Before you could blink an eye the US Army packed off Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan civilians in a terrifying rampage of unauthorized violence. According to reports reaching the press, the sergeant left his post in the early morning without authorization, walked to two nearby villages in Panjway district wearing night-vision goggles, and began killing women and children. The Pentagon says Bales killed 16 Afghans including 9 children, and confessed to the murders. There is a security video of the sergeant surrendering to camp sentries after the killing spree. The war effort in Afghanistan is officially in tatters despite Washington displays of conspicuous duplicity with NATO allies. The 'mayor of Kabul', Hamid Karzai, is calling for American military to be confined to their bases, and the Taliban has broken off peace negotiations. Karzai is also accusing the US of withholding information from Afghan investigators of the incident. Their are allegations by local Afghan witnesses that more than one soldier was involved in the murders. A Kuwait stockade became too politically hot to hold Bales once Kuwaitis found out he was in custody in their country. Bale's wife and two children have moved onto Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that is the headquarters of the Third Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Men from this same Brigade were court-martialed for the gruesome "trophy killings" in Maiwand district late last year*. Bales was passed over for promotion to E-7, and had a couple of misdemeanor charges against him as a civilian. Bale's lawyer says his client's fourth deployment to the war zones was a big surprise to the family since Bales had been told his tours to the Middle East were over. There are reports from colleagues that Bales was drinking the night before the atrocity, a violation of combat rules. Bales was once involved in a military rescue mission outside Najaf, Iraq in which wounded civilians were evacuated to safety. Bales reportedly said in an interview about the action, "I think that's the real difference between being an American as opposed to being a bad guy, someone who puts his family in harm's way like that." An explanation for his grotesque behavior and a legal defense awaits, but a medical expert in post-traumatic stress has already been retained by his legal counsel. Even battle-weary sergeants are entitled to be confronted by their accusers under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The logistics of a court-martial in the United States, so far from the scene of the war crime, will make his prosecution more difficult. But perhaps that is the intended result. Basketball, anyone?
*the CIA, which is becoming increasingly involved in fighting a covert Afghan war with US Special Forces, claims that drone attacks have killed more than 600 human targets and not a single non-combatant. This is rubbish, according to Britain's Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Between 282 and 535 civilians, including 60 children, have been killed in drone strikes since the Obamatron ascended. Thanks to him Americans are now eligible to be eliminated in good faith. One more reason the war should end sooner rather than later.