In Afghan killings case, questions over alcohol

In this Sunday, March 11, 2012 file photo, U.S. Army and Afghan soldiers are seen in a guard tower at their base in Panjwai, Kandahar province south of Kabul, Afghanistan, following the alleged killing of 16 civilians by a U.S. soldier. / AP Photo/Allauddin Khan, File

(AP) KABUL, Afghanistan - The U.S. military bans alcohol for its troops in Afghanistan, but that doesn't stop some soldiers from having a bottle or two stowed away in their gear — a fact highlighted by investigators' probe into whether alcohol played a role when a U.S. sergeant allegedly carried out a killing spree that left 16 Afghans dead.

U.S. investigators have determined that the suspect had been drinking alcohol prior to leaving the base the night of the attack, a senior U.S. defense official said Friday. How much of a role alcohol played in the attack is still under investigation, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because charges have not yet been filed.

Like many rules in a war zone, the U.S. military's General Order No. 1 forbidding alcohol in both Afghanistan and Iraq is not always followed to the letter. Even in these strictly Muslim countries, there are ways to access liquor. Amid the tight-knit camaraderie of a stressful battlefield, officers sometimes turn a blind eye — or even partake themselves.

In Iraq, booze was easy to come by in Baghdad's Green Zone and on some bases. In Afghanistan, soldiers from many other NATO countries are allowed to imbibe. That means there's some "alcohol spillover" to American troops on large multinational bases. In both countries, foreign contractors dealing with the U.S. military — most of whom were not covered by the order — bring in their own supplies and are a source that soldiers can turn to.

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German troops stationed in northern Afghanistan are allowed two beers a day at their main base in northern Afghanistan, but not at smaller camps. In Kabul, one military base that mainly houses European troops boasts two liquor stores.

On Kandahar Air Field, the main international base in southern Afghanistan, Canadian forces used to have regular beer nights before they pulled their forces out this past summer. Each person was limited to two beers and half a bottle of wine.

At these large installations, U.S. soldiers also sometimes manage to get alcohol in packages sent by family and friends, often hidden in other types of bottles.

Finding alcohol is more difficult in more remote areas of the country or on smaller bases, like the one from which the soldier allegedly slipped out to start his shooting spree.

Some rural Afghans make homemade wine out of raisins but in general few Afghans drink — so alcohol would have to be brought in by soldiers or brewed using local ingredients.

A senior U.S. defense official told The Associated Press earlier this week that investigators had found alcohol at the soldier's base, Camp Belambai in Panjwai district. The official spoke anonymously to discuss an ongoing investigation.

The suspect — identified by his attorney as 38-year-old Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales — is said by military officials to have left the base at 3 a.m. Sunday, walking to two nearby villages where they say he barged into homes and opened fire, killing 16 people, including nine children.

Bales' lawyer, Seattle attorney John Henry Browne, disputed reports that a combination of alcohol, stress and domestic issues caused the suspect to snap. He said the family said they were unaware of any drinking problem. He said that a day before the rampage, Bales — who was on his fourth tour after three tours in Iraq — saw a comrade's leg blown off.

The U.S. military's General Order No. 1 forbids "possessing, consuming, introducing, purchasing, selling, transferring, or manufacturing any alcoholic beverage" in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers found violating the order can face discharge or criminal charges.

War zone deployments have not always been so ascetic, of course. During the Vietnam era, drinking was allowed and both drinking and drug use were common among soldiers. At that time, raucous, alcohol-fueled nights out on the town in Saigon were routine.

But as men returned from Vietnam as alcoholics and drug addicts, the military started to revisit its substance abuse policy. In 1971, the government required all military branches to identify substance abusers and provide treatment and rehabilitation. More than 20 percent of soldiers tested positive for drugs when the Army started screenings, according to U.S. military figures.

Then, when the U.S. sent peacekeepers to the Balkans in the 1990s, commanders went further and banned all alcohol for the deployed troops.

Because of the risks of sneaking in alcohol, most U.S. soldiers simply get by without it during their tours in Afghanistan. They buy nonalcoholic beer in stores on base for the familiar taste. Those looking for a buzz take up smoking or chewing tobacco.

There are many more stories of U.S. soldiers on small outposts abusing prescription drugs or smoking easily available hashish. Drug abuse is a rampant problem in the Afghan army and U.S. soldiers have been known to start smoking up alongside their Afghan counterparts.

On remote, hilly outposts, soldiers often make it through the night with sleeping pills and joints get passed around. Some become addicts. Most say they're doing what they have to, facing a morning that could bring a new firefight or a roadside bombing on their patrol.

In Iraq in 2006, a U.S. soldier stationed near Mahmoudiya raped and killed a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and killed her parents and sister. Steven Dale Green, a former 101st Airborne soldier, was sentenced to five life terms for the crime. He said in a later interview that drugs and alcohol were prevalent at his checkpoint south of Baghdad. He also said that he had been taking a mood-regulating drug to help him deal with the traumatic events he'd seen.

Green said by the time he committed the murders he had seen so much violence and so many people killed that he had stopped thinking of Iraqi civilians as humans.

"I was crazy," Green said in 2010 telephone interview from federal prison in Tucson, Arizona. "I was just all the way out there. I didn't think I was going to live."

[freeamerica31]

This is a propoganda war against the military by the press. I've never seen such inuendo placed in an article without proven facts.

Suggestions of alcohol, prescription drugs and hashish use without specific details and names is an outright fishing expedition by the press hoping one of their accusations will come to truth.

What we have here folks is a failure to communicate. The press needs to stop and wait for the investigation to obtain accuate proven facts. Investigators, politicians, and military leadership need to keep their mouths shut and let the investigation be completed.

Military leadership in the war zone need to talk to their troops and provide leadership, communication and discipline if necessary. If any of this is true, leadership at all levels has failed to do their jobs professionally and everyone at all leadership levels should fall like dominoes.

Last but not least there is no way a single soldier in a drunken state committed this atrocity. A sober soldier in a manic, pyschotic state could very well get it done but only the soldier knows the truth. Let the investigation move forward and hopefully the press will stop reaching for sensationalism in the national media. Shame on the press for the unfounded truths in this article.

[Lerianis4]

No, this isn't a propaganda war against the military. This is the press reporting on what they have heard and making it very clear that these are unproven as of yet and should not be taken as blunt truth at the moment.

[jgnv]

I didn't view this article as propaganda against the military, but rather painting a realistic scenario of how deplorable the conditions these men and women are faced with on a daily basis. This soldier will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison and these Afghan civilians are dead. Those are the facts. At this point, I think we should focus our efforts on removing all military personnel from this region before there is further bloodshed.

[UForgotPoland]

I don't know many drunks who can walk 5 miles afterwards and accurately shoot up a village. If anything this was caused from the lack of alcohol and the stresses of the mismanaged situation that the Afghanistan operation forces onto our service men and women.

[Lerianis4]

Mismanaged is correct... fact is that we shouldn't still be in Afghanistan at this point, the people have made it very clear that they want us GONE!

[ConSense]

Why is alcohol relevant? People drink to excess all over the world every day and don't go on a shooting spree afterward.

[tmonta67]

Put your thinking cap on, Waldo. People "all over the world" aren't on their fourth tour of duty in active war zones. In situations of extreme and prolonged stress and violence, alcohol is what we call a "trigger factor". If Joe Average has a bad week at work, he might tie one on in a bar and go home and sleep it off. Or kick his dog. Or beat his wife. Or shoot himself if he's at his limit. This is a freaking WAR ZONE. You have no idea what he's seen, heard, lived through up to this point. I do not in any way condone his actions, but your question honestly makes me wonder whether clueless people like yourself are worth fighting and dying for.

[Lerianis4]

I have to agree with with Consense than tmonta67 here. With all due respect, there are plenty of people in America (yes, our home country) who see violence on a daily basis and don't do bunkus like this.

Just because someone is drunk doesn't excuse this, though together with other factors it might tend to explain it.