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enhanced_deficit
08-21-2013, 07:37 PM
Afghan villager curses US sergeant; it's a bad month on Wall Street

In this courtroom sketch, an Afghan man named Faizullah, about 30 years old, testifies in a courtroom at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013, about how his father, Haji Mohammad Naim, and brother Sadiquallah were shot and wounded when Staff Sgt. Robert Bales attacked their village in Kandahar Province. Witnesses to the massacre in Kandahar Province last year took the witness stand Tuesday as a sentencing hearing began for Bales in the slayings of 16 civilians killed during pre-dawn raids on two villages on March 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Peter Millett)


US soldier faces angry relatives of Afghan massacre victims as he fights for chance at parole

Published August 21, 2013Associated Press

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – The U.S. soldier who killed 16 Afghan civilians in an attack on two villages may have to face more of the victims' relatives Wednesday while his lawyers prepare to present evidence to show he deserves a chance at parole.
An Afghan farmer shot during the massacre in Kandahar Province last year took the witness stand Tuesday at Staff Sgt. Robert Bales' sentencing hearing, cursing the soldier before breaking down and pleading with the prosecutor not to ask him any more questions.
Haji Mohammad Naim appeared at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle, where Bales pleaded guilty in June to the March 11, 2012, attacks to avoid the death penalty.
Now the six jurors must decide whether he is sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole or without it.
The hearing afforded some victims and relatives their first chance to confront Bales face-to-face.
With a thick gray beard, a turban and traditional Afghan dress, Naim testified in his native Pashto through an interpreter, speaking loudly and quickly and frequently waving a finger in the air. He pointed to where he was shot in the cheek and neck.
"This bastard stood right in front of me!" he said. "I wanted to ask him, 'What did I do? What have I done to you?' ... and he shot me!"

Naim, who is about 60 years old, said he has suffered from numbness in his hand and a stutter since the shooting. He became emotional, often speaking over the interpreter, as the prosecutor, Lt. Col. Jay Morse, asked what it was like to have someone come into his home uninvited. He eventually stood up and said he'd had enough: "Don't ask me any more questions!"

The prosecutor asked him for one more favor: to sit down and see whether the defense attorneys had any questions for him. He complied, but Bales' lawyers said they didn't need to ask him anything.
Naim's two sons, Sadiquallah, who is about 13, and the older Faizullah, also testified.
Sadiquallah spoke quietly, responding with a simple "yes" when asked if he cried about being shot. Faizullah, who was not at home during the attack, said his father has trouble picking up even simple objects because his hand is so weak.

Seven Afghans testified. Four were hurt in the attacks. Three others were relatives of the dead or wounded.
Earlier, Morse told the jury that Bales felt "inadequate as a soldier and as a man" when he left his remote post in Afghanistan in the middle of the night and attacked two mud-walled villages, gunning down men, screaming children and elderly women.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/08/21/us-soldier-faces-angry-relatives-afghan-massacre-victims-as-fights-for-chance/

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2013/08/10_things_to_know_for_wednesda_1.html