four tours of duty in that hell hole, wounded twice, lost friends in fire fights, away from home for over 5 years, financial problems, ; what he did is criminal, however he will spend the rest of his life in prison and mental institutions.

As a person who is classified as mentally ill, I still accept accountability and responsibility for my actions and choices regardless of my mental state at the time I make those choices.

Regardless of mental state if I was to murder someone, they would still be very much dead. The very act of murder can not be consider an act that person who is sane would commit. Insanity should not absolve guilt, rather it should be used in determining sentencing only.

Premeditation vs impulse vs passion, should likewise not change the determination of whether murder has been committed.

While a person who has committed murder maybe a victim of mental illness, the person is the perpetrator in the murder, and those who have been murdered are the victims.

Nahzuul

Stress or hardship never has and never should be any excuse for murder. That someone can murder 17 people and then start to portray themselves as the victim is astonishing to me.

One has to be a 4 tour combat veteran to have a inkling of understanding what war does to the human physic.

So Nahzuul your weak speculation is just that speculation.

The same clowns that whine about people pleading insanity and making excuses for their crimes over here are now making excuses and pleading insanity for a terrorist. What an ethically bankrupt cesspool of a country the USA has become.

It's his attorneys who will attempt to portray him as a victim. And heinous as that is, it's their job.

Abyssoft,

"As a person who is classified as mentally ill, I still accept accountability and responsibility for my actions and choices regardless of my mental state at the time I make those choices."

Are you saying that you have been classified as mentally ill or are you proposing a hypothetical situation? I'm just trying to get this straight. Your post reads like you are saying you have been classified as mentally ill.

Nazhuul I just love you people who step in it! It's so easy for Monday morning arm chair quarter backs to BLAB!Tell me do you do this as a hobby or just because?

Oh and by the way this Whack Job isn't portraying himself as a victim.He came right out and said it, the day they took him in. I believe it was, I DID IT!

Milo-2

Nahzuul

Stress or hardship never has and never should be any excuse for murder. That someone can murder 17 people and then start to portray themselves as the victim is astonishing to me.

One has to be a 4 tour combat veteran to have a inkling of understanding what war does to the human physic.

So Nahzuul your weak speculation is just that speculation.

And Milo-2 yours is speculations as well. Otherwise everyone who did 3 or 4 "tours" of US military occupation of foreign countries would murder civilians as the pension swindler and child killer Bales. You are defending savagery.

One has to be a 4 tour combat veteran to have a inkling of understanding what war does to the human physic.

Just as you have to grow up and live in a ghetto to have an inkling of understanding what growing up and living in a ghetto does to the human "physic". Yet even Milo-2 would likely say that growing up and living in a ghetto does not excuse anyone from committing a crime................

Devil , how do you call Major Assam , the Fort Hood massacrer, because Obama call it man made disaster.

Why are they so intent on trying him so quickly, when the "Idiot" that shot up Ft. Hood has still not been tried.

More BS from Uncle Sam I go to the VA all the time they turn away vets with PTSD and that's B$$

oskar-1391552--Bales makes Assam look like a Boy Scout--Assam didn't target or kill effing CHILDREN.

I'm really surprised it doesn't happen more often, considering how many "similar stories" can be gleaned from civilians here in the US, who haven't even seen combat, endured those stresses, lost friends, etc...add to that, the fact that everything the have fought for, and sacrificed for is about to be flushed down the toilet for better poll numbers

It makes no difference how many he killed..he will not be executed..his attorneys will plea an insanity case..place in a federal military hospital for life. Case closed!

I disagree, unless you have ever experienced that stress you will never understand the issue

No one can ever truly understand what another human has been through, can we please stop trying to justify the murder of innocent children? If this guy had murdered your friends and family you'd be singing a different tune.

however he will spend the rest of his life in prison and mental institutions.

Most likely in a cracker factory in a rural state in the middle of nowhere. Weaving pretty baskets. Heck, they may even have a few shipped over to Afghanistan. To hold the opium poppies.

That be Arizona then..Hotticket.

Joining McCain and Brewer.

Joining McCain and Brewer.

Lolz!

Let us not forget the CHILDREN, that have been human bombs and blown up our young men, nobody over there is innocent, I wouldn't trust any other them, but when do we get to the Ft. Hood shooter, he should be dead by now. I like what Robin Williams said, bring ALL our soldiers back to the USA, send all illegals, muslims, anybody who's country is against the US,back to their country, and say, we will take care of our land, you take care of yours.

Are we all convinced that the official story is accurate?

The Afghan Army Chief of Staff says the slaughter of 16 civilians, including nine children, in Kandahar province was a premeditated assassination carried out by a number of servicemen, RIA Novosti reports, citing Afghan media.

Lt. General Sher Mohammad Karimi’s harsh condemnation of the March 11 mass murder flies in the face the version of events posited by the NATO-led security mission.

http://www.rt.com/news/kandahar-massacre-counterinsurgency-operation-805/

Why haven't we heard about this in major US media (except incidentally in very early reports)? It sounds like news to me, and I'd like to think we are investigating the possibility.

And if you don't think our military misconstrues the facts (whether intentionally or not), remember this incident from about a year ago?

Military officials later suggested that the women — who among them had 16 children — had all been stabbed to death or had died by other means before the raid, implying that their own relatives may have killed them.

But the military later said the men were innocent civilians shot after they went outside, armed, to investigate the presence of the forces conducting the raid. Then on Sunday night they admitted that the women were also killed during the raid.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/asia/06afghan.html?_r=1&hp

It seems likely that Bales was involved in this incident, and he must be punished, but it is equally important that we hear the whole story here.

Mr. Gates -

I don't think you know about PTSD or related combat either.

My heart grieves at the loss of so many innocent lives in this horrific murder, can we bear any more losses if the Afghans seek revenge? Isn't life precious any more? Ask the families who get left behind to mourn.

I feel so sorry for the wife and children of the soldier, having to live with dark thoughts and nightmares for the rest of their lives. The military must undertake complete psychological testing of the soldier to mitigate his actions, at least for his family's sake.

Full investigation is also required to learn if the soldier himself is also a "victim" of the incessant greed of the huge military industrial complex, Big Oil, Big Money, marauding warmongers - all possible perpetrators of this evil deed. Was this part of the right wing conspiracy during election year to disrupt the President's efforts for a face saving withdrawal from the arena to bring the troops home?

Was money offered to the soldier in offshore accounts with promises of best legal defense in case of court martial proceedings? Are recent misdemeanors like urinating on corpses and burning of holy books part of the strategy? Just askin'.

This brings me back to my first paragraph, check with our gallant troops' families and pray tell how many more precious lives we can afford to lose now that the reprisals have begun. Cheney? Koch? Limbaugh? Fox? Anyone?

I never cease to be amazed at how quick people here are to condemn or proclaim innocence. We have a justice system for a reason. It's typically frowned upon to wrongfully execute someone. Until he is found to have been mentally competent, it would behoove us all to refrain from wishing harm on him. Innocent until proven guilty was our standard last time I checked. Unless we have someone here who is both a psychiatric professional as well as in possession of all the facts surrounding the case, it would be wise to rein in the passionate arguments.

For the record, if he is found to have been mentally fit, I have no reservations toward handing him over to the Afghan government for trial and sentencing.

Harold Gates (#1.1) and Milo-2 (#1.4): Understanding something and condoning it are two different things. Regardless of the reasons, there are still consequences. Everyone always has a reason, but that does not make atrocious actions justifiable because of circumstance.

Nahzuul,

Nice moral high ground. I assume you've never seen a colleague have his leg blown off by an IED.

Hatred is a poison that can cause insanity and make us lose our humanity. Perhaps if we were not so hated by Islamofascists Americans wouldn't be in Afghanistan in the first place. Perhaps if they had submitted to a new Authority after losing every battle we would be helping them rather than fighting them.

If the civilians didn't give refuge to the insurgents, then a soldier would not have lost his leg, and Seargent Bales would not have snapped and killed 17 innocents. We send troops over and expect them to play by strict rules. The Taliban laugh and play by no rules. In fact the Taliban use the restraint to attack civilians as a tactic to fire from civilian proximity.

We are dealing with diseased minds. Why are we putting our service men in a security war where they are left as target practice for the Taliban.

Nahzuul, how hypocritical of you to condemn the act of murder of Seargent Bales, but say nothing of the insurgent attack that mortaly wounded his companion. Are we inured to the sight of body bags coming home?

A guy who calls himself The Devil is complaining about ethics in America, now thats funny.

Then there is always the issue of other service people who have served in more tours than Mr. Bales, lost more friends and countrymen; who are just as emotionally destroyed who didn't kill 17 people needlessly.

Its difficult to stomach no matter who you are or where you come from.

Joe Morgan: I believe Ron Paul has said that a million times.

It really is a @!$%#ty situation, but a person has to accept responsibility -- he is a soldier in an unfair and unwanted position -- but there is nothing that can be said or done to change the past. Be proud of who you are and accept responsibility. ;-(

Some of you are right, he should not be tried in America. Turn the murderer over to the country where he killed the citizens.

He did not snap. He plan, thought and carried out his thoughts. If he had snapped the soldiers sleeping near him would be dead. Bates is not a poster child of decency anyway. Take a look at his background. Yes I am sorry for his children, but not as sorry as I am for the family of the nine children this murderer killed. If he did this in the United States, we would be asking for his head.

Nahzuul: Do they apply uniformly all over the world or apply selectively to poor soldiers, huge unemployed and those shattered by the economic mess invented by the rich Sunni bigoted greedy Saudi beasts, oil companies and their lobbyists?

When Saddam ran over Kuwait and was on the head of Saudi Arabia in 1991, why did the Sunni Kuwaiti, Saudis, UAE and other ruling despotic and corrupt beasts act as if they were the victims?

Why did they not battle themselves instead of involving the US and NATO forces?

Why are the very Sunni bigoted seventh century mindset beasts involving US and NATO forces in Syria and Iran?

In Bahrain, the same gang sent their forces to crush Shiites liberation battles.

In these actions, there are no rules and sanity.

When it comes to poor soldiers and others you people jump up with all "innocent children and women", "human rights manuals", "laws of engagements", "democratic rights", "secularism" and so on.

Let the UCMJ decide his state of mind and outcome, otherwise it'a all speculation and assumptions.

There are striking parallels developing between this case and the Mi Lai massacre presided over by Lt. Calley.

1) Calley was immediately whisked out of Vietnam to Leavenworth. This prevented him from being tried in a Vietnamese court. All host country agreements, including Vietnam and Afghanistan, contain language that agrees that in purely civilian incidents such as these, that the host country has the right to try the person under their existing law. This will never happen. The US military will never allow it. Period.

2) There was a huge coverup at MACV of those who thought that Calley was a ticking timb bomb just as there appears to be a coverup of a lot of incidents in Bates' past that should have disqualified him from service. While Calley was just a military nerd, Bates was a convicted felon and fugitive from justice hiding behind the Relief Act.

3) There were an estimated 504 unarmed civilians killed at Mi Lai, but MACV refused to collect forensic evidence or even take an accurate body count. This made it impossible to effectively pursue murder charges. In Afghanistan the military did not collect forensic evidence and kept the Afghan police from doing so. The US military encouraged the rapid burial of the victims and has already "lost" key tapes from a surveillance blimp.

4) The people in the Mi Lai Massacre who were third-party observers (a helicopter crew) and later guilt-ridden soldiers who were "whistle blowers" were either "criminalized" by giving them a phoney DFC (acceptance of which is a felony) or ended their military careers. The military career of then-Major Colin Powell was kickstarted not by his performance as an infrantry officer, but as the official whitewasher of the event. Powell was just as guilty of misconduct as any person who shot a baby.

5) In the end, Calley and 25 other soldiers were accused of premeditated murder of 20 civilians. This was reduced to 14 officers and charges against the others dropped without even a hearing. There was a serious attempt to blame the whole thing on four officers who had been subsequently killed in other actions. This failed miserably. The brigade commander was the only officer other than Calley who came to trial (for his part in the coverup) but was acquitted.

6) Calley was sentenced to life at hard labor for the crimes. Because he was an officer, his rank and pay was reduced to SSgt. He never went to prison, but instead "served his time" under "house arrest" in a BOQ 3-room suite with complete freedon of association and movement within the base (Ft. Benning.) The military even allowed him to keep (paid for by the military) his O-Club membership. He served 3 1/2 years of house arrest and then was quietly released.

If the military has its way, only Bates will ever be charged with anything and he will not be punished with any severity. In fact, his past incidents with the law will probably have more influence on his trial and sentence than the actual killings and woundings. If the military perceived Bates as an embarrassment, he is toast. But if the military decides that there were "warning signs" that were disregarded by Bates' chain of command, it will be whitewashed.

My personal guess is that Bates will be convicted of some lesser charge based on a lack of forensic evidence of the killings themselves and defense claims of PTSD and alcohol abuse as mitigating factors.

Chris: Aside from the obvious PTSD excuse, I wouldn't be at all surprised if part of the defense will be in claiming alcohol as a mitigating factor, since alcohol has been involved in his past offenses and his extreme violence as a result of consuming it appears to be a recurring condition.

It's a volunteer military, quit whining! The excuse of "Unless you have <fill in the blank> then you can't judge". We all have had a traumatic incidence in our lives, traumatic to US not to everyone else and we deal with them without shooting a fly so shut up with the defense.

Hello folks, the more information that comes out the more suspect I am of the entire story. The media is in full on demonizing mode of this guy. Afghan villagers where the murders took place and President Karzai are saying that more than one soldier was involved. They are saying it was a dozen to twenty soldiers. I don't know what the real truth is. What I do know is that we were lied to about the Jessica Lynch rescue and the Pat Tillman killing. It probably will be some time before the entire story comes out but I hope it will be the truth.

may he someday find peace

Yeah, may he rest in peace if they find him guilty.

You're sorry his "behavior"? Lol. His behavior? He wasn't drunk at the corner bar. He did run down the beach nude offending old people. He MURDERED 17 people. And don't make excuses for him. He's MURDERER. By talking about PTSD, you minimize the deaths of those 17 people.

If he had not joined the military to avoid paying 1.5 million for being a crooked trader, he would never have had this problem..

Pure nonsense. I bet you believe in ADD as well for children. Make excuses for everyone, that way nobody has to think about right and wrong...it's not his fault he murdered those families, let's coddle him!

People on here act like he was forced into this life. He wasn't drafted. He chose to join the military and later to make a career of it. He alone is responsible for having to go on 4 deployments.

No amount of horrible experiences makes it OK to murder people like that.

Swan37

may he someday find peace

Yeah, may he rest in peace if they find him guilty.

You hopefully will rest in peace first.

Whether the guy "snapped" or suffered from PTSD, he still must pay for the murders of 17 people. But understanding why he did it may help prevent another tragedy somewhere down the road. Wanting to understand his motivation isn't the same thing as coddling him or making excuses.

Civies.. Some people have no deep understanding and thought about what being in a war-zone will do to another human. Living in that hell hole for 4 tours, constantly at ready, losing friends, missing family, shooting real bullets at real terrorists. I can guarantee that changed him mentally. The murder of those 17 people is tragically sad. If the shoe were on the other foot i would be pissed as well. Beyone pissed.

But please understand this individual apparently does not think like those of us do anymore. Until you've LIVED on high alert for a year and a half stretch at a time, had to return fire or worse to another human being day in and day out and picked up the pieces of your friends off the side of the road do not judge him. Do not say you understand anything about him. Do not say he cannot claim insanity. You DONT have any idea.

This is not an excuse, its the truth.

Milo-2 you are an urban savage by posting such vitriol. No doubt about it.

So why is a soldier allowed to "snap" -- but a teen-age victim of bullying is not?

I have severe PTSD and I will have this disorder for the rest of my life. I know a lot about this disorder and I know facts about it. With PTSD violent flare ups can occur but they don't last very long, a few minutes lets say at most. But with PTSD inflicted individuals who are also sociopathic, they build up grudges to the the point that can become psychopathic behaving. I suspect that this sergeant was a sociopath and he snapped alright meaning he went on a psychopathic killing spree.

Sorry, not to get too picky about your statements. However, a sociopath and a psychopath are 2 totally different diagnoses. You don't start as one and become another. Either you are one or the other, and yes, they are mutually exclusive. Also, not knowing anything about the person, you do not really have any room to diagnose him as either a sociopath or a psychopath. Because someone acts in a violent manner does not make them a psychopath. Both terms are much too freely used in violent crimes. They are also interchanged quite frequently and incorrectly. One does not snap and become a psychopath or sociopath, they already are one, they just haven't acted on it yet. Also, the insanity plea is not used nearly as much as people think or see on TV. It is WAY too hard to prove. (Yes I do know a little about this, my wife is an attorney.)

Let me also say, I in no way, shape or form, condone the behavior of this man. It was completely uncalled for. However, I do agree, there is a tremendous amount of outrage about this man and not nearly enough about Hassan. Talk about a double-standard. I would like to see the same outcome for Hassan as there is with this soldier.

Stereotyping all soldiers as underpaid Hitmen is a complete farce as well. While some are power hungry, not all of them fall into that category. And it's rather ironic that the very people who complain about being stereotyped are the very ones who are so quick to jump on the stereotyping bandwagon. Just be glad we live in a country where we are actually free to speak our minds without being punished for it. Those very soldiers you are complaining about are the ones who protect that freedom and allow the ignorant to freely speak their minds.

Civies.. Some people have no deep understanding and thought about what being in a war-zone will do to another human. Living in that hell hole for 4 tours, constantly at ready, losing friends, missing family, shooting real bullets at real terrorists. I can guarantee that changed him mentally. The murder of those 17 people is tragically sad. If the shoe were on the other foot i would be pissed as well. Beyone pissed.

But please understand this individual apparently does not think like those of us do anymore. Until you've LIVED on high alert for a year and a half stretch at a time, had to return fire or worse to another human being day in and day out and picked up the pieces of your friends off the side of the road do not judge him. Do not say you understand anything about him. Do not say he cannot claim insanity. You DONT have any idea.

This is not an excuse, its the truth.

I don't understand what Jeffry Dahmer has been through, in fact I don't understand what any murderer has been through. That doesn't excuse his crime in any way, and it doesn't change the fact that what he did was evil. Sure it might be a "reason," but even to call it such justifies it. A good person who goes through hell will not take it out on others.

plb618 -

"A good person who goes through hell will not take it out on others." While faced with rare situations on rare occasions i agree with you. In comparison, the folks who don't have to use make such extreme choices on sometimes a minute by minute basis for years on end.

Sometimes even the good people who go through hell end up staying in hell and act as such.

If a standard individual had killed 17 people here at home i would indeed be calling him a homicidal maniac, i would struggle to find reasoning behind why he/she would do such a thing. Since a soldier with such a history as his killed 17 people i will call him a homicidal maniac as well, only i do not struggle to understand why, i already know.

I'm not implying he should be "off the hook" for his actions, i'm just trying to get the word out there of why he was capable of such atrocities.

Why have we been fighting dirty wars for seventh century desert mindset Sunni Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other worst mad rulers world has ever seen?

Are our leaders so cheap that they are solely guided by the Saudis, oil companies and their cronies and the monies they flash and throw around

Generals are equally dumb not to oppose the 2003 Iraqi war while Afghanistan has not been consolidated.

These generals don't know how to deploy soldiers to war zones either!

To send Sgt Bales from one mad war zone to another one continuously can be done only by video games playing Gens.

How on earth these Gens can do war games on Iran and Syria even after sinking from head to toe in Afghanistan and Iraq?

I fully support the Sgt Bales. I would have done equally bad or worse in his conditions!

Totally agree!!

Bah

Exactly! Oh, let's all blindly support our troops no matter what...this happens far too often, you get these tough guys who hate anyone who looks different from them, and join the military to prove how badass they are, not to be honorable. And the majority of America backs them up because they're taught to support the troops without thinking. Typical.

I agree too. "Soldiers" are nothing but hit men hired by the state and trained to kill. They are called "heroes" to encourage other naive young men to join and engage in carnage. Defending us at home from enemies in Vietnam, Iraq and Vietnam? Baloney. It's all about colonialism and empire!

Shandril

When a child is bullied to the point of snapping, we call him a monster. When a grown man enlists in the military so he can kill people for under $20,000 per year, we call him a hero, and then we coddle him with sympathy because he was "traumatized" by the consequences of his own choices. Oh, the double standards!

Another Yahoo that has never served in Combat.

I take it none of you have ever "served" in an all volunteer military. Walk a mile in their shoes and then talk. I am not saying what he did was right because I don't think it was at all but there are other factors involved here a lot of which we do not know. It's amazing how none of you are crying out for the two soldiers sitting at their desks working FOR the Afghanistan people to better the lives of that nation who were murdered in cold blood. Where's the apology and outcry for that? Where is the justice for them or did you so soon forget? Soldiers are not "hit men" as you say. Most of them train to do battle because, let's face it, our nation needs to be protected and somebody has to do it. Most of what the soldiers do in areas like that are protect the people and do a lot of good for the countries in which we are working with. Did you forget that? We see less than 1% of our country's people step up to do it and when they do they are called warmongers and all kinds of other things that are tasteless and have no value. They are heroes because do amazing things day in and day out and never want credit for it. But then again they do it so you can say and do whatever you like in the freedoms you so easily get to enjoy!

@whysolate - I will never walk a mile in the shoes of a murderer. Your entire post is negated by the fact that you are trying to defend a murderer. You say there are a lot of other factors. Well, there were a lot 'other factors' to the Van Der Sloot trial, but you know...he's still a murderer. There were a lot of 'other factors' involved in the trials of many murderers. They are still murderers. They still killed innocent people.

What makes this worse, is that this guy was an American troop who was there to help our country, and to protect theirs. To protect the lives of not only our citizens, but of the citizens there as well. But he murdered them. In cold blood. How is that justifiable? How are there 'other factors', when the fact remains that he killed 17 individual people. It wasn't just, 1, or 2. It was 17 people!

Milo-2, when was the last time you had to suck up being bullied every day? Why do you make excuses for a guy who deliberately went AWOL and killed 16 innocent people?

The Quacked One

This is an interesting question you make. You have 100,000 Soldiers in a country with a population of 30 million, and are told to not cause international incidents. What makes you assume it is not our soldiers being bullied, by both our government and the Afghani's? Just because our soldiers are holding guns does not mean everyone else isn't, or that they are allowed to use them.

After the Quran burnings, a couple of soldiers were on the vine stating that rules of engagement came down from the top that kept our men from defending themselves against the attacks that ensued. If that is true, I would make the case that they were being bullied from both sides.

Another Yahoo that has never served in Combat.

Guess what Milo. Having been through combat does not give you a free pass to murder innocents. Shouldn't be a difficult concept.

@Ron - Your ignorance is amazing. Our military is hit men hired to kill? Tell that to the vets that gave their lives in WWII for your freedom and your ability to have that ludicrous opinion. Obviously you've never served or had a family member that has sacrificed so much to serve.

What this soldier did is inexcusable. There are surely psychological reasons related to what he did, but that doesn't change the fact of murder. But when you start generalizing because of one mans mistakes, you make yourself a fool. If it weren't for the volunteers that step up and swear an oath to defend this country, your ass would be the one downrange in Afghanistan right now toting a rucksack in the middle of the desert. Maybe then you'd wake up from your sugarcoated world and realize the true price of freedom.

@Michael - maybe you ought to read the comment and understand it a little better. I said to walk in "their" shoes which indicates those in the military not in the shoes of a murderer. I did not say his shoes. I also said I did not condone Bales' actions nor did I say he didn't do it. He will get tried and convicted for his actions. It does not negate the fact that our military personnel are under a lot of stress and being shot at to be killed themselves and unless you have actually walked in their shoes and gone through the things that they have gone through you will never know nor will you ever understand. Again most of you ignore the justice for our guys being killed in a murderous way. Where is the outcry for that injustice? You ought to read ChrisRM's post because it is pretty spot on!

I didn't need to be at Auschwitz to know killing 6 million jews was wrong.

I didn't need to be in the Old South to know lynching blacks was wrong.

I didn't need to be in Afghanistam to know slaughtering children in their beds was wrong.

Bales disgraced his country and uniform and put all his fellow soldiers in far greater jeopardy than they were in before.

I agree with you 100%. There is something really wrong with this picture! Acually Major Hassan disappeared from the news completely. Sgt. Bales needs to be protected and given psychological help!

Major Hassan goes to trial this June and he was declared mentally fit. There is close to 400,000 pages of documents the prosecution prepared for the case hence the long time period between the crime and the trial. There is nothing wrong with the picture.

@ Mike Kerr-374135

You must not have followed any of the stories after Major Hassan murdered his fellow soldiers. There were more people online calling for justice in that case. They are both mass murderers / terrorists and both deserving of justice.

We have to remember that the assassin at Ft. Hood was MUSLIM, it was his religious duty to kill the infidels! He will get off scotfree because of his religious beliefs, but the guy in the war zone can't plead a religious duty! He has been serving our country in many tours of duty in the war zone, many sane people could not tolerate witnessing their friends and fellow soldiers dying for some other countries problems! He does not need to be turned over to the terrorist who would just torture him and cut off his head as a public display. He needs to be treated for PTS first, then tried in a US military court.

There is one and only one difference in how the government has handled this case and that of Major Hasan: they didn't delay the release of Hasan's name to try to wipe as much information as possible about him from the internet. In every other respect, there is no difference whatsoever. Truthbeborn is absolutely correct.

He will get off scotfree because of his religious beliefs

Wow, what a stupid statement. Hasan won't get off "scotfree."

Granny, if Major Hassan had a "duty" to kill anyone because his religion -- he would have done it a lot sooner. Think about this: The Christian Bible says that all Christians have a "duty" to kill "infidels", too.

No it doesn't. What it does say is that you are not supposed to resist evil and that you are to turn the other cheek. The fact that Christians are perfectly capable of ignoring that shows how most Muslims can be capable of ignoring the nastier parts of their scriptures.

Mike, actually you are not getting the point. They are about to charge the Sgt. Charging him and having a trial are completely different matters, having a trial could be years off.....just like the Major. Just because the trial for the Major has not started yet does not mean he will get off. And just because they are charging the Sgt. now does not mean it might be years before his trial. Get it??

jb98degrees: Having been a drill sergeant for three years and currently still serving active duty, an E-1 makes 1491.00 a month. 99% of all the soldiers that came into the army an E-1 left the same, so I dont know what army your refering to. Housing is for only for those that are married. If they are single soldiers they live in the barracks and are not entitled to that additional pay. And your right..it is a volunteer army, so feel free to run your mouth on topics you know nothing about.

Finally, someone who has been serving actual spoke up. Thank you for your service and thank you for telling these people they have no say in what they don't know.

It still does not excuse murdering 16 people.

Did I say it did?

John Doe, you are full of BS if you say 99% of the people who came in to the army were E-1's and left as E-1's. How do you expect anyone to believe that?

In basic training, when they come in an E-1, they leave basic training as an E-1. That is what I was refering to. There are automatic promtion to E-2, and those occur ater they leave basic.

Have you ever served in a combat zone??

Nope, sure haven't! Are you trying to justify the actions of a murderer?

Then you couoldn't even begin to understand the issue!!

I AGREE COMPLETELY!!!!!!!

A ton of Taliban and al Qaeda members have lived their entire lives in a combat zone. Maybe we should try and understand their issues instead of attacking them after a terror attack?

@ Harold Gates

Whether he has server in a combat zone is irrelevant. One does not need to serve in the military to know right from wrong. It also doesn't make anyone more moral.

What Bales did was so horribly horrendous and out of character for what it means to be a real American service member. His actions have put the lives of other Americans at risk. Others Americans will die because of his actions and that is not acceptable.

Do you think that everyone that servers in a combat zone should get a free pass to do whatever they want for the rest of their lives?

"Have you ever served in a combat zone??"

Have you ever served at a death camp? No? Then I don't want to hear your opinion about the Nazis. You are in no position to judge.

Does that sound reasonable? No? Neither do you.

MichaelBGuitarist

He should be shipped back to Afghanistan and be executed by their government as requested. If not shipped back, at least a bullet put into the back of his head here.

You don't kill 17 innocent people, and just walk away like nothing happened

I vote that we ship you to Afghanistan, we'll spare your sorry *** the bullet to the back of the head.

@Milo - What an intellectual post. Thank you for your feedback. I'm sure that most of your thoughts make as much sense as your post. I followed your train of logic, analyzed your thought process, and got nowhere.

@Harold - I do not need to serve in a military zone to understand that murdering 17 innocent people is atrocious, and that the person who is accountable for the murders deserves the death penalty. I fully support our troops, albeit I do not support the war, I support the heroic actions of our troops. I do NOT support the murder of 17 innocent people by a MURDERER.

Milo-2 is getting closer to finding a neighborhood in which to take out his angst on anyone who dares call Bales a murderous thug. Maybe a tour of Afghanistan is for you Milo-2? The Pashtuns might take issue with your defense of the murderous redneck bully Bales, so your survival would be very short unless you stayed behind the US bases' blast walls and razor wire.

I vote we ship Milo-2 to Afghanistan, so he can tell them why it's ok for a soldier to murder 16 people just because the soldier had been in combat too long.

he is an American and should be tried in America. He was under the authority of the US Military not an American sightseer who got captured and accused of spying ... your comment is completely wrong. i doubt you would turn your children over to the neighbors if your child did wrong... unless you are not thinking clearly.

What an idiotic rant. Soldiers are not civilians. If you're a soldier in Afghanistan, you expect the locals to want to kill you. If you;re a civilian, you don't expect the military to murder you. This guy was clearly a racist who joined up to kill some foreigners. And if all you say is true, why don't the majority of US soldiers snap and go on murder sprees? Take off the blinders, man...

John Joseph-2950689

"Read about afghanistan and the taliban......what they do to their own people (and to their own women and their children) is so much worse than what he did!!"

John, you must be very stup! d and a Big id !ot to to say such things. America is the occupier and bully and you could not see it. What a Stup! d id !ot. Saudi Arabia, our greatest ally, has been and will be cutting the heads and hands of those who disobey their laws. OUr government is still supporting Saudi Arabia in every way, including selling advanced weapons to the Saudi government.

John, you are just a Trash and you talk trash to justify killing just because you don't like those people.

Rob - American soldiers defend United States civilians. These "wars" are undeclared. Our soldiers volunteered because they wanted to serve their countries, but orders came from Mr. Obama - the respondeat superior who is the culpable party here.

Let him defend himself then.

According to the soldiers who were in Korea and Vietnam, there are no non-combatants in a combat zone.

Mackie-4741671, BUSH started this little war in Afghanistan when BUSH decided to send U.S. troops there. I bet you hollered and yelled when Obama wanted to bring them all home three years ago, too.

Obama is now responsible for this idiot? Did Obama send him on his first one or two or three tours? No, thats the other idiot. Obama is currently listening to his Generals abotu Afghan, and actually removing them sooner than they want. But if he didn't listen somewhat to the Generals, then all the righties would be on here saying "hes no CIC, he doens't listen to his Generals", etc. Basically Obama is the antichrist.

No, this soldier, stress or not, murdered 17 people while he was drinking, while they slept, non-combatants. He will get his penalty. FYI, I'm former military

And you my friend are an idiot!!

Harold, you are the idiot.

To quote you from a post below: "And you my friend are a fool, you have never served in combat!!", it makes me wonder, did you serve in combat? And if so, how many innocent people have you murdered? You seem to be very for the murder of innocent people, as you are defending a murderer. Did you rape any women too? Did you then justify it by telling everybody, "You haven't served in combat..."

What a tool. What a fool. What an idiot.

And you my friend are a fool, you have never served in combat!!

thank God...dont want to end up like you!

Harold,

What part about serving in the military makes the actions of Bales pardonable? My dad did two tours in Vietnam, both of my grandfathers spent extended time overseas during WWII and I have an uncle that was an active participant in Korea. Not to mention the dozen or so friends and satellite family members who served in Kosovo, Iraq I and Iraq II. Oddly, not a one of them committed a single murder, let alone massacre 17 people, over half children.

So, explain it to me: why "combat stress" seems a perfectly viable excuse for this unconscionable act?

9/11 was an inside job.

So, Robert32, it's ok for a U.S. soldier to MURDER 16 people just because he's been shot at -- but it's somehow not ok for a "Muslim terrorist" to do the same? No, I am not equating those planes being flown into the WTC buildings with what this sorry excuse for a soldier did -- but YOU are.

And while you are hollering about "illegals", how about you deport your own ancestors who entered the country illegally -- without visas, passports or any other documentation at all. By the way, Robert32, I'm betting that YOUR name ain't "American" at all, it's probably EUROPEAN.

The kids this "soldier" killed weren't even born when 9/11 occurred. He is a war criminal who needs to be held accountable for his actions.

Seriously? My commanding officer in Vietnam helped rescue the Bataan Death March survivors at Cabanatuan. Was he a terrorist? My father was in the Medical Corps in the South Pacific. Was he a terrorist?

djShamrock

Every kill is murder, and US soldiers ARE the Terrorists in almost all situations.

Feel free to move anytime.

yes, Milo-2- you are free to go to Afghanistan to bully children or old men who have never heard of 9-11, NYC or Iwo Jima. YOu might try any right wing military dictatorship such as Burma. OH wait. You are an American. No need to leave.

never will be by the US gov!! He will be protected by the elite of this regime.

Yes they have begun courts martial proceedings on Major Hasan.

http://www.investigativeproject.org/2592/emerson-on-fox-news-discussing-nidal-hasans-prosecution

November 5th,2009 Ft. Hood Texas USArmy Major Nidal Hassan betrayed then MURDERED 13 un-armed Soldiers & Wounded 32 other Soldiers. He was then wounded by a Police Officer. He is now disabled & in a wheel chair. His Court Martial is supposed to begin this Summer 2012

This USArmy Officer planned & betrayed then MURDERED His Fellow SOLDIERS

If there was ever Justification for Death by Firing Squad this is it.

SPW "Airborne"

He will be prosecuted and probably executed, but I don't see how that applies to the murder of innocent Afghan children.

"never will be by the US gov!! He will be protected by the elite of this regime."

How ignorant could you possibly be? Hasan is in custody awaiting trial. The trial is scheduled to begin this summer. Preparations for trials take a long time in major cases. Give me one piece of evidence that suggests that he is being given special treatment or coddled.

Some of those people were innocent children. Do you support the genocide of innocent children?

I support our United States soldiers 100% because my children are free. Our soldiers were not meant by law to defend any other nation unless we signed onto a treaty, which we have never done here. Now, I'm sorry, but this is an undeclared war, unconstitutional. Obama is respondeat superior and should be made to answer for this - no one else.

He called for the multiple deployments.

Obama is the culpable party.

Obama does not generate military orders. Those orders come from the personnel department of the Armed Service involved, and are the ultimate responsibility of the Defense Department. Your post qualifies for the most disconnected political rant of the thread.

Also OBAMA did not begin the occupation of Afghanistan. It was done under the previous administration.

The Right-wing fanatics simply refuse to acknowledge that Obama did not start this "undeclared war", a war which WAS declared by both Congress and President Bush -- even if not "Officially", with the Taliban.............

By the way, Vietnam was also an "undeclared war", yet we STILL call it a WAR.

i don't support killing at all, but to the afghani's don't care about life like we do. They will take blood money for death without a second thought. it's insignificant to them. They live only for their religion, life i just temporary. If you burn a koran, you have offended what they exist for. I say we just pay them off and they will be ok with it.

NectarineRecordsInc., You need to be corrected a bit, the POTUS is the Commander in Chief of all military personnel. Thus, he can send personnel anywhere he wants to. Just goes to show that you also are not as intelligent as you seem to think you.

But of course OBAMA will do anything to dodge responsibilityas he has already shown over and over again.

What does Obama have to do with Afghanistan? Bush sent the troops there. As usual, Obama is blamed for cleaning up someone else's mess.

The big picture is!!!! we are there because a act of war was taking out on us. It does not matter what President sent us there or what Pesident is in office,we have a job to do and to many American soldiers have been killed for us to just walk away and not help these people. We say! there is help for the soldier to help him deal with what he see over there. I'm here to tell you first hand that their is no help to deal with four deploy mints. Your memory can not be erased when you our lift to pick your buddys parts up and his body there is no help for that and for that I'm truly sorry.

Not really.

Harold: Right wing Americans treat their flag as some religious icon even wanting an amendment to their founding documents criminalizing flag desecration or "mistreatment" by the person who owns it. So, your flags are not really private property, but belong to your church I mean gov't?

Hey Harold, what would be YOUR reaction to the "accidental" burning of Bibles by members of, for example, the Moroccan Army?

Harold's brain is hurting from cognitive dissonace now. He has to nippy nappy.

First, I've been deployed 3 times for the "war on terrorism" (2001-Present) and also participated in Desert Shield/Storm, my MOS is 11B (Infantry) and has been my entire career. Yes, soldiers "lose their mind" but it HOW that indivudal soldier handles the stress and emotional toll of being deployed that many times. Some use alcohol or drugs. Some withdraw from their friends and family and totally shut down to any kind of human contact. Some dont know how to deal with what they are/have gone through and dont know where to turn to for help. Not every agency that says "help is here" can help. Yes, the army provides help, or refers that soldier to someone who can, but how effective is it, if that soldier turns around in 8 months and deploys again? A study was done that said "a soldier NEEDS at least 24 months to "reset" after a deployment. We (I) have NEVER had 24 months after being deplyed either from Iraq or Afgan. The only time I had a "break" was being a drill sergeant for three years..and that was no break! Soldiers (people in general) HAVE to take responsibility for theirselves and their actions, but there also has to be real help available if they seek it, and they have to know where to find it.

And your statements are supported by what evidence??

Oh, who needs evidence, Mr. "the elites are protecting Hasan?"

I'm sorry but your wrong. I know what is like there and now have two son also in the USMC and one will deploy next month and the other in June. My father was 30 years army helicopter pilot he also saw lots of innocent people killed for no reason other then the act of war. But this is the big kicker we all have a snapping point, I brought some of my friends home in body bags and it was not a good sight, the last thing i wont my two boys to do. If you where in armsway then you like myself would know what this man was going through. I'm sorry for any lost of life but four deploy mints is to much.

A solier? Where am I supposed to hire a solier? I don't even know what a solier is?

Ooooooh-- you meant a "soldier." You mean those guys who are supposed to follow orders?

"Isn't temporary insanity rather apparent here?"

Maybe for those who have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of the requirements for an insanity plea to succeed. I guess if I were in that category I might agree with you.

Impeach Obama, the respondeat superior.

Why not impeach your mother, she had as much to do with this war as Obama.

Just wondering, Stop wondering. I served 3 combat tours. I saw hell there. But when somebody drink and gets drunk to muster the courage to sneak out of base in the middle of the nights to kill sleeping people, that is called premeditated murder. Because of his actions, he has put our soldiers in danger. There is no excuse for his actions, I believe due to his financial problems (he stole $1.5 million from innocent people) he felt he had no choice but to do the unthinkable.

Clearly stating that you do not want to serve in a combat zone is not an option when you enlist in the All Volunteer Force. He knew the risks. You don't have the option of disobeying lawful orders to deploy.

Red flags ignored. He tried to tell them.

Totally bigoted and irresponsible. The outcome of this case affects the lives of each and every one of our troops still in harm's way in the Middle East. Releasing him without prosecution would cost thousands of American lives. Are you willing to take the blame for that ?