I don't know. This guy did something vile, and he needs to face a proper court for it. He IS responsible for his actions.
At the same time, he does have several TBIs listed on his military records, and they often do affect a person's ability to contain emotions (particularly extreme ones like aggression) in ways that would normally be considered appropriate. They can change the sort of actions that the person might consider rational, they sometimes affect the bit of the brain that goes no, this is a bad idea and recognises possible consequences - someone who's had that sort of damage done might be arrested for things like public disturbance or assault when they're at home (he has prevously been charged with these) because they just can't process the potential consequences in the same way that a neurotypical person - or themselves as they used to be - might have done. TBIs are basically a level of brain damage, the really violently acquired equivalent of a stroke. They can affect all kinds of things
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You're very right, although TBIs are brain damage. My dad's TBI is so severe that he is functionally paraplegic and no longer lucid at all, but in TBI support groups, my mom and I have been introduced to people who "healed" (you can't even really ever fully heal a TBI) but suffer from extreme mood swings that border on terrifying. They drive away their families, friends, everyone. Rages are very common with TBIs. You just can't process the world anymore.
I think one of the other things I've learned is that very few people really understand them. You hit the nail on the head. This man is horribly broken, the system failed him, and he did an unforgivable, horrible, disgusting thing probably as a result. It's worse that it doesn't surprise me that someone with MULTIPLE TBIs would do something like this. And what he did just disturbs me. And the way it's been treated since has disturbed me. Really, nothing about this doesn't disturb me
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Sorry, I probably wasn't very clear. English is not my first language, and sometimes I'm not as good at it as I think I am!
Bales should never have been sent to Afghanistan.
I remember seeing in one article that his family had put in for a non-deployable post - three years at home, give or take - and they got it, they were just transitioning from their old command to the new one...and he got shipped overseas anyway because the powers that be were short-handed. To me, this just reads as a massive failure on every possible level. The tragedy of it is the people in these two villages who were made to pay.
As others have said, I'm sure some are simply concerned about the role TBI's can play in these types of situation.
But I also think that a lot of people who either a) blindly support the military no matter what; b) only care about white people, Christians, or white Christians; or c) both, are simply willing to overlook this matter.
As we've been doing since Vietnam - and probably Korea, and maybe even WWII, except we didn't know so much then - we are doing horrific damage to, and utterly failing to support, our men and women in the services.
I have no doubt this man was suffering, troubled, and not in his 100 percent right mind at all times.
That being said - justice does need to be served, and the people he killed deserve no less than that. They didn't cause his issues, and shouldn't be swept under the rug because our govt. can't comprehend 10 years of war = fucked up soldiers. (Or, more likely, simply doesn't care.)
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At the same time, he does have several TBIs listed on his military records, and they often do affect a person's ability to contain emotions (particularly extreme ones like aggression) in ways that would normally be considered appropriate. They can change the sort of actions that the person might consider rational, they sometimes affect the bit of the brain that goes no, this is a bad idea and recognises possible consequences - someone who's had that sort of damage done might be arrested for things like public disturbance or assault when they're at home (he has prevously been charged with these) because they just can't process the potential consequences in the same way that a neurotypical person - or themselves as they used to be - might have done. TBIs are basically a level of brain damage, the really violently acquired equivalent of a stroke. They can affect all kinds of things ( ... )
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I think one of the other things I've learned is that very few people really understand them. You hit the nail on the head. This man is horribly broken, the system failed him, and he did an unforgivable, horrible, disgusting thing probably as a result. It's worse that it doesn't surprise me that someone with MULTIPLE TBIs would do something like this. And what he did just disturbs me. And the way it's been treated since has disturbed me. Really, nothing about this doesn't disturb me ( ... )
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Bales should never have been sent to Afghanistan.
I remember seeing in one article that his family had put in for a non-deployable post - three years at home, give or take - and they got it, they were just transitioning from their old command to the new one...and he got shipped overseas anyway because the powers that be were short-handed. To me, this just reads as a massive failure on every possible level. The tragedy of it is the people in these two villages who were made to pay.
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The tragedy of it is the people in these two villages who were made to pay.
Yep. And it's still not enough to get this system to change. I don't think anything will ever be.
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Really?
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But I also think that a lot of people who either a) blindly support the military no matter what; b) only care about white people, Christians, or white Christians; or c) both, are simply willing to overlook this matter.
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I have no doubt this man was suffering, troubled, and not in his 100 percent right mind at all times.
That being said - justice does need to be served, and the people he killed deserve no less than that. They didn't cause his issues, and shouldn't be swept under the rug because our govt. can't comprehend 10 years of war = fucked up soldiers. (Or, more likely, simply doesn't care.)
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