Bales case steps out of shadows

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/11/03/2355257/bales-case-steps-out-of-shadows.html



Staff Sgt. Robert Bales’ pretrial hearing begins Monday.


Bales case steps out of shadows
ADAM ASHTON; Staff writer
Published: Nov. 3, 2012 at 11:05 p.m. PST

For seven months, Joint Base Lewis-McChord Staff Sgt. Robert Bales sat in confinement while the military stayed all but silent about its case against the four-tour combat veteran accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians in a nighttime rampage.

That silence is about to end as the Army on Monday opens its first public hearing in a courtroom drama that could lead to a death penalty court-martial for Bales, a father of two and a former Lake Tapps resident.

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Bales’ alleged crimes upended NATO’s war plan in southern Afghanistan, halted combat operations for several days and raised concerns at home about the well-being of the military 11 years into an era of continual ground combat by an all-volunteer Army.

Military authorities whisked him out of Afghanistan shortly after the March killings and placed him in jail at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. He arrived at Lewis-McChord in October.



unhappycamper comment: If history is any guide, Mr. Bales should be out soon. Lt. Willam Calley got only three and one-half years under house arrest at Fort Benning for the My Lai massacre.