GUILTY Afghanistan - US Soldier guns down 16 civilians, 2012 Kandahar massacre

[essies]

Afghan shooting spree: soldier's revenge for wounded colleague?
Details about the soldier involved in the Afghan shooting spree are beginning to emerge. The day before his rampage, he witnessed the severe wounding of a fellow GI.


By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer / March 16, 2012

In the meantime, the Pentagon released to Afghan officials a security surveillance tape – taken by one of the blimps that often flies above US outposts in Afghanistan – in the hopes that this would help bolster their case that the soldier was a lone gunman.

The security footage shows the soldier approaching the base using an Afghan shawl to cover the weapon in his hands before laying it down and raising his hands in surrender.

US military officials fear that the incident could lead to a renewed cycle of revenge killings among Afghan security forces, especially if it turns out to be a calculated retribution. Two American troops were shot point blank in the back of the head by the Afghan soldiers they were training after it came to light that the US military was burning Qurans in a prison trash pit earlier this month.

These attacks – known in Pentagon parlance as “blue on green” – now stand at 45 since 2007. Analysts note that nearly three quarters of them have taken place in the past two years.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Milita...spree-soldier-s-revenge-for-wounded-colleague

 

[PHB]

I can't believe he was sent back into combat missing part of his foot. I have never heard of that before.

My GF blew out her ACL in basic training, and they still sent her overseas.

 

[legalmania]

My GF blew out her ACL in basic training, and they still sent her overseas.

Did she demand to go or was that the militarist idea? Sometimes people will play down their injury just to serve. I also know we were desperate for those numbers to increase, so they may have looked the other way while they waived her through.

 

[Dr.Fessel]

My GF blew out her ACL in basic training, and they still sent her overseas.

I don't think she was in an infantry combat role though was she? A severe foot injury usually knocks a person out for that.

 

[jjenny]

I can't believe he was sent back into combat missing part of his foot. I have never heard of that before.

I've seen people say they want to go back who had both legs missing. This guy probably wanted to continue on.

 

[PHB]

Did she demand to go or was that the militarist idea? Sometimes people will play down their injury just to serve. I also know we were desperate for those numbers to increase, so they may have looked the other way while they waived her through.

She complained and failed some kind of physical fitness test, but they let her take the test multiple times until she passed. Apparently the basic training staff have a lot of lattitude when it comes to passing or failing recruits. She didnt want out, but she was obviosly limping when we saw each other after she graduated. Also, she joined before 9/11, so I dont think it was a manpower issue.

 

[PHB]

I don't think she was in an infantry combat role though was she? A severe foot injury usually knocks a person out for that.

No her specialty was something to do with computers. She saw combat, though. Soldiers in her unit would go on something called a "spur ride", regardless of their specialty so they could earn some medal only awarded to soldiers who have actually been in combat, along with an actual set of spurs.

 

[PHB]

I've seen people say they want to go back who had both legs missing. This guy probably wanted to continue on.

I remember seeing an episode of 20/20 or 60 minutes where an Army Ranger officer who lost his leg all the way up to his waist, went back to Afghanistan with some high-tech prostetic.

 

[Dr.Fessel]

I've seen people say they want to go back who had both legs missing. This guy probably wanted to continue on.

That is true, I saw the same story. I think that guy just wanted to go back in the army. He would not have been allowed in an infantry combat role though.

Balance and sure footed has always been an important qualification. If you have lost certain toes or rotation in your ankle you are usually not qualified. You don't want to be out hiking on patrol with a guy who is falling down or can't side hill or has to stop because of a sore foot.

 

[Dr.Fessel]

I remember seeing an episode of 20/20 or 60 minutes where an Army Ranger officer who lost his leg all the way up to his waist, went back to Afghanistan with some high-tech prostetic.

Here is that story:

"I don't like people telling me I can't do something," Kapacziewski said.

Even if it meant choosing in the months ahead to have his leg cut off - so that with a prosthetic he could still jump out of airplanes, rope down from helicopters or fight along 10,000-foot mountain ridges.

Fast-forward five years to the morning of April 19, 2010, to a village in eastern Afghanistan.

With help from his false leg, Sgt. 1st Class Kapacziewski, 28, races down an Afghan road through enemy fire to reach a fellow Ranger who had been shot in the stomach. Along with another soldier, they drag the wounded man 75 yards to safety and administer first aid as insurgents with heavy machine guns try to kill them.

http://www.11alive.com/rss/article/195031/40/Despite-losing-leg-Ga-Army-Ranger-back-in-the-fight

 

[Dr.Fessel]

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- The US soldier accused of leaving his military base and killing 16 Afghan civilians in a door-to-door rampage was named Friday as Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, FOX News Channel reported, citing three US military sources.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/afghan_massacre_suspect_named_y7jNzSnR7Kp90HuXHn712H

 

[Dr.Fessel]

Funny how I keep finding old articles on Staff Sergent Robert Bales but when you click on the the link it is now page not found. LOL

 

[Dr.Fessel]

Here is a picture of him.

http://assets.mediaspanonline.com/prod/6896282/110823-A-1697H-108_w446.jpg

 

[PHB]

Very interesting. His lawyer, John Henry Browne, has previously defended Ted Bundy and Colton Harris-Moore, the "Barefoot Bandit"!

 

[essies]

Here is a picture of him.

http://assets.mediaspanonline.com/prod/6896282/110823-A-1697H-108_w446.jpg

This what I get when I click that link-
The system cannot find the file specified.:waitasec:

 

[essies]

Afghan Shooting Suspect Identified as Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales

The sergeant’s sudden transfer from Kuwait to the United States is the result of a behind-the-scenes diplomatic uproar with Kuwait, which learned of the sergeant’s move to an American base on Kuwaiti territory from news reports before the United States government could alert the Kuwaitis about it, the senior American official said.

“When they learned about it, the Kuwaitis blew a gasket and wanted him out of there,” the official said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/17/w...dentified-as-army-staff-sgt-robert-bales.html

 

[hambirg]

When he returned to the Seattle area, the staff sergeant at first thought he would not be required to join his unit when it shipped out for Afghanistan, the lawyer said. His family thought he was done fighting and was counting on him staying home. Until orders came dispatching him to Afghanistan, he was training to be a military recruiter, Browne said.

"He wasn't thrilled about going on another deployment," Browne said. "He was told he wasn't going back, and then he was told he was going.. . . .

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/03/16/2070222/sources-suspect-in-afghan-killings.html


And a another. . .

http://www.kirotv.com/news/news/bales-was-team-leader-past-battle/nLWRq/

 

[legalmania]

This what I get when I click that link-
The system cannot find the file specified.:waitasec:

He's very unusual looking he's got writing all over him and is square. Is his nickname page not found? This guy should be easy to find.

 

[michmi]

I can't believe he was sent back into combat missing part of his foot. I have never heard of that before.

That's the FIRST thing I thought when I read that--okay, let's not even factor in the brain trauma he also has--how are you "combat ready" with part of your foot missing?

They do a lot of walking and standing there, raids, patrols, etc. Even missing one toe would alter his standing and walking ability versus a person with a normal foot.

 

[MsFacetious]

I've seen people say they want to go back who had both legs missing. This guy probably wanted to continue on.

Prior to his deployment to Afghanistan, the soldier had lost part of a foot in Iraq and suffered a traumatic brain injury, according to his lawyer, John Henry Browne. The Seattle attorney said the screening for the concussion was minimal.

The soldier had not wanted to deploy to Afghanistan on what ultimately became his fourth combat tour, Browne said, citing conversations with the soldier's family. Bales had served three times in Iraq.

"He was told that he was not going to be redeployed," Browne said. "The family was counting on him not being redeployed.
I think it would be fair to say he and the family were not happy that he was going back."

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/16/world/asia/afghanistan-shooting-soldier/?hpt=hp_c1