The US soldier who massacred 16 Afghan civilians apologized today for his "act of cowardice" as he made his case at his sentencing hearing for why he should someday have a chance at freedom.
Staff Sgt Robert Bales became emotional during testimony in which he said he was angry and afraid when he went on a solo nighttime mission and slaughtered villagers, mostly women and children, on March 11, 2012 in their huts. The massacre prompted such angry protests that the US temporarily halted combat operations, and it was three weeks before Army investigators could reach the crime scene.
Bales did not recount specifics but described the attack as "an act of cowardice, behind a mask of fear, bullshit and bravado."
I'm truly, truly sorry to those people whose families got taken away," he said. "If I could bring their family members back, I would in a heartbeat."
Bales, 39, pleaded guilty in June in a deal to avoid the death penalty for the attacks. A military jury will determine if his life sentence should offer a chance of parole.
If he is sentenced to life with the possibility of parole, Bales would be eligible in 20 years, but there's no guarantee he would receive it. He will receive life with parole unless at least five of the six jurors say otherwise.
Bales, a father of two, said he was mad at himself for being angry all the time, drinking too much and hiding his problems.
He was nervous when he took the stand as the final witness in the hearing at which his lawyers have tried paint a sympathetic picture of the soldier to contrast his own admissions and the testimony of angry Afghan villagers about the horror he wrought.
The defense followed two days of testimony from nine Afghans, who spoke of their lives since the attacks.
Haji Mohammad Wazir, lost 11 family members, including his mother, wife and six of his seven children, told the six-member jury yesterday that the attacks destroyed what had been a happy life. He was in another village with his youngest son, now 5-year-old Habib Shah, during the attack.
Former pro football player Marc Edwards testified today as a character witness, telling jurors he remembered Bales as a great leader from their high school days in Ohio.
