Posted on Jun 9, 2015
"Soldier who killed 16 Afghans says he was 'consumed by war'"
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Originally published on news.yahoo.com:
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TACOMA, Washington (AP) — The U.S. soldier who murdered 16 Afghan villagers in 2012 says he had lost compassion for Iraqis and Afghans over the course of his four combat deployments.
The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain an eight-page letter former Staff Sgt. Robert Bales wrote to the senior Army officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord requesting that his life sentence be reduced.
"My mind was consumed by war," Bales wrote late last year.
"I planted war and hate for the better part of 10 years and harvested violence," he added. "After being in prison two years, I understand that what I thought was normal was the farthest thing from being normal."
In March, Lt. Gen. Stephen Lanza rejected the request to overturn Bales' conviction or modify his sentence, an Army spokesman said Friday. That automatically sends the case to the Army Court of Criminal Appeal, where it might be considered again by military judges one day.
Bales, an Ohio native and father of two from Lake Tapps, Washington state, shot 22 people in all, including 17 women and children, during pre-dawn raids on two villages in Kandahar Province in March 2012. The massacre prompted such angry protests that the U.S. temporarily halted combat operations, and it was three weeks before Army investigators could reach the crime scene.
Bales pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty, and he apologized in a statement at his sentencing in 2013. He described the perpetual rage he felt, his heavy drinking and reliance on sleeping pills, and his steroid use. He also said he couldn't explain what he did, a sentiment he repeated in the letter.
"Over my past two years of incarceration, I have come to understand there isn't a why; there is only pain," he wrote.
The letter provides additional detaila about the paranoia Bales says he felt during his last deployment and the toll financial worries were taking on him.
"I didn't want to make a decision on the ground and lose one of my guys," he wrote. "Normally that would be a good thing, but now I know it made me paranoid and ineffective."
Over his combat tours he came to hate "everyone who isn't American," he wrote, and he became suspicious of local residents who might be supportive of those fighting Americans.
"I became callous to them even being human; they were all enemy. Guilt and fear are with you day and night. Over time your experiences solidify your prejudice," he wrote.
Since his confinement, Bales has been baptized and focused on his Christian faith, he said. He's also taking classes to finish a bachelor's degree and learning to be a barber.
The newspaper also obtained letters from Bales' wife, his in-laws and several soldiers who knew him on his earlier Iraq deployments when he was regarded as a sound infantryman.
His veteran friends described the qualities that led them to trust Bales during earlier tours in Iraq.
"My only regret in life is that I wasn't there in Afghanistan when Robert really needed a friend to see that he was struggling and pull him from the edge," a staff sergeant wrote on Bales' behalf.
http://news.yahoo.com/soldier-killed-16-afghans-says-consumed-war-205118088.html
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TACOMA, Washington (AP) — The U.S. soldier who murdered 16 Afghan villagers in 2012 says he had lost compassion for Iraqis and Afghans over the course of his four combat deployments.
The News Tribune newspaper of Tacoma used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain an eight-page letter former Staff Sgt. Robert Bales wrote to the senior Army officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord requesting that his life sentence be reduced.
"My mind was consumed by war," Bales wrote late last year.
"I planted war and hate for the better part of 10 years and harvested violence," he added. "After being in prison two years, I understand that what I thought was normal was the farthest thing from being normal."
In March, Lt. Gen. Stephen Lanza rejected the request to overturn Bales' conviction or modify his sentence, an Army spokesman said Friday. That automatically sends the case to the Army Court of Criminal Appeal, where it might be considered again by military judges one day.
Bales, an Ohio native and father of two from Lake Tapps, Washington state, shot 22 people in all, including 17 women and children, during pre-dawn raids on two villages in Kandahar Province in March 2012. The massacre prompted such angry protests that the U.S. temporarily halted combat operations, and it was three weeks before Army investigators could reach the crime scene.
Bales pleaded guilty in a deal to avoid the death penalty, and he apologized in a statement at his sentencing in 2013. He described the perpetual rage he felt, his heavy drinking and reliance on sleeping pills, and his steroid use. He also said he couldn't explain what he did, a sentiment he repeated in the letter.
"Over my past two years of incarceration, I have come to understand there isn't a why; there is only pain," he wrote.
The letter provides additional detaila about the paranoia Bales says he felt during his last deployment and the toll financial worries were taking on him.
"I didn't want to make a decision on the ground and lose one of my guys," he wrote. "Normally that would be a good thing, but now I know it made me paranoid and ineffective."
Over his combat tours he came to hate "everyone who isn't American," he wrote, and he became suspicious of local residents who might be supportive of those fighting Americans.
"I became callous to them even being human; they were all enemy. Guilt and fear are with you day and night. Over time your experiences solidify your prejudice," he wrote.
Since his confinement, Bales has been baptized and focused on his Christian faith, he said. He's also taking classes to finish a bachelor's degree and learning to be a barber.
The newspaper also obtained letters from Bales' wife, his in-laws and several soldiers who knew him on his earlier Iraq deployments when he was regarded as a sound infantryman.
His veteran friends described the qualities that led them to trust Bales during earlier tours in Iraq.
"My only regret in life is that I wasn't there in Afghanistan when Robert really needed a friend to see that he was struggling and pull him from the edge," a staff sergeant wrote on Bales' behalf.
http://news.yahoo.com/soldier-killed-16-afghans-says-consumed-war-205118088.html
Army
Warfare
UCMJ
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 14
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It's sad. He really needed help, I hope he finds some peace while he sits in his cell. Don't read into what I said as if I am defending his actions, there is a reason he's locked up and I completely agree with it, I just recognize the pain he's going through and hope he can eventually find a way to let go of his anger.
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SGT Mike Brown
Its not exclusive to US troops. And not only those who serve in the military. Until we admit that trauma and situations causes one to change. I had a platoon sgt that said, "pressure bust pipes" later in my in my life i learned that we are all based on the same carbon molecule. Pressure also makes diamonds....under the right scenario.
This soldier under this enormous pressure allowed it to effect his humanity in such a way he devalued lifestyle. ..even his own
This soldier under this enormous pressure allowed it to effect his humanity in such a way he devalued lifestyle. ..even his own
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I hope he gets the help he desperately needs, and I hope his family is being taken care of.
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- Former SSG Bales committed a crime for which he received due process and an appropriate conviction and sentence (life in prison vice a death sentence).
- PTSD is a matter of extenuation and mitigation but not justification. I believe, but the article does not show, that his lawyers brought this up during sentencing when the judge/jury properly considered and rejected it.
- The efforts to overturn or modify his conviction, while predictable, should not be allowed to succeed.
- Let's not forget that, beyond the 16 Afghans killed, Bales' crimes had a significant and negative impact upon the war effort thus placing all other Soldiers within the AO at increased risk.
- Former SSG Bales self reflection, contemplation and efforts at self improvement while in prison are a good thing but can never make up for the crimes that he committed.
- The Army taking a look at this case to see if and what the Army should do to prevent something like this is the future is a good thing but this organizational self assessment should not be seen as the Army being partly culpable for Bales' crimes. Bales, and only Bales, is responsible for the crimes he committed.
- PTSD is a matter of extenuation and mitigation but not justification. I believe, but the article does not show, that his lawyers brought this up during sentencing when the judge/jury properly considered and rejected it.
- The efforts to overturn or modify his conviction, while predictable, should not be allowed to succeed.
- Let's not forget that, beyond the 16 Afghans killed, Bales' crimes had a significant and negative impact upon the war effort thus placing all other Soldiers within the AO at increased risk.
- Former SSG Bales self reflection, contemplation and efforts at self improvement while in prison are a good thing but can never make up for the crimes that he committed.
- The Army taking a look at this case to see if and what the Army should do to prevent something like this is the future is a good thing but this organizational self assessment should not be seen as the Army being partly culpable for Bales' crimes. Bales, and only Bales, is responsible for the crimes he committed.
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SMSgt Bryan Raines
COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM So there is no not guilty by reason of insanity? Extreme PTSD is insanity, not an extenuating circumstance. I do not condone what this man has done but I have seen people reach their snapping point and do things that would not normally do. Weather or not he is just making this up or truly was in his own world of "insanity" is the job for mental health professionals. All I am saying is that if he truly snapped, he should be given treatment and yes according to US law he would be "not guilty". Then again I was not in court so I do not know if this was all hashed out.
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COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM, CM
SMSgt Bryan Raines,
- I do not know if guilty by reason of insanity is allowed under UCMJ. Good question for a military lawyer. I do not believe the question/issue is "what should have happened in Bales case". The question/issue is what was allowed by UCMJ and was this followed in this case. The answers are: don't know and yes.
- Whether extreme PTSD is insanity is an issue for mental health professionals, military lawyers, and possibly Congress if changes to the UCMJ is required.
- My baseline assumptions are that former SSG Bales received due process, his lawyers were competent, and the conviction/sentence were justly arrived at. I need facts to the contrary before I will adjust my thoughts/opinions. The article only talked about Bales in the two years he has been imprisoned and provided nothing along these lines.
- I do not know if guilty by reason of insanity is allowed under UCMJ. Good question for a military lawyer. I do not believe the question/issue is "what should have happened in Bales case". The question/issue is what was allowed by UCMJ and was this followed in this case. The answers are: don't know and yes.
- Whether extreme PTSD is insanity is an issue for mental health professionals, military lawyers, and possibly Congress if changes to the UCMJ is required.
- My baseline assumptions are that former SSG Bales received due process, his lawyers were competent, and the conviction/sentence were justly arrived at. I need facts to the contrary before I will adjust my thoughts/opinions. The article only talked about Bales in the two years he has been imprisoned and provided nothing along these lines.
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SPC Larry Boutwell
4 deployments?? Dude should be getting help.. Not sitting in prison......thats fucked...any one who has been on multiple deployments will tell you it grinds at you after a while.....
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Funny how our own military can say anything they want and feel no shame. Especially those that have never been up close and personal with the enemy. Though he's done wrong, let's not forget why you would look negative on every aspect of why a service member does what he/she does and nothing to show for when service members commit suicide. Prayers go out to him and his family. And prayers for you individuals that can only talk crap about each other and easily point the finger, become better people.
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My thoughts returned to the My Lai Massacre: Anger & rage are delivered to the innocent. I cannot find a plausible defense for his actions. Bales got a life sentence --a far cry better than those whom he murdered. And the precipitate is directly counter-productive to the overall mission. On an individual level, I hope he can find peace... at least within himself.
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SSG Lloyd Becker BSBA-HCM, MBA
In Viet Nam, it was a different story. Generally, when we get orders for RVN, it is normally a single tour. Iraq and Afghanistan, troops were sent multiple times without requesting to be sent back.
Putting four tours in the Middle East takes a toll on the psyche. Not like Viet Nam, unless you were a tunnel rat. Speaking about Mai Lai, I read quite a bit about it and there was more behind the scenes on this massacre, than LT Calley. LT Calley served a few years for his conduct in the massacre. The question is now, should Bales serve a life sentence? I do not think the prison system is appropriate. He needs to be sent to Western, or Medical Lake. Being sent for 4 tours and doing what he did is a mental problem and needs to be on psycho-tropic drugs.
Putting four tours in the Middle East takes a toll on the psyche. Not like Viet Nam, unless you were a tunnel rat. Speaking about Mai Lai, I read quite a bit about it and there was more behind the scenes on this massacre, than LT Calley. LT Calley served a few years for his conduct in the massacre. The question is now, should Bales serve a life sentence? I do not think the prison system is appropriate. He needs to be sent to Western, or Medical Lake. Being sent for 4 tours and doing what he did is a mental problem and needs to be on psycho-tropic drugs.
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Capt Mark Strobl
SSG Lloyd Becker BSBA-HCM, MBA Please allow me to clarify my comment slightly: In My Lai, innocent civilians were slaughtered. The political fallout was nearly as horrible as the massacre itself. Admittedly, there were more soldiers (who could have denied illegal orders) vice one guy --who, apparently, acted independently "beyond." However, I do agree that there are psychological factors involved in Bales' case --but, those go far beyond our RP community's ability to asses.
Your point is well-made, and well-taken.
Your point is well-made, and well-taken.
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PTSD is a common phenomenon among U.S. warriors; however, very few take out their problems by killing innocent civilians. Many, like Bales, argue that whatever caused them to do what they did was beyond their control--they just snapped. The truth most often is that people who are screwed up during or after they served in the military where screwed up before they joined the military. The overwhelming majority of warriors, especially those who experience the most horrific aspects of war, do not do what Bales did. Their moral compass kicks in and prevents them from committing atrocities. This is a different phenomenon from rogue unit behavior. Often in combat, troops follow the lead of their commander or some other person in their unit, and do things such as dismembering or defiling dead enemy bodies. Incidents of this kind of behavior have frequently occurred in every American war. There is no excuse for this or for what Bales did, and I have no sympathy for him.
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Capt Seid Waddell
LTC Ed Ross, sir, while there may have indeed been an underlying weakness in SSgt Bales, it did not seem to have come out in his first three deployments. Do you not think it is possible that his mind did in fact snap?
I have come across accounts like this from veterans' stories from WWII through Viet Nam. I have never understood completely how some could go through intense combat and come out of it relatively unscathed from all outward appearances while others are broken by lesser experiences.
All I have been able to conclude is that some have been pushed beyond their breaking points and others have not been pushed that far yet.
I have come across accounts like this from veterans' stories from WWII through Viet Nam. I have never understood completely how some could go through intense combat and come out of it relatively unscathed from all outward appearances while others are broken by lesser experiences.
All I have been able to conclude is that some have been pushed beyond their breaking points and others have not been pushed that far yet.
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LTC Ed Ross
All I'm suggesting is that life experiences prior to service can make a warrior more likely to snap. I do not mean to imply that a perfectly normal individual can't snap under intense pressure. "Snapping" doesn't necessarily mean turning a gun on innocent people and pulling the trigger. A more common reaction it would appear is suicide. The suicide rate among the troops and veterans is very high. Thanks for your response.
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Capt Seid Waddell
LTC Ed Ross, my brother used to run prisoners on a Game and Fish ranch in Arizona, and he got to pick the trustees to work the ranch.
He wouldn't have dopers or thieves on the ranch because he said that they had sneaky minds and that you could never turn your back on them. He chose murderers because he said that they are just like you or me except that they had been pushed beyond their limit once, and we haven't been - yet. Of course the Manson’s of the world were not eligible to become trustees, so he was dealing with a sub-set of the murderers.
I have heard of accounts just like SSgt. Bales in Germany and the Pacific during WWII, and have known some of the men that did them. Also accounts in Korea and Viet Nam from some of those close to the incidents, but not participants.
I think that hate comes to consume a person to the point that they begin to look at the enemy as sub-humans needing extermination for the good of the world.
I have also seen sustained hatred cause minds to snap in the civilian world as well. There was a case of ecological protestors against putting telescopes on top of Mt. Graham in Arizona. After several years of this struggle one of the protestors drove his pickup through a number of range gates, jumped out of it as it went over a cliff, and was found running naked in the mountains. There were three other protestors and a couple of scientists that were institutionalized during that period as well.
The suicide rate in the military is very high, and that is also difficult to explain rationally, because it is an irrational act - but it is just another form of snapping, IMHO.
I feel for SSgt. Bales' family; they lost him to war just as completely as if he had come home in a box.
He wouldn't have dopers or thieves on the ranch because he said that they had sneaky minds and that you could never turn your back on them. He chose murderers because he said that they are just like you or me except that they had been pushed beyond their limit once, and we haven't been - yet. Of course the Manson’s of the world were not eligible to become trustees, so he was dealing with a sub-set of the murderers.
I have heard of accounts just like SSgt. Bales in Germany and the Pacific during WWII, and have known some of the men that did them. Also accounts in Korea and Viet Nam from some of those close to the incidents, but not participants.
I think that hate comes to consume a person to the point that they begin to look at the enemy as sub-humans needing extermination for the good of the world.
I have also seen sustained hatred cause minds to snap in the civilian world as well. There was a case of ecological protestors against putting telescopes on top of Mt. Graham in Arizona. After several years of this struggle one of the protestors drove his pickup through a number of range gates, jumped out of it as it went over a cliff, and was found running naked in the mountains. There were three other protestors and a couple of scientists that were institutionalized during that period as well.
The suicide rate in the military is very high, and that is also difficult to explain rationally, because it is an irrational act - but it is just another form of snapping, IMHO.
I feel for SSgt. Bales' family; they lost him to war just as completely as if he had come home in a box.
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Truly a sad story for SSG Bales and his family and the family of those that were killed in his attack. What truly drives an individual do to such an crazy act? He will live with this pain the rest of his life. What signs did others see in this SSG actions prior to the attack. Praying for him, his famly and all that where involved!
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What I don't understand is WHY did they continue to send this man on deployments if he was not mentally stable?
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We have standards and rules that conduct our selves with.. If you cross them, you are voliated them... No excuse for that.. If you need help, seek hep
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