Trials

Hasan

Manning

Bales

Three trials are in the news here in the U.S... All involve the military. One of the three is most telling about the mentality of the military-industrial complex. 

Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, age 39, who plead guilty, massacred 16 people, mostly women and children, in Afghanistan. He is currently seeking the right to parole from his probable life sentence. Major Nidal Hasan, age 42, who wished to plead guilty, massacred 13 military personnel on a Texas army base during a base event. Hasan was forced to plead not guilty because he could face the death penalty. A puzzling quirk of military law. Bradley Manning, age 25, sent information to Wiki Leaks which exposed intentional murder of non-combatants by the U.S. military in war zones. Manning has been sentenced to 35 years in prison. 

Bales, who joined the army while under fraud charges, has a history of alcohol and drug abuse. He volunteered for 4 deployments. His older brother provides the typical defense by enabling family members. He suggests that Bales is really a good guy. He just behaves murderously, it seems. The older brother is hoping Bales will be eligible for parole, despite admitting to atrocity.

Hasan, a lunatic psychiatrist, is an Islamic extremist who "switched sides", according to his own defense of his massacre of fellow U.S. military personnel. It seems actually he chose the side to which all military personnel belong: The side of war and killing. Hasan, admirable perhaps in his consistent acceptance of violence and its repercussions, has voiced his desire to be executed. 

Manning claims to have done what he did as a matter of conscience. He presents himself as someone who entered the military from a position of economic need. He also presents himself as someone who 'woke up' in uniform and realized he had gotten into an organization which does not represent good, but does evil. 

I suggest that anyone interested in maintaining a truly ethical personal compass examine what is happening here with these three trials. Those who like to wave the "Never Again" banner of post-911, like Sergeant Bales, who claims to have joined the army to avenge 911, might reconsider their self-righteous stance. "Again" is exactly what Sergeant Bales did in that village in Afghanistan. He terrorized and murdered innocent victims. Those who embrace the pan-religiosity now popular in the U.S., which promotes the notion that Islam is a religion of peace, might reconsider this in light of Islam's effect on a doctor, who was educated to heal.  Those who would dismiss Manning as a traitor might reconsider their own patriotism and nationalism in light of the lives of Bales and Hasan.