I know that they were eventually going to have to release the name, but I think they should have kept it under wraps as long as possible. The stress that the name coming out is going to cause his family is going to be extreme. It will be almost impossible for any of them to go out in public now without a security escort. Between the media hounds trying to get pictures and quotes from them and the @!$%#s who feel the need to express their opinions about what the sergeant has done directly to the family, it will be impossible for the family. I feel sorry for the family and what they are going to have to go through.

They should have never gave any hints as to where his wife works. These news media outlets are idiots. If anything, they should at least protect the family that is innocent. This guy isn't innocent but his family is and they shouldn't have to endure any harassment by media or terrorists for that matter.

The press in the name of "news" will hound his family into the damn ground unmercifully.

Or perhaps for once reporters could be kind and leave their family out of it! Releasing his name is one thing only a small percentage of people would have truely known who he was! To also say where he was from where his family resided in the country and the tid bit about his wifes job, that is bogus and should have never happened! It only further endangers his family and you would think in this day and age we would have a little more common sense!

Don and Marie, I think the point being made was that his FAMILY has done nothing to deserve the crap that the American media machine will unleash on them.

I feel bad for these guys, every human has a breaking point.

@Don97524, Marie Henders, & DeeryMay

Your argument is that because this man killed a bunch of innocent people, more innocent people (his family) deserve to suffer?

That doesn't really make sense.

Pat-1131015

Please, you're saying the only discrimination is reverse discrimination?

Sandwich (post 1.15)

As always, you dont READ the post to which you reply , and, instead, just spout anti American, Anti- Israel and anti "everything" that sane people value and hold dear.

The post to hich you responded evokes a request for compassion, privacy and sympathy for the guy's FAMILY.

YOU then, (of course) turn it around with your "poster child" remark aboutthe MAN.

tool !

I doubt that his family will suffer near as much as the families of the victims that he murdered in cold blood.

Ya, like his wife and kids aren't going to be hunted down like a fox chased by hounds. Sure. Riiiiiiiiiight.

*Rolls eyes*

The Afghans aren't the only ones suffering here. Did that thought ever cross your confounded mind?

I want to know, how the Army can send a man back into a hot war, with a traumatic head injury? I pity his family, and I pity him, but most of all I pity and grieve for those precious children he killed, and the rest of the families. Filthty rotten ten year war, for what? For what? I condemn the people who were his senior officiers and medical personnel, who failed to see any signs. No human being should be sent back into the battlefied, with a head injury just two years ago. What kind of people do that?

"

Your argument is that because this man killed a bunch of innocent people, more innocent people (his family) deserve to suffer?

That doesn't really make sense."

------------

Little, if anything, about our involvement in Afghanistan makes any sense. Guess we learned nothing from the USSR fiasco in the late '70s.

No he should not have been identified because he is WHITE.

There are bleeding hearts who will always side with the criminals.

Are you effing serious? What does his color have to do with it? It is conservatives like you that make all other conservatives look like racist pigs.

I doubt that his family will suffer near as much as the families of the victims that he murdered in cold blood. I hope you're not making this guy a poster child titled, "poor me."

Obviously you have lived in a bubble for 10 years. Do you know that we have been AT WAR in the Middle East for 10 years now? Do you know that they don't like us already? Do you know the meaning of the words "REVENGE" and "TALIBAN"

There are people in this country that will take up revenge against this guy by targeting his family. He had PTSD...What is your disorder?

The stress that the name coming out is going to cause his family is going to be extreme. It will be almost impossible for any of them to go out in public now without a security escort.

He should have thought of that before pulling the trigger on 16 civilians.

I feel for his children who now have to try and grapple with what has occured.

If he does have PTSD, did he bring that on himself too? I'm not saying he's innocent at all here, I'm just saying this is not just a cut-and-dry issue, and this goes WAY deeper than the soldier and the people he killed. I am neither a bleeding heart nor am I part of the lynch mob, I'm just trying to understand all sides of the story. War is ugly, whether you're actively participating in one or not.

The smart thing for his wife and kids to do would be to change their name and disappear a la Frank Ahearn's book "How to Disappear". Anyone who has someone they need to hide from for the rest of their lives should read that book.

As for this guy, I smell something rotten. We're not seeing the whole picture here. The news media first reported that a bad letter from his wife and some alcohol were involved, however, the methods they reported him using to kill these innocent civilians and burn the bodies is too methodical and too professionally done to suggest that his mental faculties were inhibited by alcohol. Whether it's PTSD or something else we're not seeing the whole story. I suspect that the full story would make people's heads explode, proverbially speaking. It's not going to be pretty.

In another related MSNBC article it stated that the Afghans were not as disturbed by this incident as they were by the burning of Korans. Same article stated that 75% of civilian casualties were caused by the Taliban. It was horrible, incidents like this happen, and they happen in places like Columbine, the University of Texas in Austin, at McDonalds, Ft. Hood, Arizona, in Syria, Norway, and endless other places.

The soldier's life is over, his family will suffer greatly as will the families of the people he killed. There are no answers, lots of questions but no real answers anytime something like this happens. People want to cast around, blame the military, guns, drugs, alcohol, child abuse...another endless list of possibilities.

The families of those killed will be pleased to receive 'compensation' one of the first English words they ever learn along with putting out a palm to be greased. Doubtless there will be more killings among those 'compensated' until the 'loot' has been redistributed to some local warlord's satisfaction.

The families of those killed will be pleased to receive 'compensation' one of the first English words they ever learn along with putting out a palm to be greased. Doubtless there will be more killings among those 'compensated' until the 'loot' has been redistributed to some local warlord's satisfaction.

That's the kicker here. You can bet your house that their beloved Taliban are already licking their chops at all that booty as we speak. And they have plans for it.

I also wish his name had not been mentioned. His family had nothing to do with what he had done, and they will suffer for it. This only compounds the tragedy. The heartless of some of the posters here is just awful. I am not naive to the ways of the world, but I do try to maintain a shred of humanity. Its a shame some posters here appear to have none.

Whether or not he suffers from PTSD, if he did it, and if he knew what he was doing when he did it and he understands why he is in trouble now, then he is subject to any qualifying sentance they choose to impose upon him. If he did it and he is having mental issues then he still need to be locked up. If he did it, I have no sympathy for him- none.

War did not do this (whatever "this" is) to this soldier. He did it. He murdered innocent CHILDREN!!! Any shame that comes to his family is not their fault, nor is it the fault of the press. HE DID THAT TOO!!! As for his PTSD defense - what bull!!!! Do you know how many THOUSANDS of soldiers suffer from PTSD - and not one of them is a child murderer???? This guy deserves a firing squad, hope he gets it. As for protecting his family from the press - I can't imagine any of you standing up for Ted Bundy's mother when the press found her - or for Jeffrey Dahmer's father. This guy is no less a monster than either of those crazy pigs, so what makes HIS family so special? I actually think he's worse. Speaking of Bundy, isn't it interesting that his attorney will be the one defending this murdering soldier? Hope he does as good a job for the sergeant as he did for Bundy!!!

Those here that think that Sgt Bales' family should suffer the way that these families suffered are guilty of the same attitude that Sgt Bales exhibited. Sgt Bales should not have condemned innocent people for the actions of others, and you should not be condemning his (innocent) family for the actions of Sgt Bales. If you do condemn them than you are only less guilty than him because you did not actually kill his family. The problem is that terrorists may now kill his family given the opportunity, which is why his name should not have been released, at least until they could put measures in place to protect them.

We shouldn't judge his family, town, state, country and US military by his actions. As long as his family disowns him, there is no reason why they should feel guilty for his actions.

Tana-

As for his PTSD defense - what bull!!!! Do you know how many THOUSANDS of soldiers suffer from PTSD - and not one of them is a child murderer????

Really?

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/14/nation/la-na-ptsd-20110915

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2115729/Lucero-Gutierrez-11-shot-PTSD-veteran-brother-Abel-tragic-murder-suicide.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

You can look up more.

Jeff-573598

Sandwich (post 1.15)

As always, you dont READ the post to which you reply , and, instead, just spout anti American, Anti- Israel and anti "everything" that sane people value and hold dear.

The post to hich you responded evokes a request for compassion, privacy and sympathy for the guy's FAMILY.

YOU then, (of course) turn it around with your "poster child" remark aboutthe MAN.

tool !

I blog my feelings but I base them with facts. Example: The concern should be for the victims. You're not concerned with the victims, 2 innocent families slaughtered by this animal.

Gotta remove those blinders. My Dad served as a submariner in WWII, my brother served in Nam while I was in the USN. My son is a serving Naval officer with 14 years in. You're calling me out as "anti-American?" It's anti-American to continue to urge the masses in this country to buy into another war. @!$%#! We can't win the one we're in, just blew up the infrastructure in Iraq. Now, the taxpayer can know that their money keeps going for invasions and trying to change the unchangeable. This young man was a victim?

As for being Anti-Israel--I opposed the US arming any country that kicks their neighbor around like an old shoe. I never make comments about Jewish people. I detest the Holocaust deniers, but the Jewish people around the world aren't Israel, are they? Are Jewish Americans. Yahoo never extends a hand of peace and the armies roll through the Gaza demanding quarters from Palestinians.

I smell that drum beating for war with Iran. Our CIA always causes tension around the world. The flavor of the month 2 months ago with N Korea. Before that, war mongers that get all their cash from defense contractors, like John McCain and his sock puppet, Lindsey Graham, cheer along any thing that prolong the war in Afghanistan and they want to line up another.

Unfurl that cape and join the world. It can be at peace even though countries have cultural differences.. Action-reaction. We arm Israel and send them cash. The fire those weapons made in the USA at their Arabs. Arabs get pissed at the US and radicals from Saudi Arabia fly planes into the Twin Towers. So--the US invades Afghanistan and Iraq--count the lives that this action-reaction has cost so many innocent people that happened to be in the line of fire between ideals that they don't share.

Have a wonderful evening.

We all knew eventually his name would come out. It could not be helped. While I do feel for his family, this is what happens when you commit a particularly grusome and public crime.

I find it interesting that there are so many people on here defending this "soldiers" actions and placing the blame everywhere but where it belongs...on him. You could argue that any killer (Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Charles Manson, etc) is a product of their environment. ANYONE WHO KILLS is mentally ill. But, be honest, if this was some poor black kid (or white trash) who grew up in the projects and killed their abusive parent you'd be calling for their blood. A guy kills nine kids for no apparent reason and everyone has sympathy...for him...hmm.

We can also thank him for recruiting a few more terrorists.

they had to release his name. But for once the army did something right and moved his family on base where the whole freaking base can protect them. Unless you have suffered the kind of mental problems that could have caused him to do that like I do STFU

i blame alcohol, that with PTS is sincerely a deadly mix..i lived a long life, i witnessed alcohol abuse as a child in my own family..those memories are too horrible to mention..i have witnessed many other people & families lives being torn apart by abusiveness..this article sends shock waves through my bones..just last week i read about a drunkard teacher from Alaska leaving her children to freeze to death..Life is ScaRy !!! i think its awful the soldier did not get psychological evaluations on re-enlistments..are We that desperate for enrollment of soldiers ??.....

Pull out all our troops and equipment. Carpet bomb the whole country, then spray agent orange over everything that grows and tell them the country is theirs to do with what they want. They will never grow anything again.

I agree 100% that his name should not have been revealed, and what is with the press that they have to reveal where his wife works, it was even on Nat'l news tonight. As a Veteran myself, I can perhaps see where he might have a good defense since he was on his fourth tour overseas within 11 years and has been injured. He might have just snapped and gone overboard having seen the friend wounded. We'll just have to wait and see. I don't think it matters whether he was caucasion or African American, any Veteran having gone through what he has gone through could easily go crazy all of a sudden.

H. Wilson

Pull out all our troops and equipment. Carpet bomb the whole country, then spray agent orange over everything that grows and tell them the country is theirs to do with what they want. They will never grow anything again.

Why should we "carpet bomb the whole country"? Why spray orange on everything that grows? We should just leave. Those goat farmers don't even know why we're there. Countries suffer for the kind of acts that you suggest.

Hello folks since World War II, 90% of the casualties of war are unarmed civilians. 1/3 of them children. Our victims have done nothing to us. From Palestine to Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia to wherever our next target may be, their murders are not collateral damage, they are the nature of modern warfare.

Killing and maiming another human being is not our innate nature. In my estimation, this soldier snapped just as most other soldiers do just not as overtly as Mr. Bales did. Why do you think Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is such a common malady amongst our soldiers who are put in a war situation? Our government sticks them in an unnatural situation, brainwashes them and our military order and force them to perform unnatural acts. Our government takes advantage of their youth and naiveté. It’s surprising that this doesn’t occur more often. When will we learn that war should be the very last option and only used in self defense not to further the agenda of the Oil, Banking, and Corporate cartels.

Interesting, isn't it, that there seemed to have been very few calls for the elimination of all Germans after WWII? Was that because the Germans were all white?

SCREW YOU MSNBC! You just couldn't pass up the chance to reveal all his info. Now his family has to worry about retaliation from another group of psychos. I hope this burden keeps you awake at night.

And LevTolstoy ... that's exactly why this one should have been kept nameless.

Right on target, mygirl, as usual.

AIN'T WAR's HELL....This soldier was trained to kill and that's what he did. His punishment should a dishonorable discharge and a year probation. It's was just an accident i tell ya. He was sleep walking and...that's it, yeah. He was sleep walking and he was dreaming about killing terrorists.

At least he didn't burn any Quran. He did what he was told. KILLING IS OUR BUSINESS AND BUSINESS IS BOOMING.

Judge not, lest ye be judged!

For everyone calling for his blood, need I remind you that OUR system of justice says he is innocent until proven guilty. All of the facts are not in yet!

It's stupid to think his name would be kept secret forever. People are going to want to know who he is and there is no precedent for keeping the name of a suspect who has allegedly committed a crime of this magnitude a secret . As for his family I wish them well, but again in our society it's inevitable they are going to get some unwelcome attention. If nothing else the family of the victims have a write to know who he is.

He has not been charged with anything. His name should not have been released until he has.

Nobody sane would do this. In the private sector, we still refuse to see mental illness the same as a broken leg. Now in the army, we still think this very sick man has his faculties and just felt like killing children. He imploded and it is no wonder.

The Afghan people have suffered under their corrupt government for decades resulting in a war torn nation. Who should they fear the most? The Taliban, drones dropping bombs, are madmen gunning down their families. Really, what are we doing? We sure are not winning the hearts of those we supposedly came to help.

D200911

SCREW YOU MSNBC! You just couldn't pass up the chance to reveal all his info. Now his family has to worry about retaliation from another group of psychos. I hope this burden keeps you awake at night.

And LevTolstoy ... that's exactly why this one should have been kept nameless.

Wouldn't that apply to any person who was accused of a crime? What makes this situation any different?

THIS KILLING IS THE FAULT OF OUR goernment. The big ? IS WHY DO WE KEEP PUTTING OUR MEN IN HARMS WAY NEEDLESSLY? We make ROE's that put our men in danger, dont let them protect themselves till after they are attacked and in many cases wounded with some maybe dead, We put them in danger apologizing casuse one of them killed our soldiers, We tell our men they have to be "SENSITIVE" to there beliefs while they are attacking them, forget about your beliefs, dont offend those that are trying to kill you. This is a small country where they were cheering in the streets when the twin towers fell, they do not help us in anything, but try to protect those fighting against us. even the "so called" civilians will attack our troops when the chance arises. They say no religion allows the killing of women and children, yet they use women and children as suicide bombers, they stone to death women ACCUSED of adultery, in Iraq they just stoned to death a bunch of TEENAGERS, yet tell us it is against all religions? The people we are training seem to turn on our troops every time, WHY, their beliefs are that we are infidels and they want us destroyed. WHAT WE NEED TO DO is bring our troops home, carpet bomb the country leaving it in rubble, go in and take what resources are available to recoup our expenses of having to deal with them( there is no oil in the country) and then sell the land to whoever will pay to have it. they can start fresh and it will serve as a warning to the rest that keep wanting to talk about destroying America. If they are a threat to us, destroy the threat, make sure they can never threaten us again. you cannot deal with them from a position of weakness and apologizing, onlly through a position of strength!!!!! With our own economic problems we do not need to be spending billions and billions nation building (IT HAS NEVER WORKED) they still hate us they just want us to give them more everytime. We need to keep that money here not throwing away on people who have been fighting each other for thousands of years and will continue to fight forever cause that is the basis of there beliefs.

He went to protect our civilians, our infrastructure, our air transportation networks, our monumental architecture. He ended up being target practice for the Taliban. No wonder he snapped.

Half the population of Afghanistan is sympathetic to the Taliban, the other half are too scared to stand against them. They hide amongst complicite civilians, in civilian clothes and attack unexpected. Sgt. Bales watched as another companion went down, life destroyed. He knew his life had no value in Afghanistan. The Islamofacists have a book filled with imparatives to kill the unbeliever with impunity, and we send soldiers like chattle to be sacrificed for the better good of everyone else. We've grown accustom to our soldiers coming home in body bags. We expect them to play by the rules no matter what. But when one responds like this, we seem to be so horribly shocked and indignant.

Why don't we address the reason? Let's deconstruct the Koran.

We are not in Afghanistan because we want to kill muslims and burn Korans, we are there because their cult of terrorism was, and is, a danger and threat. Yet we continue to leave our soldiers in lonely posts, to serve as target practice for the Taliban.

No more! If we are to defeat the disease we must find the pathogen and eliminate it. It seems that it is the doctrine of Islam that is the poison, and the reason for all that has transpired since 9/10. Let's be honest. The Taliban offered the fertile training ground for Terrorism. The Taliban are a monolithic cultlike organization that adheres to a single doctrine. Let's address the core issue of this war. Mein Kempf was pushed into the dustbin of history. Is the Koran next? If the Muslim world wants to protect the reputation of their religion from the Taliban, then let them fight this war.

I feel bad for the Afghanis who lost their sons and daughters in this attack. I know Americans who have lost theirs, I doubt the people of Afghanistan care. They are infidels.

a

Hypocrites - I wonder how many of you would be worried about his family or that he had just snapped if the tables had been turned and it was an Afghan that killed a group of Americans in cold blood like this. Thats right...none of you.

No he should not have been identified because he is WHITE

Kat replied:

Are you effing serious? What does his color have to do with it? It is conservatives like you that make all other conservatives look like racist pigs

Where does the comment above your's, to which you refer, say anything about any political party. Actually, from the sound of that comment, I'd say it came from a person of color....who are usually Democratic. Just sayin'....... Either way, race should never enter into it.

@Boromir: 9/11 ring a bell? If, as you claim, Bush went into Afghanistan for oil....where is the oil?

I hope the feds put his family in the witness protection program or something silmilar before even more harm comes to them. Releasing his name was just self-serving and uncaring. His family deserves better treatment then this. Future soldiers need to take a lesson from this and consider the ramifications of signing up or volunteering for more tours in a war zone. One's military service is now open to the press and to the ignorance of public opinion. Many who comment and pass judgement affecting the lives of our service men and women have no experience and no clue; having led livesthat are sheltered from reality by those who put their lives on the line.

I am amazed at how many people are posting here - the same ones who don't have the courage or integrity to serve in the military. They are cowards and expect others to defend them, yet they condemn this man.

We don't know the entire story - we only know the stuff run in stories. This is never the whole story, yet you can judge without all the facts?

I am a retired Naval Officer, and these posts are why I am urging all the youth that I encounter to NOT enlist or join any branch of the military. Let you cowards put your own asses on the line instead of posting these disgusting posts. You coward do not deserve to be defended by our military. And in case you have forgotten - we were attacked by Afghanistan (and that Government supported the attacks). We are at war with these 'people', and if you cowards don't have the guts to face what war is really like and condemn soldiers in actual combat - then we should disband the military.

And it does not matter that this man is charged with multiple acts of murder - he was serving his country in a combat environment. He will be properly punished, but does not deserve this vitriol. If you are posting hateful comments, look in a mirror and say hi to a coward.

interested observer - He murdered children!!! How can you even remotely suggest that this animal does not deserve, the mild at best, vitriol being lobbed at him in this forum!! I don't care if he was in the military or not. Shooting non-combatants is loathsome...shooting children is Hitler level disgusting. Can't believe you would even suggest that this guy deserves some compassion. He admitted to doing it.

You talk about people expecting others to protect them, but this country doesn't have a draft. If you want to serve in the military go ahead and serve but don't act like you deserve the rest of the people to bow down to you like you're owed anything more than the pay and lifelong benefits that you get for your job. I get so tired of hearing that from cops, fireman, and military personnel. You are all serving at your choice for a paycheck and whatever else you get out of your service in terms of personal satisfaction. My cousin served in the 82nd in Kosovo and even he gets sick of hearing ex-military people like you perching on your high horse.

And by the way... you were in the Navy...the Navy. It's not like you were right in the thick of it brother. Don't ever call another person a coward who doesn't choose to join the military.

We don't know the entire story - we only know the stuff run in stories. This is never the whole story, yet you can judge without all the facts?

That's true. I mean did he kill the two toddlers with his side arm or his rifle. Did he dump gasoline on the bodies of the children before he burned them? Did the kids brains explode and spatter the wall when he shot them or did the bullets go though relatively cleanly. We simply don't know all the facts.

His confession when he surrendered should not be admissable. He had not been read his miranda rights. There were no surviving witnesses to his crimes and he burned all the evidence. I think he should be honorably discharged and sent right back to his hometown to live peacefully with his wife and children and wonderful neighbors that will sleep more peacefully at night knowing they have this war hero living right next door to them.

erica justine---

wtf...serioously you need mental help. with your mentality we are not safe because you may kill someone you think deserves to die.

StMiller- People like you make me sick.

Btw, if you reuse to join the military and yet you condemn those who do: makes you a coward.

We joined to serve our country, to defend the spineless who refuse to do it themselves. And before you discredit me, I enlisted in the Army and specialized: have you heard of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal? Enlist and then you can have the right to speak ill other veterans.

All of you calling for his blood, make me sick. He shouldn't have even been there! How many of you can testify to the extent his head trauma contributed to this? For cripes sakes, that happened in his third tour and this is his fourth! The Defense Department and Obama, are more to blame for this than he is! Four tours of duty, head injury in the meantime and his home life is jeopardy! If we weren't still over there, none of this would have happened. Bush was wrong to send us in to Afghanistan, but Obama was more wrong to keep us there!
I've had up close and both professional and personal experience, as to how brain trauma can change a person. This man should not have been sent back into combat, period. If you want him executed so bad, then examine his records, military and medical, then look his wife and family in the eye and tell them he needs to die. Otherwise, be quiet.

So I highlight the fact that the victims deserve to know who killed their loved ones and I get collapsed?

I see a lot of people condemning this man's family along with him because of his actions. Where were you after 9-11? How many of you stepped up and put your a$$es on the line and did 4 goddamned tours of duty? Why did he do 4 tours? Because the vast majority of Americans are punks and cowards who didn't have the balls to do even a 2 yr stint in the Service after their Nation was attacked and 3,000 of their fellow citizens murdered. Instead you left the burden to be shouldered by the same relatively small cadre of men & women to have to go back again and again. If you didn't step forward to share the burdens then just SHUT THE FVCK UP! This soldier obviously reached his snapping point in his FOURTH tour of duty in a combat zone. This same soldier you're so thoroughly condemning not only stepped forward for our Country and not only pulled his own weight, he pulled the weight for several others of you.

Go ahead and get your licks in now on NV. They'll be the only ones you get in. He's entitled to a jury of his peers and most of you don't qualify. I too am disgusted with this crime, but I also know that the SSGT wouldn't have been there if some of you had filled his boots. Me? I'm medically retired with permanent disabilities and wasn't allowed to re-activate. I tried. Where were you? Your presence might have kept those people alive.

His supporting family is as guilty as congress and all other gullible war mongering Americans. He and his family are victims of these wars. Still, no sympathy for murderers and their supporters.

forswr13 - i am not condemning, but I am saying that you make a choice to serve and if that is your choice then great, but don't sit around acting like you do which is to put yourself above those who don't serve. You can't instantly assume that just because someone doesn't serve they are a coward. It's people like you and people like this guy that give the armed forces a bad name. And I don't care how many tours this animal did...he shot F'ing children!!!

i am not condemning, but I am saying that you make a choice to serve and if that is your choice then great, but don't sit around acting like you do which is to put yourself above those who don't serve.

One more reason to start the draft. Enough BS of people that have no idea qhat it is to be in the line of fire. People's sanctimonious attitude will quickkly changes once they know the real meaning of WAR>

If people would bother to read how "patriotic" generations of people throughout history have felt BEFORE they went into war, they should start reading. Start with the CIVIL war in this country.

If you are too lazy to read, just watch the movie "Gone with the Wind" Maybe, just maybe, that will be enough to open the eyes of those that have NO CLUE what they are talking about when they condemn others, but have no idea what it is to walk on their shoes.

This wouldnt have happened if we didn't buy our oil from backwards, superstitious, savages on the other side of the world. We have plenty of our own right here in TX.(oil and backwards, superstitious, savages;)

I usually find sandtrich's comments spot on. I do not find him to be anti-American or anti-Israel. Just because someone is anti-corruption doesn't mean they are anti-the-country. Shame on those trying to derail intent and fact. I don't always agree with his opinions but in general, spot on.

sandtrich, this soldier did a terrible thing but he is also a victim of this war. War only creates victims.

To all viners, beware of those on fishing expeditions. They are there to get you to reveal information in order to advance profiling. I call it poking and peeking (ancient software commands from the Apple IIE days).

What needs to be questioned here is why the soldier was cleared for active duty after that roadside bombing that caused his "head trauma." That was a monumental failure on behalf of the high ranks in the military.

I will say this however: not one single Obamadrone here has made any reference to the fact that the situation in Afghanistan has gotten WORSE under the Obama presidency. Had Bush been president and this happened, you can bet the liberal leprechauns would be out in force calling for Bush's resignation.

Wrong, Dan. This is both a war crime and a human rights issue. The military keeps too many secrets.

Observer - which of those women and children do you think were going to attack don's ass?

Observer, you don't protect someone by committing war crimes against volatile people. All attempts at good will are gone now.

I feel for his kids, wife, family but most of all for him. We shouldn't have been there and I am glad they are speeding up the Exit of our soldiers. Afghans kill each other every day, they have value on life. He should get help for what has happened to him while serving our country.

ObserverNYC - Wrong. He was protecting my sorry ass until he allegedly murdered 9 children in their beds. If that's what we need for protection, we're not worth protecting.

If they didn't identify him, people would be screaming about the public's right to know.

can't really win either way.

It might not be a "war crime" but it sure is murder.

Protecting my "sorry ass" from exactly what? And don't give me that--fight them there so we don't have to fight them here lame sh**.

Mikey

Killing babies and unarmed women in their homes while they slept constitutes war crime.

Hmmm, how many Afghans were involved in 9/11?

Wrong, Dan. This is both a war crime and a human rights issue. The military keeps too many secrets.

Great! Now that you know the "big secret" DO you feel more "patriotic" already? Or you want to see him in front of a firing squad to really make you feel good?

No you are wrong Don and cowardly lets hope you have served four tours.

Wrong don

This guy was protecting your sorry ass!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They weren't defending any of us or our freedoms you sheep. It was a defensive action for about 2 years TOPS. And that's giving you a lot of extra time. With our advantages militarily, c'mon!

This was about OFFENSE and setting up a puppet regime. Nation building isn't DEFENSE.

I'd rather the troops sit in a jail cell for me after refusing to serve in wars that aren't in self defense of this nation. I would, if I was dumb enough to join to begin with.

Have some principles and courage; refuse to fight in offensive tyrannical wars! Civilly Disobey!

No you are wrong Don and cowardly lets hope you have served four tours.

What's cowardly is serving in a war to avoid a jail cell when you KNOW it's not a justified war based on strictly DEFENSE (not OFFENSE).

You nation building sheep are the reason we CAN fight these illegal wars...you refuse to be brave and have principles by refusing to serve when it's WRONG morally.

Nationalism is a mental disease and isn't synonymous with patriotism.

To all of you who are jumping on the war crimes aspect, sure, if and when he is found guilty of all of the things we are reading in the media then by all means, there are already methods to deal with him including the death penalty. I simply asked what benefit there is to bringing his name forward...his family will now live in fear for the rest of their days thanks to our need to know every last detail of everything going on in everybody's lives except our own.

As a former member of the military, I assure you we are all well informed about the UCMJ and how something like this will end you...period. I'm not condoning anything with regard to what happened but there are well structured methods to deal with this issue already established within the military and if it went down as it has been reported, this Sgt will more than likely have his life ended in front of a firing squad. One thing I don't understand however is the call to kill the guy before anyone knows anything about what happened...get over yourselves armchair judges, there is a system in place to deal with this.

ProIndividual - with all due respect we're an all volunteer force who follows orders from our civilian leadership. The military works because we don't choose which orders to follow and which ones we don't. If you live in the USA you should be thanking the members of the military rather than calling them sheep. If you don't like this country, by all means, there are pleanty of other options available to you.

Dan WTF does this have to do with justifying it? They should refuse to serve when it's immoral. Once they're in the military they are threatened with prison if they refuse to fight...so be a man and take the jail cell rather than murder people for the state.

Nationalism is a mental disease.

You're just repeating brainwashing memes to make excuses for not having a conscience and thinking for yourself.

And they are sheep. Who else joins the military knowing what they do? Only the hypnotized. My buddy joined after 9/11 and ended up in Iraq, He refused to sit in a jail cell and instead complained about having to endure a warzone...out of nationalism. He was a sheep.

Sorry, I calls 'em likes I sees 'em.

I agree with DanBowen. They never should have released his name. The military will be conducting the trial and they are under no obligation to release his name and it has done nothing to help him or the people he alledgedly killed.

And BTW Dan...I don't need to leave the country. I have individual sovereignty just like you do. If I don't harm or defraud anyone, I don't have to follow any tyrannical law. I'll gladly sit in a cell rather than go along with tyranny.

BUT I am leaving the country, by coincidence, so that my tax dollars no longer fund an endless killing machine that tortures, surveils it's own people with military drones, frisks people at airports over a threat that killed the same number of Americans per year as bathtubs (with no probable cause for the search), that wiretaps without warrants, that lets federal agents write their own search warrants, that allows indefinite detention w/o trial, that locks people in chains and cages for drugs, that violates every human and Constitional natural right the people have...and I can go on and on.

You're under a delusion that the accident of birth (where you were bron) makes your country better than others. This is the mental disease of nationalism.

"Where there is liberty, that is my country." --- Ben Franklin.

Hence why I'm leaving. My great grandparents told me what to look for...they fled fascism in Italy. This is point by point what they told me to look for.

Enjoy your fascism you seem to revere so much, sheep.

ProIndividual who's morality? Yours? Are you correct and the rest of our collective opinions don't matter? Why have a government, why have laws, why have any societal structure? Do you honestly believe people join the military because they think it's a country club? There are no mysteries about what you sign up to do when you're given camouflage and a gun...nor are there any mysteries about the order and structure the military brings. Refusing orders isn't an option nor is it a surprise...your indignant belief that people should just refuse after they've sworn an oath has absolutely zero logic to it. Call us sheep and enjoy your life elsewhere...I for one am incredibly happy anytime people like yourself disagree with the USA and act by leaving...good luck.

The universal morality..it's called ethics...look up philosophy. There is a universally accepted behavior...it's called non-aggression.

If it isn't self defense it's immoral...PERIOD. I wasn't aware they swore an oath to kill no matter what...I guess they can be ordered to genocide people then and accept the order? They don't have to follow any order that's unlawful...and only DEFENSE is in the Constitution, not OFFENSE. Give it a read.

Anything else just shows your sheepish nature. Or, it shows you're a sociopath...one or the other.

So no, collective opinions don't matter. The majority is almost always wrong. Slavery was popular, so was keeping women subjugated, etc.

Ever here of tyranny of the majority?

Collectivism is part of nationalism. Individualism (you know, "rugged individualism") is what the country was founded on, what the Enlightenment was based on, and what the Age of Reason was all about.

If you appeal to informal logical fallacies like argumentum ad populum (appeal to popularity) you aren't very logical, rational, or ethical (moral).

Again, enjoy your fascist police state, sheep. You can wake up, or keep bahhh bahhh baahhhh-ing arguments I've heard from sheep a thousand times before.

And you don't have to like me for me to be right.

ProIndividual-3906907 good riddance to trash.

If it was caused by PTSD or just a psychotic break either way he will never be free of it. If he is anything like me it can replay in his head for the rest of his life. I can still relive 1957 just like the day it happened. See it just like I saw it happen that day. I can see 1980 the day my ex and his wife attacked me and the switch in my head tripped again. I can see everything I did and smell every smell until the episode ended. I cope by avoiding situations that could trigger it at least I'm not totally isolated just away from things and people who can trigger it.

ProIndividual - good luck finding that utopia you're dreaming about, I confess however I struggle to believe you actually have the fortitude to leave this country...most rhetorical bomb throwers that I've read like you talk a good story from within the safety of the good old red, white and blue, but the reality of taking your show on the road rarely comes to fruition. I know I'll never make any sense to someone like you but its fun for me to listen to you lob your slurs in your non-aggressive world. I can only assume your interpretation of the constitution would lead you to believe very little in the American way of life so I'm sure it has been a struggle for you to stick around. Once again, good luck, I'm going to go back to waterboarding my neighbors and hanging out with my other furry friends.

ProIndividual-39066907 Thank you.

DanBown and ProIndividual,

You both made some very valid and though-provoking sentiments and I just wanted to thank you both. ProIndividual, in my opinion your heart points true, but dont lose track of your humility trying to get there. You tout non-aggression and ethics but then turn around and attack people and even call them names. That doesn't jive with the essence of the perspective you put forth. Also, unfortunately, nationalism is a necessary evil in the current state of the world. What you are suggesting would require every single person on this planet with any kind of power to automatically start thinking the same way at the same time. And for future generations to all buy into the idea as well. What do you think, that even with a much more highly developed society that bad eggs would never arise? This is nature dude. Utopia is an utter impossibility until we relinquish our own willpower. I'd rather live in an imperfect, even terrible world and retain my individuality than become a drone who thinks the exact same way as everyone else. Why cant you understand there is no middle ground between those two extremes?

crlane why thank proindividual? Thank Dan Bowen because he is right thank you Dan.

Thank you, ProIndividual. I'm leaving the country too, for all the reasons you stated, plus the fact that there are countries where one can enjoy a higher standard of living on little more than half the same income, get better health care, and people are civil to each other.

Also, I'm afraid of what will happen when these damaged and dangerous killers return home. They've already slaughtered some of our neighbors. Like you, I'm fed up with being told they are protecting us. They've done a great deal to encourage terrorism and have destroyed all respect and sympathy for our country throughout the world. The unspeakable atrocities are not something I want to be associated with in any way whatsoever.

My grandmother told me what to look for as signs that the country is on the brink of becoming a police state, and she prognosticated nearly 50 years ago that it would happen here. Most of what she warned me about has already happened, including viciousness and greed becoming the status quo. It's almost surreal to watch it happening before my eyes. I'm outa here.

The shouldn't have revealed much about which base, etc... and if anything they had best give the family new name and identities. I mean my gosh, this country gave that child killer a new face and everything! So his poor family should get some protection.

I for one am glad he was flown back to the U.S. There is no way this man could ever have gotten a fair trial in Afghanistan by the locals there. While I can understand the anger the people must feel, this is not about any form of justice as we in the West know it. It is about sheer plain and unadulterated vengeance on their part. Just take note of the innocent American soldiers murdered that had nothing to do with the recent Koran burning fiasco! In their mind justice is "Hey, let's go find any American and kill them!"

His guilt or innocence and eventual fate will be decided by a military courts martial under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice). If said authorities find that he was in his right mind at the time of the killings and responsible for his actions, I personally have no problem with his being given a death sentence. If not, then lock him away in a mental facility for the rest of his life as he certainly will never be right in the head after committing the acts he is alleged to have carried out.

I see that all of you have tried and convicted him in the Court of Public Opinion.

So now which one of you is going to put the rope around his neck and lynch him.

And while you are at it you may as well as also put the rope around the necks of his wife, children, relatives, in laws, etc. so that they do not suffer the Islamic Revenge Killings (murdered with extreme prejudice, like what they do here, raped (even males) then parts cut off then slowly beaten to death) and or a Islamic Blood Feud (until the whole bloodline is eliminated).

Then you have the real mass murderers like:

bluthunder - WHAT WE NEED TO DO is bring our troops home, carpet bomb the country leaving it in rubble

H. Wilson - Pull out all our troops and equipment. Carpet bomb the whole country, then spray agent orange over everything that grows and tell them the country is theirs to do with what they want. They will never grow anything again.

I say release him as a strategy to locate aggressive terrorist within our country. Hes already screwed the rest of his life so he would be a terrorist magnet.

zapper45701 @ 2.8: "This isn't a "war crime." This guy snapped."

Snapped? It was premeditated murder! He got drunk, left the barracks, went out and shot a bunch of Afghanis, 16 of whom died in the attack. THEN he was caught, crawling on his belly, trying to sneak back onto base. Snapped is when you are sitting in your rack and, for no apparent reason, pick up your weapon and start shooting up your comrades. Snapped is when you are out on patrol and, with no provocation, you strip naked and begin shooting everyone in sight regardless of who they are. Sneaking off of base to go in to town to kill 16 people and then trying to sneak back on to base unnoticed is not snapped, it's HOMOCIDE! MURDER! PREMEDITATED. It is sad. It is woefully unfortunate for the soldier's family, but no less so for the families of the victims. It is ugly. Almost everything associated with war is. Organized murder is not for sane people. We lose a bit of our sanity with each life lost in war, regardless of their political sympathies. But there is no way you can justify or mitigate the wrong perpetrated by this man.

kat-1015719 @ 2.12: "Hmmm, how many Afghans were involved in 9/11?"

Where? On the planes or in the towers or at the Pentagon? If you expect an answer, you must be specific about the question.

DanBowen @ 2.18: "… I simply asked what benefit there is to bringing his name forward."

Once he is charged it suggests there is enough evidence to consider him the likely perpetrator of the crimes. Given the circumstances, it is an international crime – An American military executes multiple murders in a foreign country. It does not matter what foreign country and we cannot dismiss the severity of the actions because it is a nation caught in the throes of a military action. It is, regardless, a crime of international proportions and, therefore, the name of the accused is subject to being released to the public. And how you can surmise that his family will be living in fear for the rest of their days is nothing more than sensationalist hokum.

ProINdividual: It is nice to have a set of ethics and standards by which to guide one's life, isn't it? HOWEVER when you call strangers names and insult them, that, in and of itself, constitutes a certain form of aggression. So you are, essentially, violating your own ethics in support of them! (Being ethical and having integrity ain't easy, is it?)

Patter123: If your grandmother was paying attention to history within the nation, she must surely have seen these same symptoms at least two or three times through the ages. The only way to fix a problem is to work on changing it ... not run away from it. And, the sad truth is, what you run from, you take with you. So, whatever you try to flee, you will find wherever you are. Freedom is a state of mind, not something drawn on a piece of paper.

Dan is right. The military should have kept this quiet. Now with all the extreme murderous Islamic Muslim Terrorist residing in our country just may have put his family at risk.

thewordsmith - This man hasn't been charged and even if he had, the severity of the crime, the act of which certainly doesn't appear to have involved his wife and children, and the fanatical nature and rhetoric of the fundamentalist muslim world, certianly make the threat of harm to further innocent people beyond 'sensationalist hokum'. The military made sure to move his family to the security of a military installation for their protection so somebody believes there could be an issue.

Bye bye, proindividual. We'll surely NOT miss you. Your nic defies what made this country great: UNITED we stand. Divided (i.e., "pro-individual" we fall. And conservatives like YOU are causing us to fall badly. So wneh you pack up to leave, please take as many of your fellow self-centered conservatives with you as possible. Not that you would be welcomed anywhere on Earth - but maybe you can start a new "Pro-Individual" country on one of those ice sheets dropping off Antarctica because you conservatives turned a blind eye to the signs of its coming. Bye bye!

Let me see if I have this accurately. He was on his fourth combat tour. He didn't want to go. He was serving in an area where nobody was sure who was or wasn't the good guys. The Taliban had been using women and children for some of their suicide attacks. The Rules of Engagement imposed by the State Department were patently ridiculous (For example: A Taliban cold shot at you and then throw down his AK-47 - in front of you and in plain sight of you - and you couldn't shoot him back, because he was then unarmed.). There was some evidence that he had suffered brain damage during one of his prior combat tours, but was sent back because it might cost too much to give him disability. And then he snaps and kills 16 (presumably) innocent people. Who's to blame? He? I don't think so. How about the State Department, and the DOD, and the POTUS, and the entire ungrateful US Government, the vast majority of which has never been as close to combat as a John Wayne movie, and they get to set out the Rules of Enagagement, as well as decide who goes and who doesn't?

Do some people around here have such a LOW opinion of our military that a guy can have a meltdown, murder a dozen innocent women and children and be excused? Oh he snapped, it happens... really? The man is an absolute disgrace and an embarrassment to our military that endure hardships all the time WITHOUT going nuts.

some of you make me sick- some of you say 'babies' and 'as they slept' as if you have any verifiable proof that supports such crude accusations. You're all acting like the common 60's acid-using alcoholic civilian, putting whatever you can into an awful light. It's no wonder we have an under-experienced non-veteran president. he did what he 'thought' was right, and he only tried to protect his brothers. perhaps in his own mind he saw something that wasn't there and made a bad call, so? Would any of you who know what it's like to be under such duress and pressure honestly say you want him to be executed? Japanese emperors have done worse than this poor traumatized veteran and gotten away with it. some of you make me sick to be an american, go back to your obese-loving facebook you blind civilians, and come back when common sense is restored to the american public. killing is wrong, americans turning on americans (veterans no less) is extremely worse.

ProIndividual-390690

Why are you not in prison. shouldn't you be robbing from walmart to feed starving children?

does "The universal morality" allow you to go to bed full in your warm home knowing that there are destitute in the street who may breathe there last breath tonight in a race to see what does it starvation or cold? Or is it you will do nothing except talk big on the computer and are in fact what you call a "sheep" and your hypocrisy knows no bounds. As said before you do not question orders given, you place faith that your chain of command is making the right decision. Generals do not get plucked off the street. We that serve follow a timed honored tradition that you will sadly never understand. lastly you may want to get off that pedestal you've put yourself on, you may get a nose bleed being that high in the air.

Jman: Does it sound like I am excusing his behavior? I am a combat veteran. I have been there. Have you? Do you have any idea of what he had to endure? Judginig from your posting, I seriously doubt it. He went at the behest of a totally selfish and uncaring nation. Now he's going to be crfucified by the likes of you? You should instead be eternally grateful that people like him - and me go to do the things "nice" people like you could never do (you might soil your daianties.) Who was it who said something to the effect that people like us can sleep well at night in our own beds because rough men are willing to wreak unspeakable violence on them who would do oi to us. But we do it in their countries, rather than they in ours.

Thanks for your service Fred...I'm not sure why so many believe that requesting that the process run it's course is something that should not exist in this case...after all, the guy hasn't even been charged yet and now his family will face the double-duty of facing the horrors of this case while constantly watching their own backs. Having lived under the UCMJ, you and I know very well the consequences of ones action in a combat theater, the fact is if this SSgt is found guilty, justice will fall upon him. I am sickened by what happened to those 16 people (assuming it happened as reported), but I am equally sickened by the part of our population that has hung this soldier and now his family before he's even been charged.

I can't believe there are so many lynch-mobbers out there. What makes YOU more knowledgeable than those people who spent 4, 8, sometimes even 12 years of their lives studying law, criminal investigation, psychology, and the like - some at Harvard or Yale? These people know what the hell they're doing. Let them do their job, and keep your snotty opinions to yourselves.

BTW, I agree with Dan on this issue - the identities of non-convicted criminals are kept secret FOR A REASON. It's so vigilantes/terrorists/whatever can't come knocking on the family's doorstep seeking something to sensationalize for the 6 o'clock evening news, or to shoot the family in the head. These people use their own kids as suicide bombers - you think they're going to think twice about killing this guy's chilren?

You should instead be eternally grateful that people like him - and me go to do the things "nice" people like you could never do (you might soil your daianties.)

You know, that kind of rhetoric just doesn't fly anymore. I, for one, am not in the least grateful to you for invading countries that had done nothing whatsoever to us and engaging in human rights atrocities that have made us the object of global disdain.

Your sarcasm in using the word nice and your childish potty talk doesn't make you sound tough, as you apparently believe. It makes you sound like the kind of undisciplined person we'll be reading about next week.

Amazing record. This man is a hero on whom war took its toll. This is an obvious case of PTSD and possible traumatic brain injury. What he did was horrible, but it wasn't his fault. This is what war does to people. We should feel sympathy for him because he's a patriot who will never again have anything close to a normal life. He gave that up for his country. I have very little doubt that he will one day kill himself when his actions here way on his rational mind. We should also feel sympathy for his family. They've lost a father, husband, son and brother to the ravages of war. No winners here.

I am outraged by this Adminstration- This war needs to end and get our people out of this wasteland of a country. HEY! Obama stop given aid to these ungrateful animals.!!!!!

There was a mistake made during the Viet Nam war, and I hope that things like this don't lead us to make it again. Our soldiers are heroes and patriots. The give up their lives for the service of our country. They do not choose where they will go nor what they will be required to do. Politicians on the other hand are cowards and Bush is a shining example. He dodged the draft. Then he started a war with Iraq, based on lies, to get his name into the history books. He sent our brave soldiers, our sons and daughters, there to suffer while he kept his own kids home and protected where they could party and get DUIs.

Piegan, get your facts straight. Bush & Chaney said they had this configured so we'd be stuck there for from 10 to 100 years. McCain promised the same. Obama has already gotten us out of Iraq (where we should never have been), and has us on track to be out of Afghanistan by next year. I do agree however, it can't happen fast enough.

Hang the terrorist thug

ObserverNYC. Not very observant. Just exactly what part of his @$$ is in Afghanistan to be protected. What American 'freedom' is in Afghanistan. Just exactly what and why do you think we are doing there. Our military is being used for the wrong reasons, our tax payers are being duped and fleeced, and you are buying right into the propaganda or are a part of it. I feel sorry for all of us and all involved. The problem is washington.

This soldier is as much a victim of this war as the 16 people he massacred. Reminds me of a bully we had in school. He would instigate and step back when the fighting began. Just like what dick & bush have done. Instigate a war for private profit.

Ok, So now one of these heroes got caught (they could not hide this, like the police can using the blue code!), when are we going to get all the other ones who snapped, and then leaders like Mr Prince ( Black-water), driving around nights shooting Muslims out of the windows in his Hummer--(not even allowed to do that when hunting deer)---He was very Christian, so he was trying to convert them to one of the 10,000 other "Superior" religions, in the name of his particular God!

Grow up boys and girls!

----No wonder I gave up traveling waiting every day in airports now all over the globe for screenings-all due to this kind of " Our World Control" (lack of)---We either need brains or we need to stay here and take care of the 50,000,000 poor people here with all that money instead.--The Viking age ended over 1000 years ago!--at least for the real Vikings!

I, for one, am not in the least grateful to you for invading countries that had done nothing whatsoever to us

OK I'll break it down for you. Every army needs funding and so doesn't AL-Qaeda. The way they get the money is from the growing and selling of poppy. Every day we are over here (it is illegal over here also, just no one to enforce it) destroying acres of opium fields. we are essentially fighting to defund them so they cannot buy the equipment to make dirty bombs etc. and set them of in the states.

ALCOHOL!!!! It seem's alcohol is at the bottom of alot of our problem's in the world!! Let's go ahead and stop this problem now!! Boozer's are out slaughtering villages of people now, remember that the next time you pick up a case of Buttweiper! Can you imagine if they found out he used marijuana!? That would have been a stretch to use: "Soldier massacre's village, all stoned out on Marijuana"........but that's not where we are in our society! It is legal to go out and buy this village massacring poison, but you can't blaze a "J" that might make you laugh, or take a nap!! Yeah, we better go help these other countries with their problems

Quando omni flunkus moritati

Last I heard the funding as well as the terrorists were coming our of Saudi Arabia. Poppies, really. Yet another lie for the American people to sink their taxes and children's blood into.

The reasons we went into Iraq and Afghanistan are for oil and pipeline. The military is there to protect the infrastructure and build access for heavy equipment through our Nation Building and pentagon slush fund. Our military is NOT there for 'American Freedom'. Hogwash.

What good will come from releasing his name? I now have my next Modern Warfare online name.

What is Gen. David Rodriguez telling?

Are soldiers human beings or some war robots?

Since 1991, this war business in one or the other form have been going on without much breaks. Even the World Wars did not last that long.

This very soldier was badly injured in Iraq and he should not have been sent to Afghanistan, if these Gens had some senses!

Many politicians like Bushes, McCains and co, who jump as directed by Saudi Arabia, oil companies and their lobbyists, start screaming after seeing their monies. They are getting busy on Syria and Iran!

Where are the scare and war mongers and their lobbyists here?

10 plus years are needed to complete the pipelines and other supporting infrastructures.

Has Vietnam's name changed to Viet Nam?

Hello folks, there are several reports out that there were more soldiers involved in the massacre than Mr. Bales. Remember the Jessica Lynch story? Remember the Pat Tillman story. Our military lies as much as our government. We will have to wait months before we get the full story.

A lot of people have spoke about 9/11 and this soldier - some saying that he was justified because the US had that tragedy, others pointing out that only 2 of the 9 children he killed were even born by 9/11 and those two were under the age of 5. ....

Now the news is saying that he joined AFTER the 9/11/01 attacks - because it felt it was his patriotic duty. Yet, the New York Times, The UK Guardian and The Independent, France's Le Monde - all say his was in the military for 11 years: Le Monde, The New York Times -either way, he signed up BEFORE the terrorist attacks.

D'après le New York Times, le sergent de 38 ans, marié, père de deux enfants, aurait été déployé trois fois en Irak et servait pour la première fois en Afghanistan. Il serait dans l'armée depuis onze ans. (Le Monde)

Another senior military official said the sergeant was 38 and married with two children. He had served three tours of duty in Iraq, this official said, and had been deployed to Afghanistan for the first time in December. Yet another military official said he has served in the Army for 11 years. (The New York Times)

First Link, Le Monde, dated 3/12/12, The NYT dated 3/11/12

LeMonde: http://www.lemonde.fr/asie-pacifique/article/2012/03/12/les-talibans-jurent-de-venger-le-massacre-de-civils-afghans-par-un-soldat-americain_1656235_3216.html

NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/world/asia/afghanistan-civilians-killed-american-soldier-held.html?_r=2&ref=global-home

We have 6 months to go before the 11th anniversary of 9/11/01... so he had to sign up before 9/11 - but what a way to make him look like a hero, not a child murderer, let's keep bring 9/11 up as if it has anything to do with the deaths of those children.

His concussion has been of much debate, there are 5 degrees of concussion, I have fractured my skull with internal hemorrhaging, but I didn't shoot anyone, so how bad were his injuries? Perhaps he was suffering with a head would, etc.. BUT what were the commanders at that base doing? Why were they not checking him for possible changes in behavior? In reality this base has a serious list of people killing civilians - the Kill Team was from this base, as were those with their pants down....what were the commanders doing - they should share responsibility.

Secretary of Defense Panetta request the death penalty for this soldier, who knows what were the reasons that led him to commit this crime CRIME, however no one called for death penalty for the person responsible of the massacre in Fort Hood, Major Hassan.

As a Tax payer I have the right to know who is on trail and for what. But in this case it is different. Then name being released is one thing but saying where he was from is another. Not for his sake but for his families.

After he is convicted then the rest can come out but, if he is found not guilty then he could have return and no ne would be the wiser. No change in his kids/families life other then Daddy was deployed and now he is back. Keeping them on base is a good thing they will have support and protection from the real world. Not to mention anyone who would seek revenge out on his family.

This man is a hero on whom war took its toll. This is an obvious case of PTSD and possible traumatic brain injury.

According to USA Today, your hero has been arrested in the past for assaulting his girlfriend, was involved in a hit-and-run, and was ordered by the courts to take anger management classes.

All before his enlistment, supposed PTSD, and brain damage. He has also apparently been passed up for promotion in the military, according to his wife.

Mary-2293990

As a Tax payer I have the right to know who is on trail and for what. But in this case it is different. Then name being released is one thing but saying where he was from is another. Not for his sake but for his families.

After he is convicted then the rest can come out but, if he is found not guilty then he could have return and no ne would be the wiser. No change in his kids/families life other then Daddy was deployed and now he is back. Keeping them on base is a good thing they will have support and protection from the real world. Not to mention anyone who would seek revenge out on his family.

Was the standard that you speak of used in other criminal cases? Nope. Do you think he gave much thought to the families of the people that he murdered?

This guy will become a poster child just like Lt William Calley for The My Lai Massacre, who even had a top 40 hit written about his sick deeds.

Whats the penalty for taking more deer than you have tags for? Slap this guy with a fine or something..

Jonathan: Regarding your post #2.61: the spelling I use, Viet Nam, is the anglicised spelling of the Mandarin Chinese for "pacified south," the Chinese name for the area (what we also used to call "Indo China."). Either the two-word or the one word spelling can be considered correct. I refer to use the older two-word spelling; it was also the spelling used when I was over there.

All around, this is terrible situation. I certainly feel badly for the families who lost their loved ones in Afghanistan at the hands of this soldier. It's a terrible situation. But, I also feel very sorry for this man and his family. He signed up after 9/11 to do what he felt was his duty for our country. I am thankful for his service, and for the service of millions of others. We have our freedoms because of people just like him. But, in the end, he snapped. He couldn't take it anymore. It happens. I cannot imagine seeing that much killing and carnage, and not being completely overwhelmed and over-taken by it. Most of my family have been combat veterans in various wars. Even those who saw very little combat came back changed forever. I myself have spent many years going to and from the Middle East, and those experiences will be, and are with me always. No matter what, it's like no time has ever passed.

I truly hope that soldier gets the help he needs. I can't imagine what he must be going through. And I hope he is being protected from himself, too. When he "comes to" and realizes the enormity of what he did, he very well may try to commit suicide.

As for his family, by releasing his name, they could very easily be dead people walking. I sure hope it's not true, but there are a lot of nutjobs out and about. Information these days travels instantaneously around the globe. This story was out on many, many other websites before NBC picked it up, and before it was on msnbc. I hope this family is well-protected. My feeling is, it's probably not good enough.

I'm always amazed at the people like those on this site who are quick to judge this young man. He is a soldier who was injured; saw his friends get injured and die; was sent for a FOURTH deployment; and clearly lost it. Is this excusable? In no way is it excusable. Is it somewhat understandable? Unfortunately it is. There is a point that the human brain can only take so much. There is no doubt he snapped. Does that mean we don't hold him accountable? No. But, it should make all of us think about him and all the other soldiers who are undergoing unspeakable and overwhelming stress. We are as much to blame for his actions as he is. We should be insisting that our soldiers come home from a war that was more than over years ago. We have accomplished nothing with the continuation of this conflict except for the deaths and injuries of more and more of our own.

I hope this soldier is given the help he needs. He clearly will be severely punished for the acts of murder he committed and that is just. I just hope someone realizes our country's culpability in the whole thing and helps the soldier as much as possible.

I hope we do all we can for the families of the people he murdered - then I hope we get out of there.

And, I sincerely hope his family is protected from stupid people who believe they are so much better than this soldier. My thoughts and prayers are with all the people who have been touched by this horror.

If we had just turned his a$$ over to the local Afghan authorities; it would no longer be a "War-Crime" but a simple murder case. The crime was committed on Afghan soil so he should be tried according to the customs of that zone.

This is the only way to give the Afghans any sense of justice.

From Little brainwashed kids come Big Brainwashed Killers ! Why don't we ask why Lt. Caley killed all of those " Innocent " Vietnamese in My Lai ?

An American saved a lot of those people, remember?

Wordsmith--just to clarify--I said "This isn't a 'war crime.' This guy snapped. . . . It wasn't a war crime. It's a crime, yes, but not a 'war crime.'" I wasn't there. I believe the guy snapped (after all I've read, I'm more sure of it every moment, but I'm not his keeper so I don't know what went through his head). And yes, read again, I said, "It's a crime." It's not for me to make decisions or judgments regarding what happens next to him. I'll leave that to the military. Nevertheless, I believe we agree that the whole incident was just wrong.

You might be ahead to step back and breathe a bit.

Perhaps this sorry incident will be more productive in getting our people out of that forsaken place, and leave Afghanis back to their business as usual of just killing and mutilating each another, again.

Last I heard the funding as well as the terrorists were coming our of Saudi Arabia. Poppies, really. Yet another lie for the American people to sink their taxes and children's blood into.

we can go back and forth all day stating my source is more reliable than your source but I'm just going to go with the I see it every day here, I see what they do with the money and I see the hundreds of acres of poppy being destroyed daily but I'm sure what you last heard is more reliable than what I see.

Sandtrich,

All I am saying is by releasing the location of where his family is serves no purpose. It harms people who have nothing to do with his actions - his family. They could have left that part out. SSgt R. Bales from 3rd Stryker Brigade would have been good enough. They did not need to mention he had a family or where they were. But they did and I for one am happy they will be protected from anyone who wants to harm them either by words or actions.

This is such a sad situation. American soldiers are damned if they do their jobs and damned if they don't do their jobs. WAR IS A DIRTY GAME! I feel terrible that those people were murdered. I feel terrible for the soldier and his family because they too are casualties of war! Until America recognizes that it changes any soldier who see's his fellow soldiers "blown to bits" we will have more tragic incidents like this!

Our soldiers have post traumatic stressors and this is an example of PTSD. I am surprised it is not happening more frequently. I also feel that just like this soldier is in the news, the media should report just as vigorous those soldiers who have done humanitarian good deeds for those people in afganistan. The media should also stop covering up those soldiers and their families who have extreme examples of post traumatic stress. (suicides, domestic violence, inability to re enter society because they have seen TOO MUCH VIOLENCE AND TRAUMA. They need help not the death penalty.

We owe them better than this!

There has to be more to this story.. With all the killings over the Koran burning, this alone would be enough to drive you over that thin line..
Our Military has no clue who the enemy is, they have no uniform, anyone could jump out with a bomb attached. All of you had best think just how much stress our soldiers are under. How in the hell can politicians dictate a war? If they would leave the war to the military we would have been out of there.

Its starting to look like Viet Nam all over again...Bring our military home. Please have some compassion for this man and his family.

Without giving too much info here (OPSEC), I'll just say that my spouse is part of the brigade leadership over the alleged shooter's battalion. The alleged shooter's spouse and children are part of our BDE family, and thus, we want to protect and care for them as much as possible. Releasing this soldier's name and rank is an immediate security risk for the family, regardless of whether or not they are living behind the gates of the post. The family deserves privacy and peace of mind, and those of us who have loved ones down range deserve some consideration as well. This is a difficult time for everyone involved - Afghan citizens, American and multi-national forces, and the families back home who love these soldiers and want them to come home safely. The media is stoking the fires of discontent, and all I can do is pray that my fellow military families remain tight-lipped, give no information, and let the military justice system do it's job here.

Jean lol compassion for this man and his family? I can't believe what I'm reading here... I'm sorry but there is absolutely no reason to justify a massacre like this on any one. Compassion for family and protection yes, for the man Justice must be served.

Maxwelle - compassion indeed, do you or do you not believe in due process? I don't think many people are trying to justify a massacre, rather they are trying to understand what happened. If he is guilty of what has been presented in the press he will indeed face a punishment befitting the crime, but perhaps we should give him a day in court like we do everyone else. As for his family, they didn't do anything and unfortunately will never be the same...and I find it incredible that in our society the press demands for a story override the families need for safety.

Hello oneiron-4324713, So you think that fighting them on their soil is lame @!$%#? Have we been attacked LATELY? wonder why dip @!$%#. This guy has committed an incredible atrocity and I do believe he should pay, and if that means pay with his life, so be it. I can't stand tools like you that make completely uneducated comments. You have no clue, so why don't take your fat ass back to the frig.

DanBowen,

About releasing this soldier's name. What good will come from releasing his name? We don't know and we'll not likely know the value of that information.

However, in America we do not base the "public right to know" on what is good to release and what is not. We base that release of information on our Constitutional requirements. You know about the Constitution don't you?

The framers of our Constitution realized that any government that lives under the hot lights and microscope of the public eye is a government that is ultimately for the people, of the people and by the people.

We all benefit when we live by the rule of law.

Well Bill perhaps they could have charged him with a crime prior to doing so...after all, under our constitution we do have that thing called due process right? I've made my point more than clear, I do not condone in any way the actions of this Sgt if in fact he did what he is being accused of...it's a horrible crime. That said, his wife and kids more than likely had nothing to do with it since they were 8000 miles away and now they have had to be taken into protective custody...do they have due process? Do they live under our constitution or are they collateral damage?

Does the justice start from poor soldiers who are sent from one mad battling place to another one even without breaks?

Why no one is held accountable in the first place from top to pushing US into 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars and Afghanistan in 2001?

Are some beyond justice?

So rich and powerful are beyond justice.

Only poor and helpless that too like patriotic soldiers, who can't even talk much in their defense, have to share all loads of human rights manuals, soldiers manuals, courts manuals and world's all "right thinking" peoples' manuals on justice!!

The media is stoking the fires of discontent,

I think the media is so Anti-American that they are blind to the fact, if they win,they lose.

Morlack

If this does not reflect the values and standards of our military, then why deploy our soldiers 3 or more times substantially increasing the odds they will snap? Obviously our military leaders are not substantially brighter than our moronic politicians.

Perhaps you hit on something that needs resurrection. There is more than one reason to reinstate the draft...and repeat deployments is certainly one of them. We are relying on less than 1% of the population to do ALL of the heavy lifting when it comes to fighting our wars; and they are OUR wars. Politicians hide behind the excuses "it's unpopular" or it's "political suicide". The general population hides behind the excuse "well it's an all volunteer military". Personally I believe reinstatement of the draft solves a number of problems and the most important is that it forces the entire Nation to own our wars. American is not a war; less than 1% of the population even participate. The only stipulation I would put on the draft is NO DEFERMENTS...period! If your not physically able to fight...you can push papers. If mommy and daddy put you in college...you can go back when you return. If you are the son/daughter of a wealthy family...you go to basic and serve with kids from the ghetto and kids from the farm.

And if you are the son or daughter of a congressperson, guess what, you're first in line! That'll bring a quick end to these ridiculous armchair wars of "nation building".

works for me. no deferments; not for college, not for religious reasons (hey Mitt this means you), not for gender. Wealth, connections, etc. no longer count. As ol doc said, if we are going to get into these situations everyone owns it.

works for me. no deferments; not for college, not for religious reasons (hey Mitt this means you), not for gender. Wealth, connections, etc. no longer count. As ol doc said, if we are going to get into these situations everyone owns it.

Especially those that really want to go to War...Republicans should get in line to get in uniform. Let's superzise them to make their big A*** fit on them...

Old Doc I agree that its the poor man son that fights the rich mans war, but I can also see you do not have any sons in the prime age. This war is about oil nothing more nothing less. We got the head of the snake mission accomplished bring them all home now! I may not be an Obama fan but he did what Bush or Clinton could not do. Score one for Obama.

I totally agree with Ol Doc and MikeyMike. I work for a large phamaceutical company with a huge Legal Department. These people pay lip service to America -- screaming about patriotism, yet I have not heard of one of their kids going off to the military -- not one -- and I've been here for 16 years!!

Bring back the draft and those war drums for Iran will go completely silent!

Morlack - Obviously our military leaders are not substantially brighter than our moronic politicians.

It is the US Civilian Control of the US Military, as the US Military Leaders must say, "Yes, Sir, Yes, Sir three bags full" or go pack their bags after Tendering their Letter of Resignation or face a UCMJ "Failure to Obey". Having been here so long, examples: General McKiernan, General McChrystal, and yes, even General Petraeus, all asked to tender their Letters of Resignation. Now with this incident and the Koran (Quran) Burnings just waiting for Four In A Row, General Allen.

Morlack - then why deploy our soldiers 3 or more times substantially increasing the odds they will snap?

Because there is only 1% of US Citizens currently Serving In the US Military doing those things that you, the 92% that have NEVER Served in the US Military, refuse to do for below minimum wages. This is the reason why many of the US Military Voted for Candidate Obama (to get us out of these Wars) and as his solution for the repeated deployment of the 1% of US Citizens of the US Military, the start of the Selective Service and or Mandatory Compulsory US Military Service to Force the 92% of US Citizens into the US Military (later on not USAF nor USN due to his April 2009 Defense Cuts of the USAF and USN; but, the US Army or USMC "Ground Combat Forces") as Candidate Obama's "US Military Service is a Civic Duty", and "US Citizenship is not an Entitlement". see the full (not out of context) Presidential Debates at youtube.com.

Morlack - If this does not reflect the values and standards of our military,

Have you ever attempted to live by the Four Legal Authorities Over The US Military? Even those that created those Four Legal Authorities Over The US Military cannot live by these Punitive Laws for even a few hours.

Do you have any questions pertaining to the material that I briefed you on? No? Ok, how about answering this question:

Why doesn't this article mention that between 70% to 80% of the Afghans killed are murdered violently by the Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban?

Ok, another question: How many of you ever heard of Asymmetric Warfare? Asymmetric Warfare Strategic Goals to defeat Conventional Warfare? You want to lose an Asymmetric War keep on Publicizing and Sensationalizing this, the Afghans are not; their Rules for Life, the Holy Koran (Quran) is more important.

You want to know what this Sergeant experienced? Go buy a live chicken (not a roast chicken), break it's neck; now rip off a leg, that is what he saw recently happen to one of his friends (before he snapped). And unlike Iraq of President Bush, to take out your frustrations you cannot start yanking Afghans out of their homes to search for evidence of the IED Bomber (the Afghan that set off the IED that ripped your friend to shreads) due to President Obama Rules, Rules of Engagement, Policies, etc..

As far as releasing his name, that was a death sentence for him, his family, relatives, etc. as their names will be added to a Islamic Death Penalty Fatawa to be accomplished by any Islamic Believer from now until the Death Penalty Fatawa is accomplished. I do not believe that the FBI, US Law Enforcement, will protect his family, relatives, etc. from now until all of them (including their decendents) are deceased from natural causes (not lead poisoning). examples of a Islamic Death Penalty Fatawa would be the Danish Cartoonist (numerous attempts so far, just takes one success), the Pastor at Florida (threatened Koran (Quran) Burnings), Salmon Rushdie, a Seattle woman currently in hiding, Iranian Lawyer and family currently hiding at Norway that defended the Iranian Adultress, many of the minority of Islamic Believers that do not want to obey the 109 Suras of the 114 Suras of the Holy Koran (Quran) Calls to War Against the Christians, Jews, Unbelievers, the Collaborators to the Christians, Jews, Unbelievers (like President Karzai, Assad, Mubarack, King of Saudi Arabia and all the Saudi Princes, etc. they already got Gaddaffi). Islamic Believers are taught patience, so they will just wait years, decades, even generations later for the opportunity.

This all sounds great and I think those are good ideas. The problem is when you have a draft, you get soldiers who do not want to be soldiers, soldiers who shouldn't be soldiers. Soldiers who shouldn't be or do not want to be - make bad soldiers.

Remember Vietnam?

Ol_Doc... You hit it out of the park..."NO DEFERMENTS...period!". If we're not all in it, we have no true support system. At the same time the multiple deployments and consecutive deployments would be limited. If a draftee completed 2 years obligated service under the 'DRAFT CONTRACT' if stipulated by Congress and the law, the draftee should not and would not be obligated to return to a combat zone. This should apply even if a voluntary reenlistment contract were signed. Add more weight to it by requiring a FULL psychological and physical examination conducted by independant (no gains) physicians. Even then, if a soldier spent 6 months or more in a combat zone...forget it...they don't go back witin a 3 year window. If we can't finish a war or conflict under this guidance, screw it...WE DON'T GO.

We 'The People' need to discuss this and TELL those SOBs who are paid to represent and speak for US what we expect of and for our military from 'Birth of a Soldier' to 'Final Proper Respects'. And we've not done too good a job on either, lately.

I'm a vet and I speak from 20years experience.

add to post#4.7.

The continuous deployments of the 1% of US Citizens of the US Military will get worse, as the US Military is decreased from 1% of US Citizens of the US Military to 1/2 of 1% of US Citizens Serving the US Military by President Obama's Reduction In Forces of the US Military of 80,000 US Military Personnel + 27,000 Returning from the Wars + 10,000 from the closed US Military Installations at Germany + 5 more Brigades all thrown on US Unemployment. These numbers do not include the xxx,xxx US Civilians that provided support to the RIF'ed US Military as also thrown on US Unemployment. With all of them having more training and experience to displace the recent High School or College Graduates from jobs and job searches.

Anticipating the question, NO you cannot use Federal Active US Military to secure the US Borders as against the US Laws and against President Obama's April 2009 and August 2009 Policy "US Military will not be used to secure US Borders", and the State's National Guard Units do not have the Funds to absorb all the RIF'ed US Military Personnel, so they do go on (are) on US Unemployment.

This is not a Political Statement but a Fact as to what happened before Historically after other Wars, Police Actions, Conflicts, Reduction In Forces of the US Military.

AirThief, and what do you think we're getting now? The cream of the crop? Your argument makes no sense.

Right after 9/11 we had people joining like crazy, but the minute they realized that this was a war for profit and oil, their patriotism went out the window, as it should have.

My sons were two of the kids that joined right after 9/11, as soon as they graduated from high school. As a matter of fact, my oldest tried to join immediately after 9/11 and they told him to come back when he graduated high school -- and that's exactly what he did! It didn't take long for them both to become discouraged at what they saw when they went to war, and their discouragement had a lot to do with what they saw some the bahvior of some of our soldiers. We're Americans -- not morons. We don't teach our kids to shoot unarmed women and children (unless your kids are thugs -- they'll shoot your grandmother for a hit on the pipe).

This is a real tragedy and black eye to the men and women who did their job under the same pressure as this guy. My sons did multiple tours of Iraq and Afghan, one is disabled and has severe PTSD. Neither of them went door to door hunting down women and children.

"when you have a draft, you get soldiers who do not want to be soldiers, soldiers who shouldn't be soldiers"...

We have that even now in today's service of an ALL VOLUNTEER military. The issue on all volunteer is the "Chain of Command" will unleash every threat imaginable to convince the service member to stay in even when they don't want to...been there, seen it, didn't like it. I truly believe there can be a balance reached with both. But for all of us commenting and pondering THIS particular tragic event...how can we predict what any human being will do at any given moment? we can't even with the best technology and advanced medical educations of this day. At this point I ask you all take a moment of silence for ALL of OUR OWN HUMANITY.

If you draft people to war you're a tyrant. Plain and simple. People there now should refuse to fight. The wars aren't justified or they'd have no problem finding volunteers, logically.

Ol Doc - I agree with no deferments and everyone serves. No more wars fought by a few while the fat, old men sit safely behind their desks in Washington, DC. I have long thought that all Americans should spend a minimum of two years in service to their country. It might give everyone an appreciation of what war is really all about and maybe if a few of the children of the fat, old men sitting safely behind their desks in Washington, DC had to serve, those same men might at least think twice, or three or four times, about committing our children to wars that are not defensive. My son is a veteran, having served two tours in the Middle East, so I do not lightly suggest that anyone be required to serve. But in the end it is the only thing that makes sense to me.

AirThief - This all sounds great and I think those are good ideas. The problem is when you have a draft, you get soldiers who do not want to be soldiers, soldiers who shouldn't be soldiers. Soldiers who shouldn't be or do not want to be - make bad soldiers.

Tell that to President Obama that was his (verbal contract) Solution, from the Presidential Debates

AirThief - Remember Vietnam?

Where you in Country? I remember as a young kid, LRRP/Ranger, calling in airstrikes at Plei Can (Ho Chi Minh Trail (super freeway)), to slow down the NVA march to the south, so that the US Military could unarse Vietnam, what later were the last days before the end of the "Vietnam Conflict" (no one knew when the Conflict would end). It was after the fact (got out of Vietnam) that most of us were having panic attacks, because we finally realized that someone could have easily wrote us off as expendable and not come to extract us by risking more lives and helicopters; or the extraction helicopters could have gotten shot down before or after we were on board. You want my Selective Service Card Number?

A Selective Service "aka Draft" would work, so would Mandatory Compulsory US Military Service (see Swiss) as previously discussed by President Obama (then Candidate Obama). Based on experience not the sensationalized anti Military movies. There must also be consequences for: a. Not Serving (no deferments, no exceptions (to whatever your physical capability is))., b. Not Serving Successfully (currently BCDs, DHDs)., c. the concept of Earned versus Entitlement (accident of Nation of birth) Citizenship as stated by President Obama as "US Citizenship is not an Entitlement"., d. current penalty for not responding to a Recall to Active Duty up to Federal Penitentiary.

The subject of Mandatory Compulsory Military Service, Earned Citizenship thru Military Service, Required Military Service for Citizenship, etc. has already been discussed quite a bit (Centuries). Usually, with the objections losing after actual "experiments" or very long (decades) of actual implementations (most European Nations, Israel, Middle Eastern Nations, Asian Nations, Russian Federation, China, etc.). The same with women in the Ground Combat Forces aka "Combat Arms" (US Military finally changed that Policy 2012 from no to allowed as "equal rights means equal responsibilites", so now my former "Amazons" (women as Combatants) now known as "Lionesses" (women as Combatants) can finally be retroactively awarded Combat Qualifications that they earned in Combat, as to what I have been fighting tooth and nail for since the 1980s).

Annie-716754 - Ol Doc - I agree with no deferments and everyone serves.

People will really think hard against War, any means to stop or prevent one, if it is their arse that might end up enduring the hardships, possibly getting killed or the permanent hell of being physically disabled for life.

They would also consider from experience what the US Military does and does not have as far as pay, benefits, retirement, US Constitutional Rights, etc. instead of the other way around being opinionated believing the US Military has or gets too much.

David do you think they could be setting this soldier up on these charges? Also I read just before this happened that the cost of treating PTSD was of concern to the Dr.'s treating our troops. I truely think this is huge problem as most likely many are suffering. Thanks for all of the info.

This war is about oil nothing more nothing less

really? how many barrels of oil do you think Afghanistan pumps out a day

http://www.indexmundi.com/g/r.aspx?c=af&v=88

probably a lot less than you think.

Diane from the boondocks,

Having sat on Boards before, I listen to all the Evidence, then do my own Research. If I do not like what is presented, I then request an impartial extensive investigation or they can remove me from the Board.

It is and always has been a "Conflict of Interest" for the US Military Medical Professionals to be the same ones doing the Psychological Evaluations. See my post about the other situation at Fort Lewis, the US Military O-5 alleged of hiring a "Hitman", post # 1.6, 1.17. (adding to that, where or who has the $150,000, as no money, no evidence (solicitation to commit murder)).

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/13/10674476-prosecutors-army-lt-col-robert-underwood-tried-to-hire-hitman-to-kill-wife-superior-officer

Having been involved with the "Middle East", Africa, Asia, South and Central Americas, etc. ever since the 1980s, I have seen things like the children soldiers of Africa; the armed men, women, children of the Kurdistanis PKK, HPG, KGK; armed "teens" (actually still children) at South America; the women and children of Somalia picking up their dead husband's/father's AK trying to kill us; parents giving their children handgrenades after their parents pulled the pins waving at their children to give the handgrenades to us; women and children acting as scouts and forward observers for ambushes, mortar, sniper and rocket attacks; "innocent" men, women, children letting the enemy know speed, direction, altitude, etc. of drones, aircraft, helicopters, unit movements, completely negating US "high tech"; my "Lionesses" doing searches and grabbing a penis under a Burkha with my snipers taking out the bomber before he can blow himself and my "Lionesses" up; us catching the Taliban shaking down the Afghan Villagers for Mandatory Islamic Tithes; but, then having to let them go; patching up the Afghan children with their fingers, hands, arms, toes, noses, ears, etc. cut off because they got caught by the Taliban in posession of a pencil or pen that we gave them; enemy doing asymmetric warfare doing massacres then blaming the opposing forces, government, or whoever they want the local population, nation, international community to turn against; massacres at the Sudan (Darfur); South Ossettia; mass graves; land covered with so many bloated bodies that you could not see the ground; lots of etc.. The western ideals that children, tweens, teens, women, are always noncombatants ("innocent") is not reality.

After a while you just shrug (emotionally disconnected) and just take everything in as Lessons Learned to survive in the Life or Death School of Hard Knocks.

There seems to be a question that needs to be answered. Fact: Islamic Nation equals no Alcohol, except maybe for fuel. So what was he drinking? Moonshine? Smuggled crap (methanol)? Filtered anti freeze? 100% alcohol? Things that will either kill you or make you bat sh!t nuts.

My cursory reading of this chain of thought hasn't seen this but what about the following thought? Every candidate for any position in the U.S. Government (including Cabinet-level-positions, Congress [both houses], the Judiciary, all appointed positions, Civil Service, and [especially] the Presidency) that in any way exercises any authority over the military be required to produce a valid DD-214. That would ensure that any such person would have at least been subject to being sent into harm's way, and might have some feeling for what being in that situation must be like. It might not end all of this cruel idiocy, but it might mitiate it some. And, if we made the people whose idiotic policies were responsible for some of these happenings, responsible themselves for the happenings, well, things might be less bad.

He said himself: "I did it" when it became apparent he wasn't going to be able to sneak back on the outpost. This man committed a heinous crime and it was a war crime at that. Many people who commit mass murder aren't in their right minds for if they were, they wouldn't have committed mass murder to begin with. There's always "something very, very wrong" with a person who kills someone for sport, pleasure, out of enormous stress, or just because they're walking psychopaths. I've no doubt 4 tours took quite the toll on the man, but that doesn't excuse his calculated and premeditated murder of otherwise innocent women and children, while they slept, and then, banish the thought, burning their bodies. His name is public because that's how we roll in our Democracy. We have the right to know who is charged with a crime and they have the right to face their accusers and to defend themselves AND to be assumed "not guilty" until proved guilty. Not entirely sure what sort of Miranda Rights the military adheres to, but his admission isn't going to do him any favors in that regard. The man is a danger to himself and everyone in his path, and he will be locked away for a very long time, if not for life. Anyone who murders 16 human beings need never walk free again. They call that "serial murder" and they are the worst of the worst. The man crossed over from human to psychopath and there's no returning to "normal." Heck, Manson did less than this guy and is in for life!

We need to bring our troops home. Why is it ok for afghan troops and terrorists to kill our troops?

I agree, more media blackout!! There are very few pictures of ANYTHING out of Iraq and Afghanistan for the American public. Why haven't these murdered children's photographs been plastered all over the media? Why hasn't their homes and community members been in the media.

Yea this soldiers have nothing to do in Afghanistan in the first place (the Hijaker was from Saudi Arabia) and Bin Laden was traint from the US and Pay'd and got the Weopon from the US,,,,,and the People defending only there owne Country,opposit US ,is everywhere it smells like Blood and ritches OEL GOLD SILVER PLATINUM URANIUM ECCPP YOU namend.

this is all wrong in this World

bat we have only one world and can do nothing against it (BANK"S making a lot of Money with War, and company's to,and you are all the looser's,and belive everything you hear in the News pay'd and owned from the coop and Banks.

this guys learnt a lot from Goebbels PROPAGANDA clean ,to fool the rest of the World.

Open your eyes and see and dont hide behind the religion,you have a choice

KH

@bellakano -- don't take this the wrong way --- you may have a good point, but it's lost in your inability to spell or put a sentence together.

Dianne, Afghan terrorists are who we are at war with. NOT NINE (9) CHILDREN ASLEEP IN THEIR BEDS.

Marie, you want to see the dead and maybe burnt bodies of children. Lord in heaven you are sick.

bellakono - Yea this soldiers have nothing to do in Afghanistan in the first place (the Hijaker was from Saudi Arabia) and Bin Laden was traint from the US and Pay'd and got the Weopon from the US,

Rants do nothing. Neither do emotive non factual opinions the belong on personal blogs; not Newsvine Forums to discuss the Facts, as Newsvine's purpose "Get Smarter Here". Go read this:

http://david393071.newsvine.com/_news/2012/03/12/10658053-afghanistan

As far as US aggression to obtain Resources, nope:

A. Iraq the Chinese and Russian Federation got the Iraqis Northern and Southern Oil Field Contracts, as negotiated by the Islamic Republic of Iran with their Iraqis Allies the Shia at Iraq (Southern Iraqis Oil Fields) and the Kurdistanis at Iraq (Northern Iraqis Oil Fields). As to why US Gas is now above $5.00 per gallon, as less Oil on the World Market for US and US Allies; with most now going to the Chinese and Russian Federation.

The Chinese and Russian Federation using the Islamic Republic of Iran as their "Proxy Fighters", the Islamic Republic of Iran using the Worldwide Fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists as their "Proxy Fighters". A win, win, win for the Chinese, Russian Federation, and the Islamic Republic of Iran, and due to a lack of understanding of the US Civilians, US Politicians, US European Allies, etc. a loss loss loss for the US and US Allies.

B. Libya, thru Qatar that plays the US and US Allies against their other ally the Islamic Republic of Iran, as negotiated by Qatar, the Islamic Republic of Iran's Ally, the Chinese, not the US European Allies get the Libyan Oil Contracts.

C. Here (Afghanistan) the Allies of the Chinese, the Republic of Iran, negotiated the High Tech Mineral Rights of Afghanistan for the Chinese to mine and ship back to China. In 2011, the Chinese place a embargo on all shipments of High Tech Minerals out of China, so that all US High Tech requiring these High Tech Minerals must be Made In China (with the resulting theft of US High Tech and Research and Development.). The High Tech Minerals that my Teams discovered with attached Scientific Teams of the CIA while spelunking into the thousands of miles of former mines, mineshafts, mining tunnels, etc. hunting the Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban, Al Quada, etc. as part of our US Military Asymmetric Mountain Warfare Mission.

Like I said before from experience with the US Military Training Teams attached to SAD/SOG during Operation Cyclone (NOT your wikipedia research, see wikipedia disclaimer of facts posted on wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer ). Osama Bin Laden was living with his rich relatives during the USSR 40th Army Occupation, forming his ANTI Saudi Arabian Government (A US Ally), and ANTI US and US Ally Fundamentalist Islamic Jihadist Organization, Al Quada.

You really do not have any idea just how many Osamas, Bin Ladens, Husseins, Mohammads, etc. there are at just the Middle East do you?

The ONLY CIA that Osama Bin Laden would have been associated with would have been the New York City (NYC) Culinary Institute of America while he was at New York City prior to and during the 1993 First World Trade Center Bombing.

As something we took very seriously as not to get shot in the back, our vetting process ever since Operation Cyclone and our Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as during the US Military Training Teams it was Standard Operating Procedure to photograph, fingerprint, document details of everyone trained (name(s), date of birth, physical features, all relatives, place of birth, age, height, weight, color of eyes, color of hair, next of kin, etc; as potential future Intelligence Assets and part of the Basic vetting process (so there was no infiltrations by Counter Insurgency Warfare Forces or Enemy Intelligence Agencies).

slightlyold - Dianne, Afghan terrorists are who we are at war with. NOT NINE (9) CHILDREN ASLEEP IN THEIR BEDS.

The same emotive argument can be said of those babies in mother's wombs that were aborted.

The Afghan news media, Arabic Al Jazeera, even Iranian FARS, etc. are not sensationalizing this with continuous coverage like the US News Media. They are about the Koran (Quran) burnings. Realize their sense of value for women, children versus the Holy Koran (Quran) and Islamic Laws also.

Oh yes, slightlyold, since you claim to know what is happening here (Afghanistan) since you have lived with the locals for years:

a. Do you know why, there are hundreds of thousands to millions of widows with children here?

Because after the US Abandoned the US Ally 1980s Pro Afghan Muhajeen after they defeated the USSR 40th Army Occupation (with our assistance Operation Cyclone). The Pro USSR Afghans returned from USSR Backed Fundamentalist Islamic Iran, then they became the Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban, and then massacred almost half the population of Afghanistan as Collaborators to the Christians, Jews, Unbelievers and all of the 20,000 to 50,000 US Ally 1980s Pro Afghan Muhajeen.

So this left hundreds of thousands to millions of widows, and as punishment as well as to make more Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban these widows were/are raped as accused Collaborators to the Christians, Jews, Unbelievers. So when these children become age 10 to teenagers they are harvested, indoctrinated into becoming Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban or Al Quada (higher status than Taliban). Don't even start talking about abortions for rape victims and the Islamic Law Penalties, take a rough guess who gets stoned to death (enticing the male to rape her as an Adulteress).

b. In an Islamic Society women can only do certain things, women are shunned and ostracized and even harshly punished for doing what men are only supposed to do. This creates a competition for women to get husbands, take a rough guess what the women say when the competition gets killed off along with their children (competitors against their own children).

How about coming here, we will dress you in a Burkha (even if you are a male, so they don't know you are a foreigner) and you can sit in the back of the Mosque and listen to the Imam quietly say "Will of Allah" pertaining to these killings; then the Imam starts ranting, shaking fists, waving fingers, about the Holy Koran (Quran) Burnings and demanding violence.

c. And if you believe that the Afghans will actually tell a Foreigner what they actually think, guess again, there is NO trust for those News Reporters (especially the News Reporters that are female that do not cover every one of their hairs on their heads.); would you trust someone that you did not even know and tell them things that might get you beaten or executed for. News Reporters with dollars signs in their eyes and screw the consequences.

Bring our troops home!!!

Ron Paul 2012

Amen!

for a long while at least.

I'm pretty sure he murdered a bunch of women, children, and unarmed men...and you think "a while" is sufficient?

You're sick.

No one really knows the truth; for all we know he could have been a Manchurian canidate being hypnotized to act. There are many reasons and goverments involved to not think some would benefit if the other failed. I am amused that proindividual believes enlightenment is real. The truth hundreds of years ago as it is now follows the biggest and baddest make the rules. Logic and reason only play a part as a means to and end. We call it politics in the 21st century. Morality plays no part in a real war, its about winning and losing.

If he is the man who killed little girls who were 2, 3, 4, 5 years old, how could you possibly consider him a hero?

A better question is: who are these people on the internet who Capitalize the Words they think are More Important than Others, like the OP? I missed that in 3rd grade English class. I can see if their background is a forign language like German, but...wth...

Hey, some people still consider Guevera a hero, they actually go out weraing a cap with a red star like he did, some consider Hitler a hero, some considered Stalin a hero, some Ho Chi Ming, and even some Bin-Laden. So why not this guy.

We should just turn this pathetic disgrace to America over to the Afganis and let them take care of him. Then immediately "Bring [the rest of] our boys [and girls] back home". I do agree with you there. It's long since time to get out of this god-foresaken sewer of a country and leave them to their own problems.

A person does not automatically deserve to be considered a "hero" just for putting on the uniform. Many people in the military really are heroes, but to label this coward such diminishes the accomplishments of real heroes.

Certainly not a hero. He's a murderer. And with this single action he has personally set back the entire war effort in Afganistan, perhaps to square one. Nice goin', ya trigger happy jarhead.

If he gets the death sentence, he deserves it. He is not a hero. He is a disgrace to our Flag.

Why should his name be kept secret. He is a killer, just as Ted Bundy, John Wayne Grady, etc. and should be subjected to the media, etc until his end.

Nothing he did constitutes him being labelled a "hero". How sick are you.

Jason, a lot of us had sons that fought in these wars. Some of them didn't make it back the same as they went over, and some of them didn't make it back at all --- these are the real heroes -- the ones that kept it together and brought honor to their country and families. This is a difficult time for our country and this is a an extremely difficult war to fight. At no time is it honorable or acceptable to murder unarmed women and children in thier own homes. Period.

Jason, in which branch of the military did you serve?

I feel bad for parents who lose kids to war...but if the war isn't justified, they aren't heroes. Nation building isn't heroic or defensive. Any nonsense that justifies it is just a rationalization. This war wasn't defense since year 2. What a hero does is refuse to fight in a war of aggression and sits in a cell bravely for being civilly disoebdient, instead of following orders out of zombie nationalism.

@AWOL -- I'll bet my entire paycheck his answer is --- NONE.

sounds like Jason Simarano found a big bag of stupid and seriously overindulged,

i agree jason...

@simarano

If he killed your whole family, would you still consider him a hero?

Hero? Your rather silly! Have another beer and sleep it off, please!

If anyone deserves "humiliation" it is this war criminal. The families of every criminal suffer. Why should this cowardly killer get a pass?

"The media is so full of crap and has too much Fredom of speech."

Are you serious? Too much freedom of speech?

on the other hand--had this guy come home a true hero there would have been ticker tape parades, awards and honors of all sorts and his family would have shared in that glory. Why shouldn't the inverse be true as well?

I'd say that this guy got a pass, in that they delayed releasing his name until he was out of Afghanistan. Most criminals have their details released within hours. This way ensured that he'd be able to leave the country and be subject to the military justice system, rathen than the Afghan one, as they had requested.

Do not get me wrong, I have immediate family members who have served over there and also a different relative that was the victim of threats etc. because of his criminal background. I also have sympathy for those suffering from PTSD. It is, however, normal to publish the names of adult defendants. Plus, I believe that those seeking to excuse his actions based on his having worn a uniform would have a different view if it had been a foreign soldier coming onto American soil and killing American civilians. I doubt that they would want that foreign military to try them and the personal details kept from the media.

Because, as far as I know, every adult defendant in every criminal action is identified. Can you think of any instances when this wasn't the case?

I wonder the same thing too. Also the village men were not in that house at the time, where were they at this hour of the night?

The Taliban have set up this sort of thing many times and women and young children are of no value to them. It just sort of seem strange that they are crying about the burning of bodies and lost family, and in the same breath a car explosions kills 13 women and children. Even if he really lost it and did all they say he did, it only underlines the fact that we should get out of there NOW. as the Pres told us to do. but be sure to take the money and equipment with us. Don't want to leave any mess around or they will complain about that too. Also kick their diplomats out of the USA, along with all those "students'' that are studying so hard and planning how to set off explosives right under our noses.

We have a middle east "student'' right here in Lubbock,Tx. that is on trial for making explosives devises. He is getting all the comforts of our Texas jail system. Folks we are as middle American as you can get 200 miles from most center major cities and he was quiet preparing explosives for major cities and events with diagrams and equipment. He also has a bank of lawyers to defend him, can't forget to give him all his rights, We still have that crazy doctor down at Fort Hood to process also. He is sitting on his butt waiting for his lawyers to find a loop hole.

Yes that GI should be tried for what ever he did to those women, but please bring the rest home and clean our systems here. And while you are at it remove Mexico finest drug and gun runner and put them on a bus to mexico city and let them know they will be shot if they are found crossing the border, no matter how many kids they spawn here,

ER,

The Iranians had similar "students" "studying" here in the US in the 1970s as they planned terrorist attacks within THIS country. It was an open secret that those Iranians were sheep-dipped Iranian military or Iranian intelligence agents, but they were tolerated until caught red-handed.

Prayers for a murderer?, whereas the women and children that were slaughtered are "innocent." Something is wrong with you.

mxh,

You say, "Prayers for a murderer?" Of course prayers for a murderer! It isn't the healthy who need the help of a doctor, it is the sick who require his/her services. Also, prayers for the victims. Both sides need and deserve them, especially in a case such as this. I wonder what the Afghanis would be screaming about at this time had the SSGT pissed on a Koran afterwards. I have doubts any Afghanis/Taliban would have even mentioned the dead then.

And you know this how? What makes you think Obama will throw him under the bus? I hope Obama comes out publicly and say he is guilty. That gives the defense of "Command influence." I'm sure some veterans here can/will correct me if I am wrong. And to all veterans, and serving, THANK YOU.

justredd

If this guy is under the bus he crawled there all by himself. How in your irrational mind do you believe that President Obama can gain any advantage from the acts of this disgusting individual?

How biased and hateful must you be to suggest that the President will influence the judicial process in a war crimes case to gain political advantage? Maybe your tin foil hat is a little too tight today.

You bet'um

Naw, Obama will let the military handle this. But, I do believe that there are those that will try to use this as a political ploy.

Can anyone guess, who?

He will be a poltical football and whoever said obama should call him guilty....obama is not on the court marshall jury...obviously you nothing of military and military justicee. he deserves a fair trial same as citizens deserve no matter what you or anything else personally thinks, it not up to idiots like you ...thank God.

They are doing what is being done in any case in which someone is accused of murder. In this country we have an open court system that, with a handful of specifically delineated exceptions, conducts trials in public. Can you think of any other case in which we never even learned the defendant's name?

Read up on Constitutional law and the history behind it, and then you'll understand why.

chellga

His "whereabouts"? Are you serious? His whereabouts for about the next forever will be prison. His identity will be a number. Are you worried someone will assault him? He will be protected by prison guards.

I hope you get a Malaria attack so you can get the check @!$%#!

Arnold if you could even spell you still wouldn't make sense. Cry baby you have no idea. I'm sure you are the type that doesn't even do their own --- well you fill in the blank.

Arnold , if you finished school and knew how to spell and knew what you were talking about it might make sense , but oh well takes all kinds to make the world go around.

Still better,Jose, how about Arnold plays with an Armadillo and gets Hansons disease , and see how to handle that.

@Arnold, you're so screwed up NOT EVEN THE MILITARY WOULD TAKE YOU (and they'll take anybody these days).

I hope that wig of yours spontaneously combust into flames for claiming you know anything about military bravado and what we endure over there and then say he's doing it for money? Keep living in that paint huffing world of yours you coward! And because your opinion was so colourful I nominate you for IDIOT of the Day Award

arnold , please do the world a favor and do not breed.

Arnold, you're a loser! And a coward. You haven't got a clue. You couldn't hold this guys jock strap. You don't know what he's been through. You know nothing about him, his family or his military. Pack you crap and leave. Stupid SOB's like you shouldn't be allowed to even speak. Look at your picture. You should get your ass kicked for looking that effing stupid. What a piece of crap.

Listen Dude you can't spell worth a crap.

In your defense Arnold, you're not the worst speller/ranter I've seen posting on some of these articles on MSN. These people are brutal.

Arnold, we need to bring back the draft so you can experience what he has. Then you could have an educated opinion. He did 3 tours in Iraq and now in Afghanistan. You did how many? We need to adopt a no excuses draft (Economic, Religion, Race, Sex, Movie & TV stars, athletes, College students etc.) If we all shared in the pain of war equally, maybe we wouldn't have as many and when we did we would be united to its outcome. I am not excusing this man's actions, but if there was a draft he and others like him would not need to bear the burdens you are unwilling to. A no excuses draft would = No Iraq war and Afghanistan would have been over a long time ago. And maybe these type of terrible things wouldn't happen.

A lame and uninformed comment there Arnie boy. Veterans jailed or imprisoned for more than 2 months LOSE any disability payments. He won't be in prison living it up on the taxpayer's dime, guaranteed. To think he did this crime thinking he would get a "pass" on it by the military or the government shows me that you are living in a dream world of your own design. It has been a while since I have read something as utterly stupid as what you've written here.

Also, when people enlist in the military, it is for a set amount of time, 2-6 years. You don't just get to hand in your 2 week notice and hop a plane for home. Most teenagers know that fact. This soldier was on his 4th combat tour, 4th! For you to accuse him of going through all of that for a disability rating is flat out dumb. There is no guarantee of a disability rating for PTSD no matter how long you spend in combat. The person has to show the symptoms of PTSD and undergo counseling, maybe take meds. A disability ratings board will look at the soldier's records to see what trauma caused the PTSD, how severely it is affecting him/her, and if it will affect further employment. There is also the reverse, where soldiers can get non-combat PTSD. Again, they are not just given a diagnosis of PTSD and handed checks but undergo the same process.

Before you just start spouting your insulting ignorance against this Soldier and Veterans in general, check to make sure you're not just jabbering uninformed crap out of your a-hole.

There is something terribly wrong with me. I have searched my heeart and find that I do not care about Afghanistan-Pakistan-Ubekistan-or any of the other "stans"- I do not care about Iraq or Iran or yemen or UAE of Eygpt or Libya or Syria. I only wish we could pull all of our troops out of every country in the world and bring them home to defend our shores and secure our borders. I care about this soldier and his family and his extended family. I do not think he is any more "lunatic" than the man who is currently running this country. I do not care about the Democratic party or the Republican party. I do care about America- the America that is not a democracy but rather a Republic - that was set up under the Rule OF Law but has now allowed its substance to be squandered by several 4th arms of government that that were never underwritten by our Constitution and that thinks it is somehow incumbent upon them to regulate how much water we use when we flush. IE: The EPA, The health and human Services Dept. - The Commerce dept- The Dept of Energy- The department of Education- Good Grief is there no end. I long for the day when the media dries up - when the liberal progressives finally run out of other people's money and find they only have themselves to blame for spending all our hard earned money supporting liberal feel good causes- trying to save the world- and making lives miserable for everyone else who is simply trying to make their way in life. Whydoncha all just go away and dry up and let the rest of us who don't give a rat's katootie live our lives.

I am in complete agreement and support of Sgt. Bales. He only did his duty. I ask where were the fathers and husbands of these people? Were they out planting i.e.d's or establishing ambush sites? According to the manner in which these women are treated by Afghani males I do think that Sgt. Bales did them a favor and allowed them passage to allah. In the war between Iran and Iraq I remember both sides using children to go forward, ahead of the troops to hopefully step on a mine and suffer the consequences. How would you like to go to war against an enemy who wears towels on his head and bedsheets wrapped around his body, you never know which one carries an AK-47 under his clothing. Shoot them all and send them to moslem heaven! They are pitifully uncivilized, uneducated and a little short of being an animal! Bring the brave troops ie Sgt Bales back to American and give them all a heroes welcome! Have you ever visited the Vietnam memorial and looked at the 60,000 names of American boys and men who gave their life to stave off a conquest of the corrupt South by the North Vietnamese. Come on Home Men. You are all heroes to me (enlisted women also) nick chorey, Hermiston, Oregon

Maybe they brought him home to get to the truth of this whole mess.

ever hear of innocent until proven guilty or maybe you would like to just go ahead execute him right now.

He's already admitted that he did it.

I remember reading somewhere that he didn't remember everything. He may have done it, but I find it hard to believe he acted alone.

Amazing, somebody violently kills 16 people, including nine woman and children. Then so many actually try to downplay it and rationalize reasons why it happened. Did you same people feel this way when the Muszzie army major shot up the deployment center a year or two ago? He only killed soldiers, no woman and children, and most then posted ALL Muslims needed shot, deported, sent to gitmo, etc. etc......nuked, whatever.

But, because this guy is a US soldier, compassion should be shown by all? No wonder other nationalities hate us at times. Kinda like saying "oh well, he didn't kill Americans so how bad can it be? If an American GI shot up 16 civilians including 9 children in downtown Paducah KY would you all be so understanding...........

j burk,

The same kind of thing happened after Vietnam. Where do you think the term "going postal" came from? What did Americans do? They finally invested a few dollars into caring for Veterans at VA hospitals, researched PTSD and came out with an organized way to deal with it. They improved or built new VA hospitals so Vets weren't going into filthy, run-down buildings for treatment by overworked docs & nurses with sub-par resources. So this is nothing new.

By the Way, People were calling for Hassan's head because his attack at the deployment center was an ACT OF TREASON, not a mental disturbance due to excessive repeated combat tours. See any difference between the two now?

Jburk, that Maj. that shot up 'soldiers' killed one that was pregant.

adn you know he is guilty...???

If, as reported, he came back to the base and told everyone what he had done; and, they then went and found the bodies where he said they would be, I'd say there is a strong liklihood he is guilty.

I agree, whether we hear anymore about this or not, there is more to this than one solitary soldier.

aj - between us and the Russians, Afghanistan has been at war for 30 years. Do you really think everyone is going to wake up and investigate gunfire? Why would soliders leave their base in the middle of the night to investigate gunfire NOT directed at them or their base? Wake up.

I think the villagers would wake up and investigate, and I hate to think that our military would not.

You mean investigate like they investigated Pat Tillman's death?? Bahahahahahaaaaaa

"I think the villagers would wake up and investigate,"

gunfire in the middle of the night and yu are going to run towards it? dumb, dumb, dumb

No, not really, not if you were in fear of your and your family's lives. Were none of them armed? There were no weapons at all in the village?

That's right, blame the villagers. Especially the children since they didn't act quick enough and grab their weapons. I swear....just fricking unbelievable how some try to rationalize the irrational.

Machine gun fire in the middle of the night in a country we have invaded and essentially occupy. Would you come running out of your house???????

Only if you were a total idiot with a strong death wish.

I blame the military for this they keep sending them back after they have been hurt. The care they get for PTSD is a joke ! They make you feel like @!$%# if you do ask for help. I have been to many hospitals with my son and they look down on him or blow him off.

'gun fire in the middle of the night...' Wow. If you haven't been in a real war zone there is no way to make you understand, ever. When I served at Camp Slayer, Baghdad (03-04) There was machine gun fire directed at us EVERY night for the year I was there. You could see the red tracers of the bullets at night. Survivors there run away from gun fire, they don't go to stop it.

My unit sent a soldier with us even though, before we left the country, she tried to commit suicide (I found and stopped her and reported it). She, completely emotionally and mentally unstable, commanders knew, still was shipped out with us, given a weapon and lots of bullets. Why? They needed the numbers so the medical doc.s were told to hush it up by the commanders.

And it was awesome when my co. commander hid under his bed after the first mortar attack instead of get accountability for the soldiers he was responsible for or even help should they be wonded. He found a way to get out of country and left us there. That is a coward, not this soldier.

I totally understand how this could happen, why he would do it and that he never should have been there. What he did was wrong, yes. Who were the people that medically cleared him for deployment?

For all the bloodthristy civilians... he is in a living hell. It may be more humane to put him to death than let him live with this, ptsd is a living hell, that's why so many commit suicide. He'll probably try too. He is already lost to his family, and society. His sacrifice, bravery, blood, sweat and tears don't count now.

How does everyone say 'innocent' family were killed? Maybe non-combatants, but not innocent. Did these families aid the enemy, over and over? Likely. 'Women and children' aid the enemy too. Did they deserve what he did? No. Can i see, after three combat deployments to Iraq, why he would do this? Absolutely.

Have i seen a child place a roadside bomb? Yes. They also bring presents like grenades and bullets for you. And for the way they treat women (and i'm female) death is so much better than their horrible lifetimes of severe abuse. I feel sorry for the little ones, but their futures were doomed to be unbearable.

AJgorm - I agree with you. Something isn't right here. We will certainly hear more about it, I'm sure!

If he had a brain injury then he should not have been sent back. He probably wasn't mentally well. Add to that post traumatic stress and the guy went nuts probably. I don't think we should be over there anyway, those people are crazy and nothing we do to help will change the way they are ever. We should never have been over there in the first place. War never solves a damn thing. I'm not saying we should not protect ourselves if they come on our soil to hurt us but otherwise, leave the frickin crazy idiots to solve their own damn problems. IMO a lot of it is about oil they have that we want. All politics.

Do as we say, not as we do. Hypocrisy of the highest order.

Hate us Lalo? You from a 3d world location? Sure sounds like it.

Jose:

I'm from a 3rd world location--New Jersey. America's arrogance and hubris is coming back to bite us in the ass.

Lol and a state run by a 3rd world dictator.

New Jersey, very funny!!!!

Isn't Jersey voting this weekend? oops, I mean Peurto Rico.

Juans just mad because we deported his @-- for sneaking across the border again. talk about a turd that wont flush. Keep flippin burgers in mexico!

Lalo-Juan- "his army"?

If you're an American, living in America, then it's YOUR Army too, dumb-ass.

It IS tragic that innocent people are killed or injured everyday during war. It is also tragic that so many of our sons and daughters are killed while defending your right to be a hypocritical @!$%#head.

Where is your compassion for the returning vets that are permanently disabled or that commit suicide every stinking day? Where is your outrage at the thousands of innocent American soldiers that have been killed or wounded while trying to defend the innocents? How much have you helped our wounded warriors lately? Ever???

I do agree that we should not be over there. These tribes have been killing each other for thousands of years and will continue long after the coalition forces pull out.

Well said Boromir! When I first read the story I was horrified at what happened, I still am. I do however feel that what this soldier has been through should be taken into account. No, not all soldiers that go to war do this but do we all behave the same? No, each person's brain handles things differently. Apparently his brain was injured so he will think differently than say someone whose brain has not. Yes this man has destroyed lives. The lives of the families of the dead women and children, the lives of his wife and children, his family members and his own. People need to remember this man joined the Army after 9/11 to protect and fight for this country. Those of us that have never been to war cannot imagine what it would be like; the fear, the lonelines, the fatigue, missing family and the horror of death around you. Do not compare this man to Ted Bundy, his life was not as horrible as what this man has had to endure.

Before we can condemn, we need to walk in another man's shoe's. We may think we could never commit such a heinous act but if you would have asked him 12 yrs ago he probably could not imagine that he would ever commit it.

how can you even compare this to what the Nazis did?? are you out of your friggin mind?? And for all you Psychiatry majors out there, PTSD is a very real and very dangerous mental disorder. Add 4 tours in a war zone with a traumatic brain injury, something bad is gonna happen. I hope he gets the help he needs, and he needs alot. DUE PROCESSn anyone ever hear of it??? What happened was tragic, but you know what, it wont be the last incident over there, bring them all home. And for all those not supporting our military, IF YOU WONT STAND BEHIND THEM, FEEL FREE TO STAND IN FRONT OF THEM

It's remarkable, really, how over and over again respondents to this story maintain that revealing the accused soldier's name is going to unleash upon his family a scourge. "They will be hounded into the ground by the press. They are the true victims!" Of course, that is absurd. If these posters had read the story, they would be aware that the Army has relocated the family onto the base and that the press therefore has no access to them, whatsoever. All those comments are totally irrelevant.

A turd that won't flush!! L M F A O ! ! ! Good one cav!!

I think just snapped. He should have been allowed to come
home after 3 deployments. Why don’t some of those unemployed occupy movement
people join the service so that our guys can have a break? I will tell you why, because they are gutless.
It is easier for them to set back on their butts and act as if they are a victim
tearing down this country instead being proactive and taking care of
themselves. If you cannot find a job then move to where companies are hiring, it’s
funny because where I live the temp agencies are looking for people to work all
the time.

Lalo-Juan I hope your not a U.S. Citizen. I hate to think of someone like you enjoying the freedoms we enjoy hear in the U.S.