials said that at least one of the injured remains in very serious condition.

The village killings sparked violent protests in Afghanistan, endangered relations between the two countries and threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in the case.

Msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

[truetrini]

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/12/10655946-soldier-accused-in-afghan-massacre-could-get-death-penalty?chromedomain=worldnews

[truetrini]

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/23/10830389-staff-sgt-robert-bales-charged-with-17-counts-of-murder-in-afghanistan-massacre

This piss poor US media fading the info out ...making it more about Bales and not the victims   

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales charged with 17 counts of murder in Afghanistan massacre

AP,file

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, left, 1st platoon sergeant, Blackhorse Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division participates in an August 2011 exercise at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif.
By msnbc.com staff and news services

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was charged Friday with 17 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, along with other charges, in connection with a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages that shocked Americans back home and further roiled U.S.-Afghan relations.

The charges come almost two weeks after the massacre in which Bales allegedly left his base in the early morning hours and shot Afghan civilians, including women and nine children, while they slept in their beds, then burned some of the bodies.

Military wives rally around Karilyn Bales
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It was the worst allegation of civilian killings by an American and has severely strained U.S.-Afghan ties at a critical time in the decade-old war.

 Bales was read the charges on Friday at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he has been held since being flown from Afghanistan last week, a U.S. official said.

For alleged Afghan shooter, death penalty unlikely

Bales' civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, said Friday without commenting on the specific charges that he believes the government will have a hard time proving its case and that at some stage in the prosecution his client's mental state will be an important issue.

Death toll in Afghanistan massacre climbs to 17

Col. Gary Kolb, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, says Bales was also charged Friday with six counts of attempted murder and six counts of assault.

The decision to charge him with premeditated murder suggests that prosecutors plan to argue that he consciously conceived the killings. A military legal official for U.S. forces in Afghanistan who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case, noted that premeditated murder is not something that has to have been contemplated for a long time.

Criminal charges including 17 counts of murder and six counts of assault have been brought against Sgt. Robert Bales for alleged actions in Afghanistan. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports this is the first step toward the eventual filing of charges.

 

“These are unsurprising charges, predictable charges. I would have thought there would have been a few more lesser charges because no prosecutor likes to lose his principal charge and see the individual walk so usually some lesser offenses are charged as well,” Gary Solis, former head of the Marine Corps’ Military Law Branch and current adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law School, told msnbc.com.

“But what will really be significant is when the charges are referred to trial by the convening authority … because when they are referred, they will either be referred as capital or not. … If referred capital, that will change the complexion of the case.”
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A senior U.S. official tells NBC News that Bales is likely to face lesser charges such as dereliction of duty and disobeying a lawful order.

The 38-year-old soldier and father of two, whose home is in Bonney Lake, Wash., faces trial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but it could be months before any public hearing.

Legal jurisdiction in the Bales case is expected to be switched Friday from U.S. Forces-Afghanistan in Kabul to Bales' home base of Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Wash., U.S. officials said.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said Bales could face the death penalty if he is convicted of murder, but it is unlikely. The U.S. military has not executed a service member since 1961. Legal experts say Bales could face a lengthy prison sentence if convicted.

The maximum punishment for a premeditated murder conviction is death, dishonorable discharge from the armed forces, reduction to the lowest enlisted grade and total forfeiture of pay and allowances, Kolb said. The mandatory minimum sentence is life imprisonment with the chance of parole.

How Staff Sgt. Bales' lawyers are fighting for his life

Legal experts have said the death penalty would be unlikely in the case. The military hasn't executed a service member since 1961 when an Army ammunition handler was hanged for raping an 11-year-old girl in Austria. None of the six men currently on death row at Fort Leavenworth was convicted for atrocities against foreign civilians.

“This is just the first step in what’s going to be a very long process and it still remains to be seen whether this is actually going to be a death penalty case or not,” Daniel Conway, a lawyer and former Marine staff sergeant who has been involved in battlefield investigations in Iraq and Afghanistan of alleged crimes by U.S. soldiers, told msnbc.com. “The basic idea here is that you can’t hold somebody in jail forever without charging them, so they’ve had to take this first step here.”

The charging document did not provide details about the killings, leaving the timeline unclear. The dead bodies were found in Balandi and Alkozai villages — one north and one south of the base.
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Members of the Afghan delegation investigating the killings said one Afghan guard working from midnight to 2 a.m. saw a U.S. soldier return to the base around 1:30 a.m. Another Afghan soldier who replaced the first and worked until 4 a.m. said he saw a U.S. soldier leaving the base at 2:30 a.m. It's unknown whether the Afghan guards saw the same U.S. soldier. If the gunman acted alone, information from the Afghan guards would suggest that he returned to base in between the shooting sprees.

It also is not known whether the suspect used grenades, Kolb said. The grenade launcher attachment is added to the standard issue M-4 rifle for some soldiers but not all, he said. Bales was assigned to provide force protection at the base.

Msnbc.com's Miranda Leitsinger and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

[truetrini]

More evidence the US press and the US military is dehumanizing the Afghan victims..yeah  thats it...bastards...

http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-us-says-soldier-split-killing-spree-202900530.html

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. investigators believe the U.S. soldier accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians split the slaughter into two episodes, returning to his base after the first attack and later slipping away to kill again, two American officials said Saturday.

This scenario seems to support the U.S. government's assertion — contested by some Afghans — that the killings were done by one person, since they would have been perpetrated over a longer period of time than assumed when Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was detained March 11 outside his base in southern Afghanistan.

But it also raises new questions about how Bales, who was formally charged Friday with 17 counts of premeditated murder and other crimes, could have carried out the nighttime attacks without drawing attention from any Americans on the Kandahar province base.


tHEY ARE REALLY HIDING SHIT..i CAN SEE THAT FROM ALL THE REPORTS.

[truetrini]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp=46850323&#46850323

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp=46850323&#46845557

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp=46850323&#46840030

This US press really trying to make the US military look bad.

Massacre, chilling murders, horrific, slaughtering innocent civilians...who de f**k dese press people think they are?    gunning down civilians...steups...

Bringing up shit about his bad behavior BEFORE he joined the military attacking a casino security guard...why dey making de man defense so hard?  Dey biased...ent Dutty and ribbit?   

[Bakes]

Ribbit take ah vow of silence once it became painfully clear he didn't know what de fack he was talking about in the Trayvon Martin thread.  Doh expect him to come acknowledge that he was talking even more f**kery here too.