Posted on 08/25/2013 1:38:22 PM PDT by lee martell
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, who pleaded guilty to killing 16 Afghans in a shooting spree last year, was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole, legally ending an episode of one of the worst atrocities of the Afghanistan war. The Jury of six soldiers deliberated for less than two hours before reaching their conclusion.
Many are saying the Bales did not receive very good defense representation. There is surprise that the Post Traumatic Stress Defense was not employed by defense attorney, John Henry Browne. Mr. Browne's reply to that was; "We didn't want to open that door, Because then, you get into a battle of the experts, and I don't think juries like that." It is likely that Robert Bales and family are too shaken by this entire matter to think critically or question the wisdom of his attorney. One would be inclined to expect your defense attorney to do all that was legally possible to allow for some possible consideration of parole in the future.
I supported the first Iraq war and the actions in Afghanistan. What reduced my enthusiasm was knowing that the U.S. Military made a policy of sending soldiers back to those same hot spots again and again and again. This happened in some cases, even when that enlisted's contractual active duty was over, and they should have been re-assigned elsewhere. Why would they stridently break their word by recycling our warriors this way? A primary reason for this recycling is likely because not enough qualified young people are volunteering for the military. When you remove all the morbidly obese couch potatoes, the gang bangers, the super-sensitives who cannot take the rigors of drills and rules, there aren't many left. Those left end up doing the jobs of two or three personnel in more populated times, and they may not make a career out of the military as often as in the past. Marriages can easily break down when spouses are unexpectedly separated for years.
We will probably need to reintroduce the draft, is my feeling. An added advantage to the draft (for both men and women) is that there will be a few less million unemployed people with too much time on their hands. For some, serving two years in the service will help them and their enabling families to finally grow up.
Well, he may have been stressed out, but that doesn’t excuse his actions. There are other ways of dealing with this.
I think he should have gotten the death penalty.
But since nobody gets it - except Timothy McVeigh, obviously to keep him from revealing what he knew - I guess life in prison is acceptable. At least we know that he, being a non-Muslim average white person, will serve it in great discomfort and misery. On the other hand, when Hassan gets it (because believe me, they’re definitely not going to put him to death), he’s going to be in the lap of luxury.
For Hassan, it will be Islamic tasty treats on holidays, Islamic food prepared by a chef the rest of the time, visits from his mullah and group prayers...and probably being able to write his book, “Jihad and Me.”
The all-volunteer force does work. These instances are rare.
/johnny
You're in you go where you're told. Draft? ...zot.
forget the stress for now, just look at the multi. closed head injuries,partial loss of his left foot,loss of his best friend,multi. back to back deployments, Just these few factors alone should have at least brought him home for at least a year or more just for rehab & rest & readjustment.
but the Army kept sending him back into a meat grinder. Men & women are NOT machines are abound to snap at some time. The Army has a lot to blame for this too, as well as an Admin. that ties the hands of our troops behind their backs so they can not win the war....
Oh, I agree that he shouldn’t have been there.
And I think it’s very true that the fact that our military is now barely even allowed to shoot back and defend themselves is a contributing factor.
That said, it’s horrible that his victims had to go through something where they thought that somebody who had come to help them had suddenly turned on them. It discredits us and shows how weak and useless our chain of command and discipline have become.
Unless, of course, they were jihadis, but he never argued this.
Another American casualty. Along with his family.
This isn’t right.
To update somewhat Bismarck’s proclamation, “The entire Muslim world isn’t worth the bones of a single Pomeranian Grenadier.”
“What reduced my enthusiasm was knowing that the U.S. Military made a policy of sending soldiers back to those same hot spots again and again and again.”
It didn’t reduce your enthusiasm when the afghan soldiers we were forced to train were murdering us day after day?
It didn’t reduce your enthusiasm when the pos in chief changed the ROE so we couldn’t even defend ourselves against the taliban if they weren’t actually shooting straight at us while planting IEDs or if someone who might or might not be a civilian was within striking distance?
It didn’t reduce your enthusiasm when the AMERICAN women soldiers were forced to wear headscarves to avoid hurting the ‘sensibilities’ of our taliban brothers?
It didn’t reduce your enthusiasm when the Holy Bibles had to be burned for the same reason?
It didn’t reduce your enthusiasm when our troops were under seige and air support was refused?
And you wonder why this man cracked, snapped, whatever on top of the drug cocktails they were being fed to keep them going without rest or sleep?
Buddy, if none of THAT curbed your enthusiasm, you sure must have liked this war over nothing except to keep a bastard drug coop in power while the poppy production went up exponentially every year we were there.
Sgt. Bales got screwed. He had a head injury and the jerks in the Pentagon sent him back to Afghanistan. He should NEVER have been returned to a combat situation after sustaining a head injury.
So, I blame the higher-ups in the Pentagon for what happened rather than him. I pray that someone with an ounce of common sense will overturn his sentence sometime and render true justice for both Sgt. Bales and the Afghans he allegedly killed. So far, all that has been done is crap in the name of political correctness.
No draft.
Not now.
Not ever again.
I served with draftees, since the draft for the Marines and Army ran from 1941 through 1973, draftee was common.
In WWII many Marines and sailors were draftees, and the Army that fought WWII was 93% drafted, a military that can’t turn an 18 year old teen into a good soldier is in trouble.
The all volunteer military is incredibly expensive, and is self destructing, the shortage of men has feminized the military as females, moms, and grandmothers had to be recruited to make up the shortages, we lack bench depth for major wars.
The 40 years of changes that the volunteer military has brought, has actually made it too late for a draft to save the military, since now, the draft would not be used to bring in men only, but would now reflect the volunteer military of males, females, and gays.
At least the draft could save money and create a large inactive reserve of trained GIs.
I am a 12 year veteran, and have siblings and family going back many generations who were in the military. Same on my wife’s side. Any country worth fighting for will not need a draft. Any military worth serving in will not need a draft. Any war worth fighting will not require a draft.
This progressive new military and the traitors on both sides of the aisle can gin up and execute their wars without my kids and any other kids who I can convince to dodge any draft that comes down. Let the pillow biters and Christian haters go get killed for the Progressive National Socialist cause.
I vow right now that I will hide, give shelter and support to anyone who evades a coming draft based on an understanding of the tyranny that has come to our country.
Those tricky Germans using fluffy white dogs as grenadiers....
Amen, Sarge.
Draft? Absolutely not.
A big part of why Bales’ trial was concluded so quickly was b/c he fessed up to what he did. He didn’t play games with the court system. You could make the argument that he just did that to get out of the death penalty, and that argument has merits, but, frankly, life without parole was a possibility from that moment, and that could be seen as a worse fate. Also Bales isn’t a coward. He did it for his kids? I don’t know. I can’t imagine there’s going to be a lot of visiting time in the future.
People can sit here and in their homes and condemn him as a mass murderer who deserves what he gets, but this is a very, very sad story all the way around, no matter how you look at it. Innocent people (probably) are dead, a terrific NCO with a bright future is now in chains for life, and a family is ruined. Heartbreaking.
Sure, he could have abstainded from murdering those innocent civilians....and I'd have a little more respect for him if he asked for the death penaly as Hassan is doing.
Maybe if they chose their battles, and then fought to win and go home, they wouldn't have that problem.
Sending these guys in, over and over, with one hand tied behind their back, with queers and women in the mix is a great recruiting tool.
And what do you have to say for the families of the members he killed in cold blood, in a country he was sent to defend? It is right and that is why we have the UCMJ.............
they are scum i spit on them and wish hell on earth
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