Posted on 03/19/2012 4:15:37 PM PDT by xzins
Karilyn Bales, whose husband, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is accused of killing Afghan civilians, released this statement on Monday:
What happened on the night of March 11 in Kandahar Province was a terrible and heartbreaking tragedy.
My family including my and Bob’s extended families are all profoundly sad. We extend our condolences to all the people of the Panjawai District, our hearts go out to all of them, especially to the parents, brothers, sisters and grandparents of the children who perished.
I know that all good people around the world, regardless of nationality, religion or political values, join me in grieving that such a terrible thing could happen.
Our family has little information beyond what we read and see in the media. What has been reported is completely out of character of the man I know and admire. Please respect me when I say I cannot shed any light on what happened that night, so please do not ask.
I too want to know what happened. I want to know how this could be.
I have no indication that my family’s own safety is at risk, but I appreciate the efforts that have been undertaken to protect us. I hope there will soon be no reason for protection of families, whether here or in Kandahar Province, or anywhere, because the pain inevitably inflicted in war should never be an excuse to inflict yet more pain. The cycle must be broken. We must find peace.
I know the media has a right to pursue and report news. As you do your jobs, I plead with you to respect the trauma that I and my extended family are experiencing. Please allow us some peace and time as we try to make sense of something that makes no sense at all.
All I can do now is emphasize my sadness and my condolences to the families in Panjawai for their terrible loss. The victims and their families are all in my prayers, as is my husband who I love very much.
End of Statement
Thanks, FSE.
Our hometown papers here near Cincy have tried to descend on the family, but to date they’ve had little success. Instead they spend their time trying to find other sins they can carp on.
My experience says this soldier on his 4th deployment had been rode hard and could have been broken.
The bottom line, though, is that none of us really know anything other than what we’re reading in the media. And Haditha teaches me not to trust the media to give a soldier any benefit of the doubt or any presumption of innocence.
Actually, we don’t know that anyone pointed weapons at innocent children. To be honest with you, I’ve not even seen photos of any dead children. I only hear that they exist.
So, what I actually know is only what I’m hearing.
Now, what if Bales was CERTAIN in his mind that a local house contained insurgents who were responsible for his buddy’s leg being blown off by an IED, but that house was being protected by the afghanis due to a bigwig afghani living there?
Can you imagine his attacking that house with hand grenades?
Let’s imagine Mr Scot knowing that a local house contained gang members who regularly took shots at Scots Wife, but that corrupt, bought police were protecting the gang.
Can you imagine Mr Scot weaponing up and shooting up the gang house?
It was a stupid war from the beginning. And I must be fair and say from the beginning, not simply because I don’t like the current occupant of the White House. But it was stupid under Bush too. Needless. Was not a necessary reaction to what occurred on 9/11.
And we don’t drat anybody anymore. So with people going on 10+ redeployments does anybody seriously wonder why there are mental issues and people who snap?
The thing that you have to remember about hajis is that they lie. Always. They can’t NOT lie, especially when it comes to us.
Blasting people with your rifle is one thing, but burning some but not others? It doesn’t make any sense. And why the specific houses?
Believe me, it is not remotely out of the realm of possibility for the hajis in the town to have hidden any weapons in those homes and even burned some of the bodies themselves to make it look like some kind of war crime. Obviously this is all speculation, but you can never, EVER tell with those people.
I was accused of a lot of crap by hajis, too. I remember this one family of a known insurgent we grabbed accused of us of stealing a large amount of Iraqi dinar (their money). Ironically, the amount they accused us of stealing was far lower than the actual amount we confiscated and marked as evidence for his detainment. Not to mention dinar are useless to U.S. troops since you can’t possibly spend it anywhere.
point well taken
I don’t think it was a stupid expedition from the beginning. The taliban government clearly harbored and aided bin Laden. There is no doubt.
Not just now, but years and years ago I believed this should have been (Afghan and Iraq both) a reprisal operation instead of a drawn out war and nation building.
Topple the government, ruin their war-making capability, capture their criminal leaders, try and execute them.
Then leave with a promise that we’d return and repeat the process if they bothered us again.
I just got back from a trip, so I’m playing catchup with this story.
So...besides possible mental breakdown...it could be it never happened at all. Or - something happened but has been spinned into something else.
If he has been falsely accused, I hope evidence remains to bring that to light.
What a mess.
While I can imagine Mr. Scot reacting with force - I cannot imagine him reacting in the manner which you describe.
See post #204. FutureSnakeEater was SSG Bales’ platoon leader in Iraq. Bales saved his skin on at least one occasion.
Read what FSE has to say in #204 about these people and their problem with honesty.
The prevailing sentiment here is a welcome change from the usual remarks I see here about people who “snap” and commit heinous crimes.
Look back on any thread about a mom suffering from postpartum depression who kills her kids or some bullied teen who takes a gun and opens fire on fellow students. The remarks can usually be summed up as “a rabid dog doesn’t know what it’s done but you put it down anyway.”
It’s good to see most people advocating understanding and treatment instead an immediate and painful death sentence.
bookmark
True, Smooth. I was wondering about the investigative phase (CID vs. NCIS).
Agreed - and she should be allowed to see him and speak with him in private NOW!
I hope you are right.I’m just a bit cautious when it comes to ANYTHING our Govt. does under the 0
Innocent until proven guilty. “Be kind. . . for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Google that and you'll have trouble finding mention of it, but it happened not long ago.
try not to be so quick to jump to conclusions,
keep in mind that because Afghanistan is now one of those Bravo Sierra "hearts and minds" "wars", it is entirely plausible that this attrocity was perpetrated by the enemy as a PR battle
Bale was freinds with all those Afghan people who were murdered , what if they were murdered by the Taliban for befriending Bale....just what if,
keep in mind we are dealing with a enemy that has a savage and brutal history of treachery that we cannot even comprehend
Yes, I really hope she’s going to get to see him privately soon. This must be unbelievably hard on her.
I agree.
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