Tagged: War in Afghanistan

The "horrific killings" this month of 16 Afghan civilians, allegedly by a U.S. Army staff sergeant, will be fully investigated and "justice will be done," a top Pentagon official just told the House Armed Services Committee.

The lead attorney for the western Washington soldier accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians says his client has gaps in his memory about night of the massacre. Seattle lawyer John Henry Browne met with Staff Sergeant Robert Bales Monday for seven hours at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. That’s where Bales is being held in pretrial detention.

After the meeting, Browne told reporters that his client’s state of mind is “confused.”

“He doesn’t remember everything of the evening in question," Browne says. "That doesn’t mean he has amnesia.”

Attorney John Henry Browne said the meeting he had with his client Robert Bales, the Army sergeant accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, was "just really emotional."

Browne also corrected some details of Bales' story that he had released earlier. According to the AP:

The wife of the U.S. soldier held in the slayings of 16 Afghan villagers is offering condolences to the victims' families and says she too wants to know what happened.

Karilyn Bales issued a statement through a Seattle lawyer Monday, for the first time offering her comments on a case that has threatened to upend American policy over the decade-old war.

The man accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians has had a brief phone conversation with his wife and two children. But efforts are underway to arrange a face-to-face meeting. That’s according to one of the attorneys for Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales. Bales’ defense team will spend the next two days interviewing him at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the U.S. soldier alleged to have killed 16 Afghan civilians, was described by a former platoon leader Saturday as an "awesome" soldier.

"He always got the job done," said Cpt. Christopher Alexander, who led Bales on his second tour in Iraq. "You give this guy a task — it could be menial, it could be dangerous — either way, you never had to worry about whether he'd get it done and get it done well."

Pentagon officials say Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is the soldier suspected of killing 16 Afghan civilians, including women and children.

While a profile of him is not yet detailed, now that his name has been made public one is beginning to emerge.

Bales is a 38-year-old father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash. with a good military record. His neighbors describe him as friendly and "full of life."

His lawyer has said that he's been injured twice and that this Afghanistan deployment was his fourth tour and he was adamant about going.

We still don’t know the name of the Washington-based Army soldier accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians last weekend. But we now know the name of his civilian attorney. John Henry Browne is a high-profile Seattle lawyer who most recently defended the serial burglar known as the “Barefoot Bandit.”

Eugene Fidell teaches military justice at Yale. His advice to Browne: book a flight to Kuwait where the soldier is being held.

The news that the U.S. Army staff sergeant who is suspected of murdering 16 Afghan civilians has been moved to a detention facility in Kuwait is sparking some small protests in Afghanistan.

ABOARD A US MILITARY AIRCRAFT — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the death penalty is a consideration as the military moves to investigate and possibly put on trial a U.S. soldier suspected of gunning down 16 Afghans.

The U.S. soldier suspected of gunning down at least 16 Afghan civilians was from a Washington state-based Stryker brigade and received his assignment to a village stability program less than six weeks ago.

LAKEWOOD, Wash. – The U-S soldier who allegedly massacred at least 16 Afghan civilians is reported to be from Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Soldiers assigned to the base express shock at the violence and concern about retaliation.