Sgt. Bales' Team Says U.S. is Withholding Evidence

UPDATE: The attorney representing the American soldier accused of slaughtering 17 Afghan civilians accused the U.S. government on Friday of withholding evidence that would be crucial to his defense.

Speaking to the Associated Press, lawyer John Henry Browne detailed what he said were numerous examples of the government going out of their way to "hide evidence," including denying his team acccess to video allegedly taken from a surveillance blimp showing Staff Sgt. Robert Bales on the night of the killings.

"It's outrageous," Browne said. "What they are basically doing is hiding evidence. The only reason to hide evidence is if you don't have evidence."

Browne also complained that the government released a number of civilian witnesses after interviewing them but before giving the defense team a chance to do the same.

Thursday, March 28: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales had long suffered from PTSD-like symptoms brought on by multiple combat tours, his lawyer said Wednesday.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Bale's lawyer, John Henry Browne, did not acknowledge any wrongdoing by his client, however he did provide what amounts to the most detailed public portrayal to date of what Bales' state of mind was like in the months before the incident in which he stands accused of killing 17 Afghan civilians.

Browne said that Bales, 38, has said that he's long suffered from night sweats, flashbacks and persistent headaches dating back several years. The Army soldier was on his fourth combat tour at the time of the shootings.

Speaking to the Associated Press, Browne also suggested that Bales endured a particularly harrowing incident on his second combat tour in Iraq that sparked "tremendous depression and anxiety," although the lawyer said the details of that event were still classified.

You can read more from the Post here.

Monday, March 26, 12:48 p.m.: The U.S. military on Monday denied that one of the 17 charges of premeditated murder Sgt. Robert Bales is facing is for the death of an unborn fetus.

Earlier in the day, the New York Times cited Kandahar Province Police Chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Raziq, indicating that one of the victims of Bales' alleged shooting spree in an Afghan village was pregnant.

The information appeared to explain a discrepancy in the number of people Bales is said to have killed: Until Friday, when charges were formally filed against Bales, the death toll from the shooting spree was reported at 16. 

But Army Lt. Col. Jimmie E. Cummings Jr. told msnbc.com in an email that the "information that we have collected up to now, this is not true." He added: "the 17th is not from a pregnant female or any of the wounded passing away. At this time, the evidence available to the prosecution team indicates 17 victims of premeditated murder and 6 victims of assault and attempted premeditated murder."

Other new details about the case emerged over the weekend, including this one: Bales allegedly attacked the village in two waves, returning to his base once before heading back to the village.

Monday, March 26, 10:17 a.m.: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales has been charged with an additional count of premeditated murder for the death of an unborn fetus, according to Afghan authorities.

"The Americans are right and one of the females was pregnant, which is why they are saying 17," Kandahar Province Police Chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Raziq told the New York Times, referring to the apparent discrepancy between the number of people who were originally reported to have been killed during Bales' alleged shooting rampage earlier this month (16) and the number of murder charges he now faces (17).

The United States has not yet provided an official explanation for the additional charge. 

As the Times explains, a section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice allows for a separate murder charge in the death of an unborn fetus, even if the killer doesn't know that the victim is pregnant. 

Bales' wife, meanwhile, defended her husband in an interview Monday. Speaking to NBC's Today show, Karilyn Bales said she found the charges "unbelievable," adding, "He loves children; he's like a big kid himself ... he loves children, and he would not do that."

Bales also faces six counts of assault and six counts of attempted murder. 

Sunday, March 25: The United States paid $50,000 to relatives of each of the civilians killed in the March 11 shooting rampage in which at least 16 people died. It also paid out $11,000 to each person who was wounded in the shootings that have been blamed on Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, reports the Associated Press.

The amounts are significantly larger than what the United States has paid in the past to families of civilians killed by its troops. The high sums reflect the significance of the case that amounts to “the most serious alleged war crime by a Western service member to come to light in the course of the 10-year conflict,” notes the Los Angeles Times.

There is a large discrepancy in what Afghan civilians receive in compensation depending on where the NATO forces are from, Reuters reported earlier this month. While British troops have paid as little as $210, Germans have paid as much as $25,000, according to a report from the human rights group CIVIC. The United States usually pays up to $2,500 to civilians killed during lawful operations.

The families of the victims of the shooting spree have repeatedly said they would refuse compensation, notes the Wall Street Journal. A local Afghan official said the payments weren’t compensation but rather aid to the families. But a spokesman for NATO said the money was compensation, reports CNN. The local farmer who lost 11 family members in the shooting has refused to comment. U.S. officials are also refusing to confirm the numbers.

The U.S. has charged Staff Sgt. Robert Bales with 17 counts of murder, but the villagers and provincial authorities continue to say they know of only 16 fatalities. The U.S. military has yet to explain the discrepancy, notes the AP.

Meanwhile, Reuters and the AP hear word that Bales appears to have carried out the killings in two stages. He apparently returned to the base at one point only to go out and resume the shooting spree.

Saturday, March 24: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales was charged Friday with 17 counts of premeditated murder for killing eight adults and nine children in Afghanistan on March 11, reports Reuters. He was also charged with six counts of assault and six of attempted murder for attacking four other children and two adults.

The maximum punishment is death and the mandatory minimum sentence is life imprisonment with the chance of parole. It could be months, or even years, before a trial against Bales begins, points out the Associated Press.

Friday, March 23: Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is expected to be charged with 17 counts of murder on Friday, along with six counts of assault and attempted murder.

Bales was previously accused of killing 16 civilians in a southern Afghan village, including nine children. As the Los Angeles Times explains, it's possible that the 17th count of murder represents an increase in the death toll from his alleged rampage. CNN reports that Afghan officials have no record of a 17th death, but that the "extra" count of murder will be explained when charges are officially filed.

Bales was removed from Afghanistan last week and is currently in solitary confinement at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. 

Monday, March 19: Now that the soldier who allegedly killed 16 Afghan civilians last week has been named, media outlets are putting in the legwork to try to paint a picture of the Army sergeant by speaking to those who know him.

The New York Times probably has the most comprehensive profile of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, which begins like so:

"He was not the star, just a well-regarded young man who seemed to try to do the right thing. That was Robert Bales, 'our Bobby,' friends said. He was a busy, popular kid, but he made time for the autistic man down the block. Other neighborhood boys admired him. As a high school linebacker, he was good enough to be captain, but also gracious enough to help a more talented player take over his starting position. It was good for the team, he said."

CNN also spoke to those who knew Bales from his youth, including one friend who had this to say: "If the Bobby that I knew ever gets well, comes back to it, and realizes what has happened, and realizes that children and women were killed, I don't think he can live with it."

For a third profile of Bales, check out this Voice of America story.

Sunday, March 18: Amid all the words of shock from those who knew Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier accused of killing 16 civilians in Afghanistan, a former platoon leader who was his supervisor during a 15-month Iraq deployment stands out. “He's one of the best guys I ever worked with,” Army Capt. Chris Alexander tells the Associated Press. “He is not some psychopath. He's an outstanding soldier who has given a lot for this country.”

Meanwhile, Bales’ lawyers are busy preparing his legal strategy and say they will spend several days with him over the coming days. John Henry Browne, Bales’ civilian attorney, issued a statement saying Emma Scanlan, also a civilian, would help him in the defense, along with a military defense counsel, Maj. Thomas Hurley, reports Reuters.

The profiles of Bales that are emerging note that his alleged killings have once again put into sharp focus the stress that many service members are going through. If there’s anything notable about the fact that Bales was on his fourth combat tour in a decade, it is how common that really is in the force at large. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, more than 107,000 soldiers have been deployed three or more times, according to the New York Times.

Saturday, March 17: Staff Sergeant Robert Bales has arrived at the high-security military prison in Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he is being held in a solitary cell as he awaits trial, reports Reuters. He had been held in Kuwait since being flown out of Afghanistan Wednesday.  Bales has not yet been charged, although experts expect that to happen shortly.

Reporters have descended on Sgt. Robert Bales’ neighborhood in Lake Tapps, Wash. As could be expected, friends, neighbors, and colleagues are having a hard time reconciling the fact that the father of two young children they knew could have been responsible for a shooting rampage that killed 16 unarmed Afghan civilians.

The Seattle Times manages to talk to Bales’ former commanding officer, who calls him “a great noncommissioned officer.” Neighbors say he didn’t talk much about his more than 10 years of service for the U.S. military, although it seems clear he and his wife were upset that he was called for a fourth tour of duty in a war zone. He also seems to have been frustrated that he was passed over for promotion. A blog post apparently written by his wife notes Bales was considering leaving the Army.

Although he received 20 awards and commendations from his years in war zones, his “military files show a largely unremarkable service record,” writes the Associated Press. Records show he had had brushes with the law in the past. He was arrested in 2002 for assault on a girlfriend, although the case was dismissed after he went through 20 hours of counseling. He was also cited for a misdemeanor hit-and-run incident in 2008 that involved no other drivers, reports the News Tribune.

Friday, March 16, 6:30 p.m.: Sources have identified the U.S. army sergeant accused of killing 16 Afghan civillians in a rampage last weekend as Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, Reuters and Fox News are reporting.

He's being flown to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

Friday, March 16, 10:53 a.m.: The U.S. army sergeant accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians last weekend "snapped" from "a combination of stress, alcohol and domestic issues," according to an unnamed U.S. official. 

The official, speaking to the New York Times, also confirmed some details about the soldier, who has not yet been named or formally charged: He's 38, married with two kids, and was on his fourth combat tour since joining the military in 2001.

Meanwhile, Afghan president Hamid Karzai on Friday said that the U.S. isn't fully cooperating with Afghanistan's investigation into the shootings. Karzai, along with other Afghan officials and some residents of the villages in which the killings took place, appeared to believe that there was more than one solider involved, contradicting the official story, Reuters reports. As the BBC notes, the surviving family members of the victims "berated" Karzai on Friday for a lack of answers. 

The lone soldier accused in the rampage will move to a U.S. prison as soon as Friday. He was transported to a detention facility in Kuwait a day after the attacks, but apparently the U.S. government didn't inform the Kuwaitis of the move before they heard about it on the news, causing a "behind-the-scenes diplomatic uproar," the Times writes.

The soldier's lawyer, John Henry Browne, denied that marital tension was a factor in the rampage, adding that the claim also made him "suspicious" of the alleged involvement of alcohol. According to Browne, the soldier grew up in the midwest, and enlisted the week of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Thursday, March 15, 5:17 p.m: The prominent Seattle defense lawyer who represented the so-called "Barefoot Bandit" said Thursday that he had been asked to defend the U.S. Army sergeant accused of shooting and killing at least 16 Afghan civilians this past weekend.

The Associated Press reports that John Henry Browne spoke with the sergeant early Thursday over the phone. The soldier, who Browne said is 38, highly decorated and from the Seattle area, is reportedly in Kuwait after having been transferred out of Afghanistan on Wednesday. Browne says he has plans to meet with the sergeant in person soon, according to the USA Today.

While Browne refused to release the soldier’s name—which the Army has also kept under wraps—he did provide a little context concerning his mental state, telling the AP that his client "wasn’t thrilled about going on another deployment. He was told he wasn’t going back, and then he was told he was going."

Browne is best known for representing Colton Harris-Moore, a teenager who stole airplanes, boats and cars over the course of two years. Browne said that he has worked on handful of military cases before, but that the sergeant will also have at least one military lawyer on his defense team.

Thursday, March 15, 10:09 a.m.: Afghan President Hamid Karzai asked the U.S. on Thursday to pull its troops from his country's rural areas and villages and confine them to military bases.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the request came during a meeting with Leon Panetta, on the second day of the Defense secretary's tense two-day visit to Afghanistan in the wake of this past weekend's apparent killing spree conducted by a U.S. soldier. The paper explains that Karzai's demand "dramatically changes the outlook of the war" and, if accepted, would "essentially end the U.S. combat role just as the annual spring offensive begins."

The Associated Press explains that a U.S. troop pullback would put the transition of the country's security to Afghan forces a year ahead of schedule. President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron affirmed on Wednesday that they were sticking with the plan to shift NATO's security role in the country into Afghan hands in 2013.

Also on Thursday, the Taliban announced they were suspending a Qatar office intended for negotiations with the U.S., effectively ending talks on prisoner transfers, CNN reports.

The rising tensions in the region come after a weekend rampage reportedly carried out by a U.S. soldier in a rural Afghan village that killed 16 civilians, including nine children. According to CNN, protesters condemned the removal of the so far unnamed soldier from the country Thursday, demanding that he stay in Afghanistan to face a trial there.

Meanwhile, the Afghan man who crashed a stolen truck on a British military on Wednesday during Panetta's arrival at the base has died, according to the AP. He was working as an interpreter for the foreign forces in the country, and is believed to have been targeting a group of U.S. marines waiting on the tarmac for Panetta's arrival in the country.

Wednesday, March 4, 3:18 p.m.: An Afghan crashed a stolen truck on a British military base runway as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s plane was landing Wednesday for an unannounced two-day visit in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times. Panetta emerged from the plane unharmed, but the driver of the truck reportedly emerged from the wreckage ablaze.

The air field was at a Marine base in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, near Kandahar, where an unnamed U.S. army sergeant killed 16 civilians on Sunday. The Washington Post provides a graphic of the relative location here.

No explosives were found in the truck, and Pentagon officials couldn’t immediately confirm whether the man meant to attack Panetta.

The Times reports that as Panetta began to speak at Camp Leatherneck amid the heightened tension, American troops were abruptly asked to put their weapons outside the tent where the briefing was to take place. U.S. officials have since stated that that precaution had actually been requested Tuesday, and that the brisk request so soon after Panetta’s arrival was due to a miscommunication. American troops are normally allowed to keep their weapons on them, the Times notes.

In a separate visit in to a remote base in western Helmand, Panetta re-emphasized statements by President Obama by which the U.S. would keep to its timetable of withdrawing 23,000 American troops by the end of summer and the remaining 68,000 by the end of 2014, notes the Times.

Meanwhile, a USA Today/Gallup poll taken after the Kandahar shooting rampage shows that half of Americans back a faster pullout. “More than one in four of those surveyed say events in recent months, including attacks on coalition forces in the wake of the burning of Qurans at a U.S. military base, have persuaded them that the time has come for the troops to come home,” USA Today writes.

Wednesday, March 14: Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta is in Afghanistan Wednesday for an unannounced two-day visit, days after a U.S. soldier reportedly killed 16 civilians in a weekend rampage.

Although, as the New York Times reports, the visit was planned months in advance, the timing has heightened the tension and importance of Panetta's time in the country.

Speaking to Afghan officials, Panetta said that recent violence in the country does "not represent the Afghan people, the Afghan security forces, or U.S. and (coalition) forces—the vast majority of whom are trying to do the right thing," the Associated Press reports.

According to the Times, Panetta is expected to speak to President Hamid Karzai in person about the killings during his visit. The Defense secretary has previously denounced the incident and vowed to bring the killer to justice (albeit not in an Afghan court).

Panetta also spoke to a group of about 200 marines Wednesday, who were abruptly told to remove their weapons from the tent in which they were gathered to hear the secretary speak, according to the Times. Normally, American troops are armed in Afghanistan during a visit like Panetta's, but not Afghan troops. According to Maj. Gen. Mark Gurganus, the decision to remove the weapons was intended to create a consistent policy for everyone in the tent.

The U.S. presence in Afghanistan is contending with escalating anger from the country's residents. The weekend's killings follow an incident last month in which NATO soldiers burned Muslim holy books, sparking deadly protests in the country.  

Tuesday, March 13, 3:11 p.m.: President Obama said Tuesday that an investigation into the weekend shooting spree that killed 16 Afghan civilians would be thorough and hold anyone involved "fully accountable," the Associated Press reports.

Speaking at the White House before an unrelated event, the president addressed the situation that has dominated international news since Sunday, when a U.S. soldier allegedly went on a rampage that left nine children among the dead. Obama called the apparent massacre "outrageous and unacceptable."

"The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens, and our children, who were murdered," the president said. "We're heartbroken over the loss of innocent life."

Pentagon officials have rebuffed calls from Afghan leaders for a public trial for the Army sergeant accused of the killings, maintaining that the U.S. government would be responsible for prosecuting the wayward soldier. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has suggested that the death penalty could be an option.

Elsewhere in Slate: Fred Kaplan takes a look at the U.S. military's current role in Afghanistan, and makes the case that an American presence can no longer serve any purpose. Read that here.

Tuesday, March 13: U.S. officials are considering an accelerated withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in the wake of an alleged weekend rampage by an American Army sergeant that killed 16 civilians, the New York Times reports.

President Obama stressed Monday that there won't be a "rush for the exits" following the incident but administration officials tell the paper that talks—which they say had begun before the weekend killings—to increase the drawdown there by at least an additional 20,000 troops by 2013 have heated up in recent days, as tensions continue to worsen since U.S. personnel mistakenly burned several Qurans last month.

According to the Times, any plans for an accelerated withdrawal would face strong opposition from military leaders, who favor keeping most of the remaining American troops in the country until 2014, when the NATO mission there is slated to end.

Meanwhile, Taliban militants attacked an Afghan government delegation on Tuesday that was visiting villages in the southern Kandahar province where the weekend killings took place, the Associated Press reports. The delegation included two of President Hamid Karzai's brothers.

An Afghan soldier serving as a bodyguard for the delegation was killed and another soldier and a military prosecutor were wounded, according to the Kandahar police chief.

The Taliban had vowed revenge on Monday after an American soldier reportedly opened fire on villagers in southern Afghanistan, killing nine children and seven other civilians.

Monday, March 12, 4:55 p.m.: The Pentagon on Monday rejected calls by the Afghan government for the U.S. Army sergeant accused of killing 16 civilians to face a public trial in Afghanistan, the AFP reports.

A military spokesman said that the United States will be responsible for prosecuting the wayward soldier, emphasizing that investigations and prosecutions are already normally handed over to U.S. authorities pursuant to "agreements in place with the government of Afghanistan."

The news comes amid growing tension over the U.S. presence in Afghanistan, unrest that was fueled in recent weeks by other diplomatic fiascoes like last month’s Quran burnings. Many observers say that current Afghan-American relations are at their lowest since the U.S. invasion took place 10 years ago.

Politico, meanwhile, reports that Hillary Clinton echoed other U.S. officials in offering her condolences to the people of Afghanistan on Monday. "This is not who we are, and the United States is committed to seeing that those responsible are held accountable," the secretary of state said in a speech at the U.N.

Monday, March 12: As the U.S. apologizes for an American soldier's deadly attacks on two villages in Afghanistan over the weekend, the Taliban on Monday vowed revenge. 

As NPR reports, both U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and President Obama have called Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai to apologize for the attacks on Sunday, which, despite earlier reports, seem to be the work of a single U.S. Army sergeant. Panetta promised to "bring those responsible to justice." Obama echoed the defense secretary's remarks, offering his condolences to the families of the dead, and to the people of Afghanistan.

The Taliban, which almost immediately condemned the attacks as "genocide," promised in a statement on their website to avenge the deaths of Afghanistan villagers at the hands of "sick-minded American savages." As the Associated Press reports, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for several attacks following the burning of several Muslim holy books by NATO soldiers last month. 

On Sunday, a U.S. Army sergeant killed 16 villagers (nine of whom were children) in southern Afghanistan. According to the New York Times, village residents say that the soldier went door-to-door, then broke into three homes, killing most of those inside. He then attempted to burn the bodies before surrendering at his base more than one mile away.

Sunday, March 11: A U.S. service member left his southern Afghanistan base before dawn Sunday and seems to have indiscriminately opened fire on houses in two nearby villages, killing 16. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said nine children and three women were among the dead and called the attack in Panjwayi district an “assassination” reports the Associated Press. One soldier has been detained over the shooting, and the BBC hears word he is a staff sergeant.

Even though several reports talk of a lone U.S. soldier, Reuters hears from Afghan officials that the attack was actually carried out by a group of Western forces. Witnesses claim a group of American soldiers appeared drunk and were laughing as they went on a shooting spree, later burning the bodies.

The incident takes place following weeks of rioting sparked last month by news that Qurans were burned at a U.S. base, killing some 30 people. Days earlier, though, there were signs that relations were finally starting to improve as Washington and Kabul officials managed to make progress on a long-delayed strategic partnership deal, writes the New York Times.

Now NATO officials are bracing themselves for the fallout of what could very well be “the worst atrocity of the 10-year war to be deliberately carried out by a single member of the Western military,” as the Los Angeles Times puts it. The Taliban quickly released a statement saying that 50 civilians had been killed as part of a “genocide” that was the result of a U.S. night raid.

“This is a deeply regrettable incident and we extend our thoughts and concerns to the families involved,” the U.S. military said in a statement, according to the Washington Post.

Reuters talks to an Afghan official who says the soldier appears to have entered three homes, killing 11 people in the first one. Panjawi is around 22 miles from the provincial capital, Kandahar City.

The shooting Sunday was not the first time U.S. soldiers have been accused of killing Afghans in Kandahar province for no reason, notes the Wall Street Journal. Four U.S. Army soldiers were convicted last year of murdering Afghans and collecting body parts for trophies.