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Subscribe to RSSU.S. Army officials are preparing charges as new information is revealed about U.S. staff sergeant who allegedly shot 16 Afghan civilians. NBC Chief Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski reports.
The American soldier accused of massacring 16 civilians in southern Afghanistan on Sunday was a 38-year-old staff sergeant based in Washington State who had no history of behavioral problems, but had been treated for traumatic brain injury after a previous deployment to Iraq, senior U.S. defense officials told NBC News.
The soldier, reportedly married with two children, enlisted in the Army soon after the terror attacks of Sept. 11 and did three combat tours to Iraq before arriving in Kandahar in December 2011.
The soldier was from the 2nd Battallion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Stryker brigade, 2nd Infrantry Division based out of Joint Base Lewis McChord located south of Seattle. He was among 2,500 soldiers sent to Afghanistan for a yearlong deployment.
He received his assignment to a village stabilization program less than six weeks ago, the defense officials said.
The attacker left his base in Panjwai district early on Sunday and broke into the homes of local villagers, according to reports. Nine children and three women were among the 16 slain. Some of the bodies were also reportedly set on fire. The BBC reported that the soldier was thought to have suffered a breakdown.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called it an "assassination" and furiously demanded an explanation from Washington.
"This is an assassination, an intentional killing of innocent civilians and cannot be forgiven," Karzai said in a statement. He said he has repeatedly demanded the U.S. stop killing Afghan civilians.
President Barack Obama called the attack "tragic and shocking" and offered his condolences to the families of those killed. In a statement released by the White House, he vowed "to get the facts as quickly as possible and to hold accountable anyone responsible."
U.S. and NATO officials were anxious to make clear that the shooter was acting alone.
"This was not part of a night raid or any operation," the senior officer told The New York Times. "All the signs point to a lone person acting alone."
MSNBC military analyst Gen. Barry McCaffrey (Ret.) says the alleged shooting of Afghan civilians by a US soldier is a 'further unraveling' of relations between the US and Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, some residents said they believed there were multiple attackers, given the carnage.
"One man can't kill so many people. There must have been many people involved," Bacha Agha of Balandi village told the AP. "If the government says this is just one person's act we will not accept it."
Taliban vows 'revenge' after US soldier kills 16 civilans in Afghanistan
The staff sergeant accused of killing the Afghan civilians was treated for traumatic brain injury in 2010 after his vehicle rolled over in an accident that was not caused by an IED explosion, according to a senior U.S. defense official. He was medicated for some time, the official said.
The soldier was given a clean bill of health and received both pre- and post-deployment health assessments which did not indicate any problems, according to the defense official.
Officials said it was premature to state whether there was any link between the 2010 injury and the Afghanistan incident.
Home to about 100,000 military and civilian personnel, Joint Base Lewis McChord has suffered a spate of suicides among soldiers back from war. The Army is investigating whether doctors at Lewis-McChord's Madigan Army Medical Center were urged to consider the cost of providing benefits when reviewing diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Military discipline and the 'command climate' in Afghanistan comes into question after a U.S. soldier allegedly opened fire on sleeping civilians in Kandahar province. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
In 2010, a dozen soldiers from the base were arrested on a slew of charges that ranged from using drugs, beating up a whistleblower in their unit, and deliberately killing three Afghan civilians during patrols in Kandahar Province. Prosecutors at Lewis-McChord won convictions against four of the five who were charged in the killings.
Suspect's base has history of controversies
While U.S. officials rushed to draw a line between the shooting over the weekend and ongoing efforts of a U.S. force of around 90,000, the incident is sure to infuriate Afghans already suspicious of a Western military presence now over a decade old.
Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News chief Pentagon correspondent, said the recent incidents involving U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan raised questions about what the military calls the "command climate."
"Are the leaders there becoming a little slack perhaps in their discipline or enforcement of the rules?" he said on MSNBC. "U.S. military officials insist that this is not the case, but ... has the discipline eroded as forces prepare to withdraw?"
Last month, the burning of copies of the Quran on a NATO military base triggered violent protests across the country and a spate of insider attacks against Western soldiers.
US gives up control of jail where Quran was burned
In a statement Monday, the Afghan Taliban pledged to "take revenge" against the "sick-minded American savages," according to the AFP news agency.
"The American 'terrorists' want to come up with an excuse for the perpetrator of this inhumane crime by claiming that this immoral culprit was mentally ill," the Taliban statement added. "If the perpetrators of this massacre were in fact mentally ill then this testifies to yet another moral transgression by the American military, because they are arming lunatics in Afghanistan who turn their weapons against the defenseless Afghans without giving a second thought."
"This is a fatal hammer blow on the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan. Whatever sliver of trust and credibility we might have had following the burnings of the Quran is now gone," said David Cortright, the director of policy studies at Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and an advocate for a quick withdrawal from Afghanistan.
"This may have been the act of a lone, deranged soldier. But the people of Afghanistan will see it for what it was, a wanton massacre of innocent civilians," Cortright said.
The soldier's name has not been released. He is now in pretrial confinement as Army officials review his complete deployment and medical history.
The village stability operations are part of NATO's efforts to transition out of Afghanistan. They pair special operations troops with local villagers chosen by village elders to become essentially a sanctioned, armed neighborhood watch.
NBC's Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, msnbc.com staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Coward politicians. Reinstitute the draft and people won't be on their third, fourth, fifth... deployment.
We set out to get Bin Laden. That was the whole purpose of going over there. Well, he's gone now. No need to stay. Bring our Troops home! NOW!!! Those countries over there have fought amongst themselves since the beginning of time. It will never end.
Originally, the campaign was waged against al-Qaeda and other militant organizations with the purpose of eliminating them. Don't let the facts confuse the debate though.
I agree we need to pull out and need to let them sort things out on their own. Problem is China has not had a turn at taking on Afghanistan and between the USSR and USA they are softened up now. They might just do it right, conquer the north, build a pipeline, annex it to China and call it a day.
@Trust-Verify: China is already there mining copper, but you have a point. China should have their own military protect their interests be it oil or minerals. Our military goals have been met & we should leave.
3 tours in Iraq and 1 in Afghanistan? When is he going to be allowed to be "finished" with war? He shouldn't have been there after 3 tours of Iraq, how much is a man supposed to be able to stand and now this.
Allison
apparently you don't understand a few things here. First would be that we only have so many people in the military and I don't see a lot of people lined up to join. Second, which relates back to the first, is that in WWII, Vietnam, and Korea there were many who served multiple tours of combat duty. I am not implying conditions are great just observing that the military has little choice given the resources at hand.
If we weren't going to war for profit maybe more people would join.... just a thought.
meanest one
What makes you think people do or don't join the military based on the war being for profit? Please don't disparage our troops because of your political views. Those who join are pawns in the chess game not the decision makers.
trust_verify
Appearantly you should know a few things. Look at the number of days that that WW2 and Korea actully saw combat and then look at Vietnam and Iraq/Afganistan. I am willing to be that this war has a larger number of days than each. Then multiply that by 3 or 4. That is a major contributor to the PTSD counts.
Maybe there had been to much pressure in the "Village Stability Operation" program?
Ptsd or not- He should burn. He just made the recruitment of terrorists that much easier. Im sure he'll understand why he's screwed once he gets his head back on. His weakness will cause more of our boys not to come home safe. Good luck findin a pill that makes the shame go away.
WTF?? Bring our troops home NOW! We have no real plan. OBL is dead. Why are we there? This guy needed a long rest, but instead, he was re-deployed to another steaming pile of poo in Afghanistan. Bring 'em home. Now.
We the people, need to march on DC! Need to march on Chicago! We the American people will end the war in Afghanistan. Wish Martin Luther King was around.
I don't recall MLK marching over war but rather civil rights.
I am not sure what marching on Chicago would accomplish, or are you advocating anarchy?
Maybe he just wanted to go home...any way he could. Our government wants these men and women to be robots and just do what they are told. Well guess what Uncle Sam, they are just human and humans have a breaking point!
Even though he pulled the trigger, we need to share the blame with our military leaders. There are so many out there, who have no idea how to deal with Soldiers. They espouse the corporate line of "caring" about Soldiers, but all they want is an obiendient automaton, who obeys, but does not question. I just came back from a unit, whose leadership know nothing about counter-insurgency except what they learned in a 3 week course. These same men refuse to listen to anyone but themselves and a small coterie of like-minded neanderthals. We have done all that we can there. What we should do is just leave. You think that you know the amount of money and lives wasted there, but you have really no idea.
@Greg Reck: Thank you so much for your service & for stating what needs to be said. Whatever military goals were set in place a decade ago have been met now. My thoughts are with the families of those deployed who are now in even greater danger and with the Afghan families who lost their loved ones... both have lost faith in each other.
We citizens need to stand up now for our own service men & women. We need to collectively state... out loud & loudly so our President, SecDef, Cabinet, Congressional representatives hear us clearly... shut down Afghan ops now & bring our troops home.
We need to use social media for our own Spring uprising: arrive at the same time outside the White House, the Capital building and the Pentagon... and stand there silently with big signs saying: BRING OUR TROOPS HOME!
"The American soldier thought to have massacred 16 civilians in southern Afghanistan on Sunday reportedly had served three tours in Iraq before arriving in Kandahar in December."
This is insane! How in the world can we expect our people to keep this up? What are we gaining? This is beyond stupid! GET OUT!
I do not condone what this guy did but I can understand that keeping a person in combat to long can cause mental problems, The thing is no one has said anthing about the Taliban kill thier own, women and children all of the time the sick pigs are them. They think women are no more than a dog and not much more of the childern. I do think it is time to forget trying to win them over and kick their buts or come home, You would think we would learn that you cannot be nice and fight a war.
No doubt. As in Iraq, the nation building has to stop. We should extradite ourselves from the quagmile of the middle east and concentrate on rebuilding our own economy and country. Peace through strength, to be sure, but we need to realize and accept when it's time to leave.
Mr. Agha.... I bet anyone could kill 16 unarmed people, in a matter of seconds, with an M-16 and a few clips. This sorry soldier will caused deaths on all sides, but he was acting alone. The Taliban will be getting revenge against innocent Americans... but when has that ever stopped them?
Big deal war is hell. The military should have kept this secret, and if questioned claimed the Taliban must have done it. Then, they could have sent the soldier back to the states to get the help he needs. Like our Gov. and military hasn't killed innocent civilians with the drone strikes, tomahawk cruise missles, airstrikes, artillary fire, and atomic bombs. Our troops shouldn't even be in Afganistan as the Taliban had nothing to do with 911. To declare war against the Taliban for not giving us Bin Laden while giving Pakistan a pass when they are even more guilty is pretty chicken ####. Why our troops are still in Afganistan fighting while our inept clown in chief obama gives Pakistan a pass, and billions of dollars for harboring Bin Laden is beyond me other then prehaps obama wants the needless killing of Afgans to continue. Had obama declared a cease-fire and began bringing our troops home after the Seal Team killed Bin Laden in Pakistan this wouldn't have happened. So, this is all obama's FAULT!.
correct me if I am wrong but aren't you usually complaining about the government covering things up? Sort of difficult to cover things up when there are witnesses.
The military knew he left the base, and there were no witnesses or the Afgans wouldn't be claiming more then one soldier had to be involved. Aside from that though, why not cover it up as at least our Gov. does a good job at it.
This massacre sounds a lot like attacks by Muslim extremists, who seem not to care that civilian non-combatants, including women and children, are the victims of their terrorism. The Koran burning parallels the actions of protestors in Arab countries who burn our sacred emblem, the US flag. These attacks aren't random and individual, they're systematic and revenge motivated.
We'll never truly understand the cost of war.
Our country has spent billions in Iraq and Afghanistan, lost thousands of our brave men and women, caused thousands-upon-thousands of others to suffer horrible injuries, struggle with PTSD, a high divorce rate, climbing suicide rate among our soldiers, and 1 in 6 veterans are homeless -- many are struggling with addiction and PTSD with little help.
This is a tragedy and this soldier should be held accountable for his actions. But, it is simply time to leave. The damage being done is irreversable, on both sides of this conflict. Our brave men and women need to come home, be treated to a hero's welcome, and given the help they rightfully deserve and have earned.
And for Romeny, Santorum, and Gingrich, who while campaigning have frequently urged that this conflict continue as well as imply their intent for a war with Iran - you need to look our brave men and women in the eyes and tell them you're sending them back into another hell. And for what?!?
"One man can't kill so many people. There must have been many people involved," Bacha Agha of Balandi village told the AP. "If the government says this is just one person's act we will not accept it."
I cannot believe one culture (Islam) can cause so much mayhem throughout the world and be solely responsible for the the biggest threat to world peace without the help of anyone else. Just their Curran and their cruel generational upbringing.
When you first deploy, you feel good about yourself and your country, that there is a purpose to your engaging in combat. After a while, with numerous deployments, you start to think about what that purpose is. You see a country of illiterates living in a stone-age environment, accountable to no one but their tribal leaders, the way it has been for thousands of years and our own government restricting your conduct to conform to their PC. You see your government with no real objective but doing the same thing over and over in clearing districts to only see the Taliban retake them after our troops leave. You see Pakistan allowing the insurgents training and safe harbor and being allowed to do so by your government in their own safe haven back in the world. Who wouldn't crack under this?
Isn't war a sad thing. This isn't really any "news" here folks. Things like this are ongoing in other military units around the world, and have been for a long time. And it will not stop for the future. It's part of what the effects of war has on a human. I know this from my lifetime experiences of knowing p t s d victims. Some in my own family from even back in WWII. To help prevent these atrocities from occuring, we must act on removing incompetent people from our government that send these men and women into harms way over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. Absolutely stupid! Please pray for the removal of Obama and his ilk from our government. I know that God had put him there to teach us a lesson about losing freedoms. Haven't we learned ? I am only one man and speak for myself. I will now pray.
Dave,where was your Rabid opinion when G.w.B. and his Sec of Def RUMSFELD was committing our National Guardsmen into combat with the same equipment that was used to patrol the American countryside?remember no armoured vehicles and our soldiers dying needlessly from IED's and then having RUMMY say we plan to go to war with the Equipment we have available.WHERE was the PLANNING,how many died or was needlessly wounded for this lack of PLANNING.Don't blame OBAMA for the incompetence of Mr. BUSH.---------- BRING OUR TROOPS HOME NOW !!!!!!!!!!!!
what he did was wrong, give him a pysch, and go from there. then let justice be done fairly.
BRING OUR TROOPS HOME,-------NOW!!!!!!!!!! We did all we can ,lets get the HELL out of this DAMNED RAT HOLE. Mr. PRESIDENT have the Veterans Affairs Dept. investigate the treatment of our soldiers received at this Washington St. V.A. facility.The time is now for total disengagement from all of these WAR ZONES.The hell with the political side of these wars, if it means losing the election at least lose with INTEGRITY and the GOOD of the AMERICAN SOLDIER. Bring OUR TROOPS HOME NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pretty much a thread of hypocritical babble. US military authorities will prosecute him, these guys are worse than civilian lawyers so this murderer will not have a good day in court thats a fact, though it will be fair. For the rest of you holier than thous religious freaks you need to heed you own religious words and take your fat fingers off the keyboards..........
"Let he that is without sin cast the first stone"
A bunch of you people are worse than islamic extremists. Pathetic.
First, let's stop the pretense of "winning hearts and minds", which is nothing but some far fetched attempt at social engineering. We are viewed as occupiers of Afghanistan because that is what we are. We will NEVER be accepted nor liked by the Afghani people. As well, most boots on the ground have a mistrust of the Afghani people and rightly so.
I am not excusing what this soldier did as it really is a tragic event from a humanistic perspective. One must also view that he may have just cracked after a total of 4 deployments and an evident failure to evaluate his ability to continue service. Something definitely snapped and the outcome is detrimental to the mission for our continued presence there.
We need to realize that the mission is one that could not happen if we were to stay there for another century. American troops are being killed and much U.S. tax dollars spent that would be better used at home. The actions of this soldier are but a barometer of the hatred that exists on both sides of the war. Afghanistan will fall to the Taliban and AQ soon after our exist. Let's cut our losses now and get our troops out of that hell hole.
His methods became unsound but I'm sure there is more to this story than a "mental breakdown". He targeted a specific house and a specific family for a reason. "Civilians" in an Afghan village? Really? Which ones are working secretly with the Taliban, which ones are spies/informers, which ones are holding weapons caches? That is the dilemma a soldier faces day in and day out fighting an un-uniformed enemy. After years of this uncertainty, a man can get sick of the "Hearts and Minds" BS and just want to get to the source of the problem and get it over with and go home.
Kurtz knew it when he said:
"And then I realized they were stronger than we, because they could stand that these were not monsters, these were men... trained cadres. These men who fought with their hearts, who had families, who had children, who were filled with love... but they had the strength... the strength... to do that. If I had ten divisions of those men, our troubles here would be over very quickly. You have to have men who are moral... and at the same time who are able to utilize their primordial instincts to kill without feeling... without passion... without judgment... without judgment! Because it's judgment that defeats us."
The problem is that the military still does not truly acknowledge PTSD. They say so for the media but when it comes down to it, they DO NOT do enough. It is time to pay attention to people who are displaying symptoms. They should test these soldiers and then they should act if they display symptoms or are showing that they are close. Because when they don't, these situations occur and will continue to occur. It is a tragedy for himself, his family and for the Afghan families who lost their loved ones. However, the Taliban needs to shut their faces. Their atrocities continue and their treatment of their own people or people similar to themselves leaves them no room to talk.
I think the U.S. should hand over his entire family to the Taliban. Not only would it be a peace offering, but it would remove his family from the gene pool, which is a win/win. I didn't think that the U.S. military could be any more idiotic, but I am once again proven wrong. How will they top this feat of monumental stupidity? I'm sure they'll think of something while they're peeing on corpses, cutting off fingers, burning a holy book "by mistake", killing civilians for the fun of it, or raping Afghan women. I give it a few days max before we're cringing at the next atrocity-laden headline.
heathius
so you project ONE persons action on the entire military? Now who is being stupid?
So you bought the headline but didn't follow the story that it turns out it was photo copies not the actual or entire book. You did notice that the burning had been contracted out to the locals?
Why do I feel you will be DROOLING over those headlines?