COLUMN: We must hold ourselves to higher standard in Afghanistan
On Sunday of last week, a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant by the name of Robert Bales allegedly went on a shooting rampage, killing 16 innocent Afghan civilians, including women and children. Ultimately, Bales is “innocent until proven guilty,” but the circumstances in this case seem pretty clear-cut.
According to officials, Bales left his Army base in the early hours of Sunday, March 11 and shot civilians in a nearby village. The killings have been described as incredibly horrendous, with some victims being shot in the head and others being burned. Bales then returned to base, laid his weapons on the ground and raised his arms to surrender, saying, “I did it.” After being taken into custody, he detailed what he had just done.
The investigation has since discovered Bales had previously suffered a head injury; however, the Army ruled he was still fit for service. The base where Bales was serving has also been accused of downgrading diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but as of yet, there are no links between those allegations and this case.
Bales will be tried under U.S. military law, and many in Afghanistan are asking Bales be given the death penalty if convicted; however, there has not been a single U.S. military execution since 1961.
Sadly, this case should probably break that trend. Bales is clearly a troubled individual, and he very well may be suffering from PTSD. What is also clear is that Sgt. Bales knew what he did was wrong — immediately after murdering innocent civilians, he came back to the base and turned himself in. That shows he understood the appalling crime he had just committed.
If an Afghan soldier murdered innocent Americans, I can guarantee Americans would be up in arms to have that soldier executed. If America is to be a symbol of freedom and nobility to the world, we must hold our soldiers to a high standard, and the killing of innocent civilians must be punished to the harshest extent.
Our military’s mental health standards should also be examined, and anyone found downgrading diagnoses of anxiety or mental disorders needs to be harshly punished.
But while PTSD may have played a role in these killings, it is fairly clear Sgt. Bales knew what he was doing was wrong; and for that, he must be held to the high standard of our military.
Nathan Inks is the president of College Republicans. The column does not reflect views of the organization.
