Afghan suspect to face murder, assault charges

Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is seen in this undated photo. Bales is being held in the death of 16 Afghan civilians on March 11, 2012 / CBS

(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales will be charged with 17 counts of murder, assault and a string of other offenses in the massacre of Afghan villagers as they slept, a U.S. official said and CBS News has confirmed.

The charges signed against Bales include 17 counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder and six counts of aggravated assault as well as dereliction of duty and other violations of military law, the official said on condition of anonymity because the charges had not been announced.

The 38-year-old soldier and father of two who lives in Lake Tapps, Wash., is charged with going on a shooting rampage in two villages near his Southern Afghanistan military post in the early hours of March 11, gunning down nine Afghan children and eight adults and burning some of the victims' bodies.

The charges are likely to be to be read to Bales on Friday, pending the signature of a commanding officer and other legal steps. He is being held in a military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas and faces trial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The killings were yet another blow to U.S-Afghan relations, following a series of missteps, including the accidental burning of Qurans, which prompted violent protests and revenge killings American troops in the war zone.

2nd violent incident found in Bales' background
Afghan massacre toll raised to 17 amid tensions
Army examining health programs amid Bales case

The brutal shooting rampage also prompted renewed debate in the United States about health care for the troops, who have experienced record suicide rates and high rates of post-traumatic stress and brain injuries during repeated deployments over a decade of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bales was on his fourth tour of duty, having served three tours in Iraq, where he suffered a head injury and a foot injury.

Bales' civilian attorney, John Henry Browne, has portrayed his client as a patriot, loving father and devoted husband who had been traumatized by a comrade's injury and sent into combat one too many times.

Sgt. Bales' lawyer questions evidence
Afghan villagers say massacre was retaliation
Charges expected this week in Afghan killings

"I'm not putting the war on trial," Browne has said, "but the war is on trial." He added: "If I can help create a discussion about the war, that would be a great way for me to go out."

Army officials have said Bales was cleared for return to duty after his head injury.

Browne has said there were potential mental health issues for his client, but that he didn't have expertise to make a qualified judgment. "Dragging parts of bodies around is not something that really you forget very often," he said. "He's in shock."

Browne had also said Bales had no memory of what happened and that the soldier was not drunk. The attorney said will not seek an insanity defense, rather one of "diminished capacity," like some sort of an emotional breakdown.

Bales joined the Army in 2001 after a Florida investment business failed and after he had worked with a string of securities operations. Bales and a broker at one company were hit in 2003 with a $1.5 million arbitration ruling after an elderly couple charged that their holdings were decimated.

[frankcavestani]

Sgt. Bales is a professional he have acting like one there is no excuse not matter how many tours. I wish they didn't have nay but then again that was his job.

[peter_out]

Bales will get justice this side of the ocean and we'll all be kept abreast of the proceedings.

The Afganistan people will never know what goes on here on this side, or even if they did understand our ways or our thinking. This is working out as non-justice so far as the Afganistan people are concerned.

For starters, the Afganistan people would like to know why the trial is not in Afganistan and conducted by Afganistan people? There can be no reconciliation of the fact that the American soldier is insulated from Afgan justice.

[mooring7]

I saw a video of the Taliban pouring gas on the heads of three men bound and blindfolded.then they pushed them into a pit full of burning wood immediatley the pit became an inferno and all cried out "Allah Akaba" Terrible people doing terrible acts of killing. How do you keep your mind after being in the midst of this madness. The idea of shooting children is repulsive yet how many children have had expolsives strapped to their body and used as a human bomb sent to murder innocent people. Another "Allah Akaba" ..... The US Government paid for this soldiers travel, gave him his weapons and trained him in the use of them the. US Government pointed him in the direction of Afganistan. He had a brain injury and lost part of his foot in a prior tour of duty in Iraq he asked not to be sent to Afganistan but the US Government sent him there for his 4th tour. Now the US Government is going to charge him with murder.

[slatep]

deoppressoliber1964.
How many tiurs did you serve.??

[slatep]

LET'S GET DOWN TO "BRASS" TACKS".!!!!!

This man suffered a traumatic brain injury and lost part of his foot during one of his three tours in Iraq.

The "brass" still elected to send him on a fourth tour in Afghanistan..

The "brass" who made this decision should be facong the same charges as SSGT. Bales.

The suicide rate among the military is up 80%.!!

The "brass" at Fort Lewis-Hood has a reputation for sending soldiers suffering from PTSD back into combat.

Just as with the rest of our so-called leaders (Obama.DOD and military) the brass appears to have not learned one damn thing from the more than 9 years of war in Iraq.

Our troops have been referred to as "infidel dogs" since the firt one set foot in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now Karzai has declared our troops as "demons"

Give me one good reason why our troops should not be pulled from Afghanistan starting tomorrow.

Why should we continue to sacrifice troops to a government we already know (or should have learned by this time!!) cannot be trusted.???

OUTRAGEOUS.!!!!

[whereswaldo89]

I agree completely!

[wuzup4040]

How come such a rush to prosecute this mentally ill war zone soldier.
and The Fort Hood terrorist Maj. Nidal Hassan has not 2 years after his mass killings been tried?

[yolo40]

Because he is not a muslim terrorist. You see the fact that he is an American soldier on his fourth tour is not even enough for the so called specialists in the news to claim he has PTSD. However every network and newspaper claims nidal the butch suffered form it and he never saw combat. Muslims get away with mass murder everyday around the world and almost nothing is done about it.

[dresia]

It's just to bad this happened in the first place to someone who served this country. I hope if they sentence him, the worst he will get is life in prison, and he also need serious mental health. Not good, not good at all.

[jnostromo]

No different than Vietnam, we have learned nothing from the southeast asia experience...

[ReckonedTruth]

I don't believe he cracked at all..this was a act of VENGEANCE INJUSTICE .. this is another example where we as nation want to measure up our soldiers up against our enmies and say.. BUT!.. to me that's not GOOD enough.. we have the BEST of everything from day one for our enlistments(soliders).. all the soldiers have to do is get the help they need..and that will require admitting the soldier NEEDS HELP..HEROS' need help too!

..but the bigger issue for me is the fact.. if these soldiers who need the help with psychosis and don't get the help and released back into our society? We as nation can expect catastrophic results pertaining as such.. a man that is trained to kill with MENTAL ILLNESS issues released in society-- is a ANOTHER DANGER to the safety of our society...Especially those tea party states that have this no accountabilty gun law.. "stand you ground".. again a DEAD PERSON CAN'T TALK.. the elements of this so -called gun law of justice is flawed..paid for by the NRA.. the facts are this-- of the 93 cases reported related to this gun law in Fla.,.. 30% of the cases were found not justified under this NO ACCOUNITABILT gun law .. so in essence those victims(30%) were JUSTIFIED AS BEING murdered and not a shelf defense act!

THE MILITARY is NOT FOR EVERYONE who may want to enlist.. and as the days go by for a individual troop..this will be more than evident and needs to be dealt with..IMMEDIATELY!

We can't give Sgt. Beales a pass for what he did and say "BOO-HOO" for Sgt. Bales---if we do-- then the snowball grows into avalanche for other troops who don't want to take responsibility for this type of horrendus situation ..

Sgt. Bales didn't turn himshelf in.. he was CAUGHT sneaking back on the base.. after the murders and so to those who defend Sgt. Bales--what if he didn't get caught sneaking back into the base after the murders?

What would Sgt. Beales do next?

Have you defenders ENTERTAINED this thought?.. OF COURSE NOT..all you defenders are thinking about is the allegience to OUR MILITARY!

This troop Beales is a danger to OUR SOCIETY irrespect of his military service...and personal problems outside of the military.. known as thief and owes 1.5 million to those he stole from..

I don't think this is the first time something like this may have happened.. maybe not with Sgt. Beales but with other troops with this vengeance injustice attitude..who haven't got caught.. these acts are the remnants of war.

So it doesn't APPEAR to me Sgt. Beales was insane..or temporary insanity either--this was SIMPLE VENGEANCE INJUSTICE and OUR SOLDIERS ARE BETTER THAN THIS-- or--are we JUST LIKE OUR ENEMIES?.. And so nobody WINS for the sake of JUSTICE and war.. and furthermore..I guess we all can use the excuse when we do wrong .. "gee I don't remember doing that"..

..yeah right!!

I'm certain Sgt.,Beales' court trial will examine his military history with a fine tooth comb..and he will get a FAIR TRIAL and found GUILTY and given a fair sentenced for the murder crime he committed.

[slatep]

If you continue to make such comments; you should at least get the spelling of the name of the man currently facing trial for his actions in Afghanistan lest we prosecute the wrong man.

It's people like you who disrespect our soldiers that makes the average American want to wring your neck.

My hope is that the rest of the people posting on this site see you as the idiot you are and pay no attention to any of your postings.

[archamrh]

ReckonedTruth: I see a vote for Obama in your future and past! Have YOU ever seen combat, I do not mean on TV but up close and personal? I heard he "Turned himself in @ the gate when re-entering his base, not trying to sneak into base as you so easily assume. You do know the true meaning of the word A-S-S-U-M-E don't you?

How many Tours of Duty have you served, if any? How much actual Combat have you seen, again not on TV like that old TV series "Combat"? I heard that this man was already diagnosed with "PTSD" & "TBI", not to mention he lost part of his foot to an IED and some FOOL decided he was over the PTSD and was fit for duty, yet again in a Combat Zone..... DAHHHH I mean what is only 4 Tours of Duty in a Combat Zone, it only means you get shot at almost daily, the people your trying to help are trying to KILL YOU, they truly Hate you and do NOT want you there!

I guess your 20 x 20 hind site vision is crystal clear and I sincerely hope that you would never be on a jury in any case remotely like this one! You would have this Brave Soldier Drawn and Quartered, committed for life. Seems Liberal people like yourself have their own agenda, regardless that while you sleep in your nice warm bed @ night and go to your 9 to 5 job daily and only think of these Brave Troops facing the enemy almost on a daily basis! That is their Job and it is not a 9 - 5 job, it is a 24/7/365 days of facing danger and possible Death at the hands of people that DO NOT want us there, Hate Us and would rather Kill us then look at us! Good Luck to you and your President, I sincerely hope that you had your daily dose of the Koolaide!

This Man that has served his country extremely well, has served too many Tours of Duty in that God Forsaken place and deserves to be treated for his illnesses and I can only hope that he is treated and NOT have to spend his entire life behind bars because he SHOULD NOT have been there on his 4th Tour in the 1st place! He was trained as a Recruiter and had just finished his training and received his orders for yet another (4th) Tour of Duty"!!! That is WRONG, completely and totally wrong, he should have never been cleared for duty and another Tour in a War Zone!

I can only hope that I never have to place my life in YOUR hands, sounds like you would cut and run at the sound of of an AK47 whizzing by your head! If you can not stand behind out Brave Troops, Please feel free to stand in front of them!!! You "Talk the Talk but can you Walk the Walk"? I have my doubts about that!

Vietnam Vet, Grunt, Pointman, '69 - '70
"Live Free or Die"
"Freedom is not Free"

[republicansrdumb]

I say we auction off the privilege to pull the trap door handle and apply the proceeds to a victim's fund.

[slatep]

The last four letters of your screen name shows exactly what you are.