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
Prayers UP for the family. This was on military.com.
Veterans Get Risky Painkillers
Week of March 19, 2012
Stars and Stripes reports that a new study has found that recent U.S. War veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) along with physical pain are often prescribed Morphine and similar powerful painkillers. Subsequent suicides, other self-inflicted injuries, and drug and alcohol overdoses were all more common in veterans with PTSD who received these drugs. The Department of Veterans Affairs paid for the study, which is based on VA health care data. An abstract of the study is available on the Journal of the American Medical Association website.
No less silly or ignorant as your statement........
My vote would be to pull out and nuke the country killing all of them. Yes, that includes women and children...
Dude, did you even read what I wrote? I did NOT sit in judgement of this man, but I did analyze the job the Oval Office Occupier was doing.
“Mitigating circumstances are not used to assauge guilt. They are used to apply the appropriate sentence for the actions leading to the charges and subsequent trial”
Hundreds of thousands of men & women have served in our Armed Forces & fought in both the Iraq & Afghanistan conflicts for multiple tours just as long if not longer than Bale. Many have suffered from PTSD, troubled relationships and emotional / physical problems. And yet virtually none stand accused of Bale’s charges.
“The fact that you are ready to put a noose around his neck and throw the other end over a sturdy branch of the nearest appropriate tree is telling.”
Please point out where I called for summary execution? I clearly stated that IF FOUND GUILTY i.e. of murdering unarmed men, women & children in the dead of night, he should face the death penalty. If there is any act which demands such retribution is it what he is accused of.
Katie, our war department has clearly outdone themselves on this one, sending soldiers back again and again from the safety of “the war’s on the back burner zone” to the death camp of “the IED blows up your buddy zone”.
And then they act surprised when it messes with some minds.
OF COURSE, it messes with minds. Beat up on people enough and some will piss themselves when you walk by and others will attack you. And there’ll be a whole range in between.
What a joke.
“At no place does he admit rampaging through buildings indiscriminately killing Iraqis he knew to be innocent civilians.”
Of course not because if he had he would be currently serving life behind bars in Leavenworth. As for the charge he plead guilty to, sure it wasn’t murder. But again, from the evidence & interviews, IMHO he got off light. Nor can anyone still claim he was pure as snow. Regardless this could go on all night. You and I will have to agree to disagree on this issue.
Hunting and killing kids is not war, fool, it is hunting and killing kids.
I was so impressed with the lines:
“we must find peace”
“my husband who I love very much”
Robert Bales married what we call in my neck of the woods “a keeper”.
_____________________
I absolutely agree.
It only goes to show you have a small mind. At the time of the 60 minutes interview SSgt. Wuterich was charged with multiple counts of murder.
Here's a link to the final, outcome which it seems you chose to ignore.
TRIAL OF SSGT WUTERICH: NO MURDER, NO JAIL, THE END OF AN ORDEAL Posted January 24, 2012.
This series of posts from an earlier thread on Haditha Marines Haditha Marines. Link to thread
To: KantianBurke
One wonders how many terrorists have been spawned due to his psychopathy.
Eleven. But they're all dead now.
BTW, haven't seen you on the Haditha threads since they started to be exonerated. How come? You only interested in slamming our troops? C'mon, admit it. You had your head up your ass about Haditha. Confession is good for the soul.
11 posted on Friday, September 19, 2008 5:41:37 PM by RedRover
To: bigheadfred; KantianBurke
KantianBurke (who’s actually not Kantian nor anything like Edmund Burke) is a snivelly little puke who, I suspect, had his cornflakes peed on by an American serviceman.
He bashes American troops every chance he gets and then runs away when questioned.
He used to come on the Haditha threads to call them all murderers. Then the little s**t just disappeared.
27 posted on Friday, September 19, 2008 7:23:41 PM by RedRover
To: RedRover
My avoidance of your “cause” isn’t due to cowardice but rather because the mods, after being beseiged by your censorious instict, requested that I do so. Judging from your posts which freely indulge in profanity and personal venom, perhaps you should reread FR’s posting guidelines and rules and do likewise.
But since you’ve brought the subject up again and the mods have ignored a request that your potty language be removed, I’ll duly respond with my position which hasn’t changed and which you attempted to have me banned for. The Haditha group themselves have admitted to killing those civilians. Their defense rests solely on the “fog of war” argument. Judging from the events of that day I don’t believe them and consider the conesquences of their trials equivalent to OJ’s not guilt murder verdict. Others are free to make up their own minds about what happened.
The irony of all this is that you’re launching this junvenile attack on a thread that - surprise - has a disgrace to the uniform being punished for being an accessory to murder. Which was my point all along - not all who serve are automatically morally pristine and when they violate our country’s laws, they need to be punished espcially if their actions put other troops lives at risk.
55 posted on Saturday, September 20, 2008 11:39:38 AM by KantianBurke
To: KantianBurke
...because the mods, after being beseiged by your censorious instict
LOL! You want me to censor my remarks while whining about my censorious instict? You really overestimate my pull with the Mods. So many people dislike you that the Case of Who Got KantianBurke Suspended is a bit like the Murder on the Orient Express.
Anyway, as I recall it, the thing that got you suspended were ghastly, inappropriate remarks to Haditha Marine family members.
But even you must see there's really nothing personal in anyone's reaction to you. It's quite the reverse. You say things that are deliberately inflammatory and ill-informed. Comparing the exonerations of the Marines to the verdict in the OJ Simpson trial is just silly.
On the other hand, you get all prissy over jibes in response to you, an anonymous screen name.
I appreciate your restraint in staying off the Haditha threads. So let's stick with a good thing and go back to mutual avoidance.
58 posted on Saturday, September 20, 2008 2:47:55 PM by RedRover
Just a little sample for all to see regarding Kantian Burke and how he views our military.
We executed 160 GI’s during WWII, not counting the ones shot in the act
Murder is murder! Hmmmm. I'll leave that one where it lays. Instead, let's consider the statement, " . . . Americans do not do that." Who are any of us, sitting in the comfort of our safe environments here at home to suggest that there are NO situations in which a soldier in a combat zone should EVER have a mental or psychotic break resulting in such an incident as what is accused in this case? Can you say you know for certain what took place here? Can you state in no uncertain terms that this man accused of this crime committed these actions with full intent and with full mental faculty? If it were to be the case that this man had suffered a psychotic break which led to these killings, does that provide any mitigating factors in deciding his fate? Or, should we all just grab the rope, drag this man out of his cell at Leavenworth, put the noose around his neck, throw the rope over a study branch, and hang him - without waiting for all the facts to be disclosed?
What is war then?
And take your time.
I don’t want to mess with your feel good moment.
See? You do have a sense of humor. :-))
This thread is full of some seriously funny funny people.
[The question is whether a soldier who is in the midst of suffering “adult onset psychosis” (your term) would be able to act in such a logical manner.]
Ask former Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=William+Rehnquist+hospitalization+CIA
In his case, the psychosis was temporary.
I’ve never hid my skepticism of the justice of your “cause.” I believe then and now that those Marines were guilty of the charges. Such a statement ensured you and your crew went crying to mods threatening me. Not surprising to see you’re unable to control yourself and want to re-engage. And for what purpose? Wuterich plead guilty, was demoted and is now a footnote.
DUDE (or dudete, whichever the case may be), you might want to notice that my statement was directed at the other person, not you. I pinged you as a courtesy as I was responding to the other person’s comments to you.
This is one case I will be watching closely. It has troubled me deeply. Not sure which I feel the most..anger or sadness.
ditto
Where was this aledged ‘link?’
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.