The Robert Bales shooting in Afghanistan and your thoughts

[RedGajin]

Most of us have probably heard about it on the news and such, so what are your general thoughts on the matter?

Articles:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/03/11/bloomberg_articlesM0Q90N0D9L3501-M0QTU.DTL

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/18/world/asia/afghanistan-shooting/?hpt=hp_t3

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/18/us-usa-afghanistan-soldier-life-idUSBRE82H0A820120318

Excerpt from the first article for TL;DR

A U.S. soldier shot to death 16 Afghan civilians in their homes before returning to his base and being taken into custody...

The soldier went to three houses in the villages of Najib Yan and Alokozai in Kandahar's Panjwayi district and opened fire, according to villagers who spoke to Bloomberg News by telephone.

"The soldier killed four of my family members including my wife, sisters and a baby nephew," Habibullah Khan said by telephone. "I was out of the district in the city of Kandahar, but when I came back I saw blood and all four people had been killed in their beds."

The attacker brought 11 of the dead into one home and set the bodies on fire, according to Mohammed, a tribal elder in the district who asked that his last name not be used. The Associated Press and Reuters also reported that bodies had been set alight. AP and the BBC said the soldier was a staff sergeant.

[Ad Bot]

[Pepsidude]

People are gonna say the entire United States Military is bad because of this. Its one really bad person in the bunch.

It is terrible though, did the solider have a reason for this?

[RedGajin]

People are gonna say the entire United States Military is bad because of this. Its one really bad person in the bunch.

It is terrible though, did the solider have a reason for this?

Third article points out how he was sent through multiple tours (4 in all) and this could have put some mental strain on him going through so much. I doubt it was just because he wanted to.

[Ningyou]

People are gonna say the entire United States Military is bad because of this. Its one really bad person in the bunch.

QFT.

[Sheath]

People are gonna say the entire United States Military is bad because of this. Its one really bad person in the bunch.

Soldiers soil the corpses of the dead while filming and laughing.

Weeks later, soldiers "accidentally" burn the Quran.

Weeks later a soldier goes out of a rampage killing innocent people in their homes.


Hmm, I'm not buying this. Stop meddling everywhere you are not wanted.

[Pepsidude]

Soldiers soil the corpses of the dead while filming and laughing.

Weeks later, soldiers "accidentally" burn the Quran.

Weeks later a soldier goes out of a rampage killing innocent people in their homes.


Hmm, I'm not buying this. Stop meddling everywhere you are not wanted.

Surely not all 1.5 Million soilders in the U.S. Armed Forces are like this.

And Stop meddling everywhere I'm not wanted? I don't recall anyone ever telling me that I'm not wanted.

[Ningyou]

And Stop meddling everywhere I'm not wanted? I don't recall anyone ever telling me that I'm not wanted.

He probably meant the soldiers in Afghanistan.

[Pepsidude]

He probably meant the soldiers in Afghanistan.

Oh.

hurrrrrrr

[Sheath]

Surely not all 1.5 Million soilders in the U.S. Armed Forces are like this.

Its all just getting a bit too much of a "coincidence" now though isn't it. There must be some bad culture brewing in the armed forces.

And Stop meddling everywhere I'm not wanted? I don't recall anyone ever telling me that I'm not wanted.

I meant the soldiers yes, as Ningyou said hehe.

America has war bases all over the world, and most of those places loathe American presence, for the noise pollution and the invasive nature of the sites.

I'm sure Americans here will disagree with this view (though I think you'll find there are a lot of people in the USA against the wars America starts and involves itself in). But that is because its your country and your soldiers and its what you think is right.

[RedGajin]

Its all just getting a bit too much of a "coincidence" now though isn't it. There must be some bad culture brewing in the armed forces.

That's always going to happen with different cultures clashing with each other. There are always going to be certain people who are misinformed about another race or culture, it can't be avoided.

Also, this Robert Bales shooting wasn't quite the same as the other two you  mentioned, its assumed that Bales could have had mental problems after the 4 tours of combat he had been through, he wasn't doing quite the same thing as pissing on dead people.

[Count]

Something like this happened in Iraq too, where that girl got raped in front of her family then the soldier burned the house to the ground.

Anyway, it's the same on the other side, terrorists set bad examples for their entire people and this country hates on them all.

[SeventhSandwich]

Its all just getting a bit too much of a "coincidence" now though isn't it. There must be some bad culture brewing in the armed forces.

uhm, statistically it is a coincidence.

[dorkdotdan]

IMO the U.S. Forces shouldn't even be there.

let other countries fix their own goddamn problems.

Edit: Ohgod Sandwich.

[Supersylox]

People are gonna say the entire United States Military is bad because of this. Its one really bad person in the bunch.

It is terrible though, did the solider have a reason for this?

1 bad apple spoils the bunch

[fred da kiko]

Mistakes were made, men will bleed.