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US SOLDIER Robert Bales, who killed 16 Afghan civilians during a rampage in Kandahar last year, will escape the death penalty by pleading guilty to murder. ... Sixteen people, mainly women and children, were killed in two villages near the base during the rampage. Some of the bodies were piled up and set on fire. ... Last month, AP spoke to locals in the villages that Bales terrorised. "Relatives of the victims became outraged at the notion Bales might escape the death penalty," it said. One man, Mohammed Wazir, who lost 11 family members including his mother and two-year-old daughter...

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,...

The Obama administration and the Secretary of State all blame the "fog of war" for their disastrous Ben Ghazi blunder. When Hillary Clinton gets sick, she goes AWOL. When its very obvious that American soldiers "go crazy," they are condemned to death. That's what the U.S. Army is seeking in the case of Staff Sgt Robert Bales. (CNN) -- A U.S. soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers in a shooting rampage could face the death penalty if he is found guilty in a court-martial. Our DOD  (Department Of Defense) always wanting to prove how holier than thou they are by...

Anti-Malarial Drug Mefloquine Associated With 87 Deaths and Hundreds of Psychotic Episodes in Past 15 Years Was Staff Sergeant Robert Bales Administered the Drug? (Washington, DC) — Judicial Watch, the public interest group that that investigates and fights government corruption, announced today that it has uncovered documents from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) detailing more than 2,000 episodes during the past 15 years in which people had serious adverse reactions caused by the anti-malaria drug, mefloquine hydrochloride, commonly known as Lariam®. Of 87 reported deaths associated with the drug, 39 were recorded as suicides and 12 were homicides. The...

John Henry Browne, the attorney for Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, the man accused of single-handedly massacring 17 Afghan villagers, is now accusing the United States government of “an almost complete information blackout” which is blocking him from preparing a proper defense for Bales. Browne alleges that he and his legal team has been prevented from being able to interview the witnesses to the tragic incident as well as the injured civilians in southern Afghanistan. ... “We are facing an almost complete information blackout from the government, which is having a devastating effect on our ability to investigate the charges preferred...

An attorney for the US soldier accused of 17 counts of murder after a shooting spree in Panjwai, Afghanistan has acknowledged that Robert Bales is likely to face capital charges. Do you think Bales should face the death penalty?

WASHINGTON – 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...

In an exclusive interview, Matt Lauer will sit down with Karilyn Bales, the wife of Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier accused of killing 17 civilians in two southern Afghanistan villages. This will be Karilyn Bales’ first television interview since her husband was charged with murder. The interview will air Monday, March 26 on TODAY and NBC Nightly News.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged with 17 counts of murder and six counts of assault and attempted murder related to a March 11 shooting spree in Afghanistan, a senior U.S. defense official said Thursday. The charges are expected to be announced Friday. The official could not explain why the count is now 17, when 16 have been reported killed in the incident. Bales' lawyer, John Henry Browne, told CNN that he did not respond to leaks and that he would not comment before seeing the charges against his client.

(Reuters) - U.S. authorities lack proof of what occurred the night a U.S. soldier is suspected of killing 16 villagers in Afghanistan, the lawyer representing the serviceman said on Tuesday. "I'm very concerned now they don't have much proof of anything," attorney John Henry Browne told Reuters after meeting with U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales on Tuesday for a second day in a military detention center in Kansas. Browne said he has now spent 11 hours with Bales discussing the events of Sunday, March 11, when Bales allegedly walked off his base in southern Afghanistan and gunned down the...

Let's stipulate up front that it might well have been an innocent mistake. Even so, until explained, it was shocking to say the least. On today's Morning Joe, as Mika Brzezinski read a David Brooks op-ed about the shooting of civilians in Afghanistan in which he wrote of "monstrous acts that shock the soul and sear the brain," suddenly the screen cut--for an extended period--to three different photos of . . . Republican Paul Ryan. Even Joe Scarborough couldn't resist joking about the incident revealing the show's liberal bias. As it turns out, an op-ed by Ryan was up next,...

Robert Bales, the staff sergeant accused of massacring Afghan civilians, enlisted in the U.S. Army at the same time he was trying to avoid answering allegations he defrauded an elderly Ohio couple of their life savings in a stock fraud, according to federal documents reviewed by ABC News. "He robbed me of my life savings," Gary Liebschner of Carroll, Ohio told ABC News. Financial regulators found that Bales "engaged in fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, churning, unauthorized trading and unsuitable investments," according to a report on Bales filed in 2003. Bales and his associates were ordered to pay Liebschner $1,274,000...

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...

Long before the US soldier suspected of slaying 16 Afghan villagers was identified as an Army sergeant from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, the installation had earned a reputation as the most troubled outpost in the American military. The Army station near Tacoma, Washington, has come under scrutiny as the home of several soldiers involved in wartime atrocities in 2010 and a base scarred by a record number of suicides last year. It has deployed troops repeatedly to Iraq, and late last year, sent soldiers to Afghanistan. The independent military newspaper Stars and Stripes in December 2010 called Lewis-McChord "the most troubled...

SEATTLE (AP) -- A former platoon leader for the soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians says the allegations are "100 percent out of character" for the man, whom he described as a "very solid" noncommissioned officer who has saved other soldiers' lives. Army Capt. Chris Alexander was Robert Bales' platoon leader during a deployment to Iraq.

Senior US officials told the BBC the name of the suspect as he was heading back to the US to face charges. He is being flown to Fort Leavenworth, in Kansas, from Kuwait. His lawyer, John Henry Browne, said on Thursday that the suspect was a 38-year-old man who had been injured twice while serving in Iraq. He also said the accused had witnessed his friend's leg blown off the day before the killings. That incident has not been confirmed by the US Army. The Taliban called off peace talks in the wake of Sunday's deadly rampage - in which...