Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the man who allegedly shot and killed 17 Afghanistan villagers, is expected to face 17 counts of murder and six counts of attempted murder, along with a slew of other charges.
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The charges come two weeks after the massacre, in which Bales allegedly left his base in the early morning hours and shot Afghans, including women and nine children, while they slept in their beds, then burned some of the bodies.
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According to the Associated Press, Bales will be read the charges today at the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he has been held since being flown from Afghanistan last week.
Bales’ attorney, John Henry Browne, said he believes the government will have a hard time proving its case and that at some stage in the prosecution, his client’s mental state will be an important issue.
In addition to murder and attempted murder, the charges will include six counts of aggravated assault, as well as a number of other violations of military law.
The 38-year-old soldier and father of two, who lives in Lake Tapps, Wash., faces trial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but it could be months before any public hearing.
The attorney said today on CBS’ “This Morning” that he spent 11 hours this week with Bales at Leavenworth and found him to be shocked by the accusations against him.
Browne said:
“He has some memories about what happened before the alleged events and some memories after the alleged events and some windows here and there into things, but he really doesn’t have any. My meetings with him clearly indicate to me that he’s got memory problems that go back long before that.”
This latest incident has worsened U.S-Afghan relations. It followed a series of missteps, including the mistaken burning of Korans, which prompted violent protests and revenge killings of American troops in the war zone.
The killings also opened the debate once again in the United States about health care for the troops, who have experienced record suicide rates and high rates of post-traumatic stress and brain injuries during repeated deployments over a decade of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
