Good point. I submitted this article under the assumption that he, and he alone, was guilty, and I do apologize for that. I should have looked further into the matter instead of simply searching for one article.
I hope that whoever's in charge of investigating can look past the sensationalism and come to the entire truth of this crime.
Oh no! I wasn't criticizing you, just the focus on "one man snapping due to a TBI" in the article and how the media is spinning it into a lone gunman situation.
The neighbors in the village said they heard/saw multiple soldiers, but I couldn't google an article (IIRC articles with reports from the neighbors have been posted to this comm) because it's all about his neighbors being horrified/surprised because he's so nice.
I don't know. On one hand, the government/military are complete idiots for sending somebody with multiple TBIs on record to go back and fight.
On the other hand, this man murdered 16 people in cold blood. And if all he gets is a dishonorable discharge, then the lives of the people he killed are horribly disrespected.
Tough situation all around, but something has to be done.
They'll probably write him off as a lone lunatic and give him a dishonourable discharge.
The system that knew he was unwell and still sent him won't change one iota, the victims will be forgotten or never mentioned at all, and because of the discharge (which affects your employability and cancels all access to post-service benefits) he'll lose access to even the limited level of help the Veterans Administration might be able to give in healing him.
Shitty outcome for everyone. Congratulations, you all lose.
I do think he also deserves fair representation, which may include a defense of mental illness brought on by trauma & stress of 4 tours of duty (if I'm understanding his record correctly).
He deserves some punishment. But I know I couldn't judge at this time what the severity of the punishment should be.
which may include a defense of mental illness brought on by trauma & stress of 4 tours of duty (if I'm understanding his record correctly).
Even more relevant than possible stress is the multiple TBIs. As said above, an incredibly common result of traumatic brain injuries is an inability to cope with anger - he was sent back in spite of this. He wasn't healthy. That doesn't mean he's innocent or that there shouldn't be justice, mind. It means that the people who chose to send him out again have blood on their hands as well.
He should never have been allowed to enlist in the first place. Just months prior to enlisting, he'd been found liable for financial fraud and the settlement was $1.4 million. I'm not going to comment on trustworthiness, but you don't take someone under that kind of stress, hand him a weapon, and not be prepared for things to end badly. Then you add on the multiple deployments, the TBIs, the fact that his family's finances were crumbling in general - a lot of service members deal with that, and many of them have dealt poorly, killing themselves or family members or both - but Bales should never have been allowed in to start with. He should be punished but this is part of a much broader problem.
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I hope that whoever's in charge of investigating can look past the sensationalism and come to the entire truth of this crime.
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The neighbors in the village said they heard/saw multiple soldiers, but I couldn't google an article (IIRC articles with reports from the neighbors have been posted to this comm) because it's all about his neighbors being horrified/surprised because he's so nice.
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On the other hand, this man murdered 16 people in cold blood. And if all he gets is a dishonorable discharge, then the lives of the people he killed are horribly disrespected.
Tough situation all around, but something has to be done.
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The system that knew he was unwell and still sent him won't change one iota, the victims will be forgotten or never mentioned at all, and because of the discharge (which affects your employability and cancels all access to post-service benefits) he'll lose access to even the limited level of help the Veterans Administration might be able to give in healing him.
Shitty outcome for everyone. Congratulations, you all lose.
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I do think he also deserves fair representation, which may include a defense of mental illness brought on by trauma & stress of 4 tours of duty (if I'm understanding his record correctly).
He deserves some punishment. But I know I couldn't judge at this time what the severity of the punishment should be.
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Even more relevant than possible stress is the multiple TBIs. As said above, an incredibly common result of traumatic brain injuries is an inability to cope with anger - he was sent back in spite of this. He wasn't healthy. That doesn't mean he's innocent or that there shouldn't be justice, mind. It means that the people who chose to send him out again have blood on their hands as well.
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ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME RIGHT NOW.
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