U.S. Soldier in Court after Afghanistan Massacre

         On March 11^th Staff Sgt. Robert Bales stormed the villages of “Balandi and Alkozai, in the dangerous Panjwai district of the Kandahar Province” (Massacre Location). Staff Sgt. Bales entered the villages equipped with an M-4 rifle with a grenade launcher attachment piece. Bales advanced on the villages late in the night and went on a rampage. Bales managed to slaughter 16 people. “The massacre left 16 dead – nine of them children, and 11 of them members of the same family. Six others were wounded, and some of the bodies set afire” (Human Slaughter ). Since the start of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars no atrocity of this magnitude has been recorded. In fact, this is one of the worst atrocities carried out be a U.S. Soldier in decades.

Staff Sgt. Robert Bales during one of his four tours in Afghanistan

         After Staff Sgt. Bale’s rampaged was carried out, he was immediately taken into custody. After Bales arrest he was shipped out of Afghanistan and held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Now, it has been months since the attack and on Monday marked the first hearing of the case in a military court. “At least 35 witnesses are expected to testify, some through live video uplink from Afghanistan, over the investigation, which could last two weeks or more” (Court Hearing). Witnesses are coming from both sides of the story, anywhere from the villagers to Soldiers within Bales Platoon. Afghan officials and the villagers affected by the attack want to see justice severed. If Bales is convicted he will face the death penalty. However, Bales’ defense lawyers have constructed clear evidence to suggest that Bales has a mental deficit and he was not aware of his actions at the time of the attack. Through a combination of Bales drinking the night of the attack and his pervious three tours he was not acting in a rational manner. The stress of these things made him out of touch with the world. So he might not be at fault for his actions. Even in the aftermath of the massacre Bales has shown consist signs of certain mental deficits.

         Now this case is very curious. If Bales was truly under so much stress and potentially operating with a mental deficit, why wasn’t he pulled out of Afghanistan earlier? This case could go even further with the ethical issues underlying how many terms a soldier should serve. Bales was currently in his fourth tour in Afghanistan, and due to all the stress and exposure from war he apparently was mentally not in touch with reality. This is what his defense attorneys are claiming anyway. I feel like Bales should be held accountable but for future wars no soldier should be exposed to four tours. Especially since the horrors of war have escalated.

         This court case is going to go on for a few weeks until a verdict is reached. From my point of view Bales has committed a heinous crime and should be brought to justice. He has violated many rules of war. First, he violated terms from the War Convention. Under noncombatant immunity within the War Convention, it states, at no point are civilians suppose to be targeted or killed. Bales whether he truly does have a dental deficit or not still killed noncombatants in the heat of war. For this reason he broke the War Convention and should be prosecuted for his crime. Also under the rules of war his attack was not justified under the doctrine of Double Effect. In fact, he broke all four principles under the Double Effect. His attack was intrinsically wrong, the intended and direct effect was not towards the good of the war, and his actions certainly did not have sufficient compensation. In this case of Double Effect he has failed yet again and should be prosecuted for his crime. An atrocity of this magnitude should not be acquitted. The defense in Bales case should be denied, because justice needs to be served.