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
That bonehead is clueless.
You are so right, SoFloFreeper! Barack Hussein Obama, who is afraid of the word “victory,” is responsible for this tragedy.
Thank you. I know your intention is good and I take it as such.
Like everyone else, i am confused and I suspect answers are years away, if ever.
It was more than one individual and more than one company that were part of the same charges.
Sounds to me like all the details aren’t on the table.
You’re mistaking not giving Bales the benefit of the doubt with casting judgement. His friends and family will naturally lean towards the former. Those of us who are not within that tragic circle will take our own counsel with the info at our disposal.
At the very least you don’t help your case when you ask for understanding since he had been deployed as much as he had. If he’s innocent of the charges what relevance does that have? He either killed unarmed men women and children in the dead of night or he didn’t.
Hard to believe he’s really a conservative Freeper.
No doubt. All of this is early. Like many, I want answers but know they are unlikely to come soon.
I can only tell you this as second-hand. But the person who told me would have no reason to tell me anything concerning the nephew that wasn’t true.
Dead women and children are not the issue. They are apparently dead by some means or other.
The issue is innocent until proven guilty.
>> That is an excellent, thoughtful, well-written statement from Mrs. Bales.
Yeah, I agree.
It’s amazing how a message like this from Mrs. Bales can get out into the World. This would have not been possible years ago.
Thanks for posting, xzins.
That’s under the assumption he was telling the truth. Again, from the 60 Minutes transcripts as well as the investigation itself, I don’t believe him. Regardless he admitted guilt, was punished and is now nothing more than an asterisk of the Iraq War.
The door has been open since Ellis Island...long before Bush was ever born.
You’re clueless.
No worries man. We are the trash.
don’t think so. put on your thinking cap.
. Something you should pay close attention to. You don't have all the information regarding this case. As for my comment regarding multiple deployments, and not knowing what he has lived through prior to this incident, that should be self-explanatory. 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 (which has NOT yet taken place). 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 approrpriate tree is telling.
Actually, he didn’t admit guilt. He admitted guilt to a particular, lesser charge called negligent dereliction of duty, and that was related to the “shoot first questions later” scenario. If precision is to be the standard, then let’s be precise.
There was nothing in the interviews that was different.
At no place does he admit rampaging through buildings indiscriminately killing Iraqis he knew to be innocent civilians.
Wrong, murder is murder, americans do not do that. We executed 160 GI’s during WWII, not counting the ones shot in the act, so why should this clown be treated better.
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