No one asked their names / Sgt Bob Bales' victims

One thing that has bothered my in a big way about the Sgt Bob Bales story is that we know all about him and NOTHING of his victims. We know that he has a family, what his peers thought of him, we know that he has saved lives and we know that he has taken lives. Every piece of news about this event so far has seemed to me an attempt to minimize and justify Bales' actions, to endear him to us to garner our support of him.

I do NOT support murder. I am disappointed in the media and how they attempt shape our thoughts. The deliberately withhold information about the victims because it's easier for Americans to fight a faceless, nameless, shapeless, and somehow lesser enemy.

Well, if we're going to turn Bales into a celebrity I think we owe it to his victims to at least read their names and acknowledge that they too had families, perhaps had saved lives, perhaps had taken them, felt love for and were loved by their families and friends. We owe them at least this small honor, before the media moves on to the next big story and Bales slips back into the general population with little more than a slap on the wrist.


Bales killed 16 people, including nine children and three women.

The dead:
Mohamed Dawood son of Abdullah
Khudaydad son of Mohamed Juma
Nazar Mohamed
Payendo
Robeena
Shatarina daughter of Sultan Mohamed
Zahra daughter of Abdul Hamid
Nazia daughter of Dost Mohamed
Masooma daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Farida daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Palwasha daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Nabia daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Esmatullah daughter of Mohamed Wazir
Faizullah son of Mohamed Wazir
Essa Mohamed son of Mohamed Hussain
Akhtar Mohamed son of Murrad Ali

Al Jazeera story here


I think Chris Hedges does a wonderful job of painting a picture for us of exactly what happens to people in war. I am not justifying Bales' actions by any means, I still believe in personal responsibility, I am only making the argument that under these conditions we are going to see more and more of these acts, and they will continue to get more and more depraved the longer we keep combat troops on foreign soil.

Murder is Not an Anomoly in War

I just want to point out that if Bales killed 16 Americans in a murderous rampage he would be labelled a mass murderer.

Because he is a US soldier and he killed Afghan civilians, he is instead somehow a victim himself. How can we be like this as a society and still think of ourselves as a democratic, first world country?

Bump! Earth quake got in the way of this thread.
second line

Tinker,

I think I understand what you're trying to say, and I don't condone the deliberate killing of civilians.

That said, it's WAR. People get killed.

Some of my family 3 generations back were killed in an American bombing raid while they were trying to go get some bread, a mother and 3 young children. (My family is from Germany). You may answer that bombs simply aren't that precise and the bomber didn't, couldn't have, specifically targeted a civilian woman and her children. That's true, but also beside the point. In war, civilians get killed. My ancestors are no less dead because the bomber didn't specifically target them.

My dad (American stepdad who is retired army) talked about incidents in Vietnam or Korea where the enemy sent children carrying grenades with the pin pulled to "go get some candy from the American soldiers." An innocent child was then shot by the soldiers to save their own lives, but who is really to blame for the child's death - the shooter, or the people who sent him with the grenade?

No, I am not saying, nor trying to imply, that any such thing happened in the Bales case. What I am saying is that in war, people get killed. There is a long history of unexpected combatants disguising themselves as noncombatants (i.e. young boys and women with hidden weapons), and our soldiers have to be on guard for such things, or die.

Until you are there, in the middle of it, you can't know how you will react when your life may depend on the split-second decision that is making a determination as to whether the person you are looking at is a potential threat, or not. Horrible things happen in wars, and people get killed. Sometimes they are people who didn't need to be killed, but that's war.

Whether Bales is guilty of criminal acts is a separate issue and will be determined by some authority, I'm sure, but comparing him to a serial killer is over the top, in my opinion. Mistakes are made, and sometimes they are costly to both parties to the event, but it is in no way comparable to a predatory serial killer or spree killer in a "home" or peacetime setting.

This isn't a case where he was at a checkpoint, or on patrol, and was defending himself.

Yes, civilians die in war. I understand the concept of "fog of war." I agree with you that in many situations "collateral damage" is unavoidable.

This is a separate and unique situation. This man left his base, was not on duty, killed civilians that were sleeping in their beds.

This wasn't collateral damage, it was murder.

I didn't compare him to a serial killer, I compared him to a mass murdered. There is a difference and I chose my words carefully.

Serial Killer

Mass Murderer

Seriously??

Yikes!! I guess I should have done some research before I opened my big fat mouth. I just assumed it was another civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time kind of deal.

I'm really having an off day all around. Every time I've opened my mouth today, wrong has come out. Maybe I better quit for the day.

Well, then, just .. um .. basically ignore my post above while I make my lazy self go look into the case, and then if I can think of something appropriate and intelligent to say, I'll be back!

May they all rest in peace and may God bless them all.

In Islam, there is an arabic saying that goes:

Inna lillahi, wa inna ilayhi raji'oon

and it means: from God we come, and to Him we return

Though plenty on here aren't interested in religion, I'm not tryna "put it in your face", just paying respects to these beautiful people.

reply to post by TinkerHaus

I never thought of them as anything but nameless souls, now I know their names and I can really feel the pain here.
Very good point you made as in making them human and letting us all share the grief here.

S&F and more stars if I could.
Regards, One sad Iwinder