More information has been released about the American soldier in Afghanistan accused of massacring 16 Afghani civilians. Apparently, his tour in Afghanistan was his fourth (after three tours of duty in Iraq) and he’d suffered both brain and body injuries in Iraq. Other sources say the solider was battling alcohol abuse …
From the article:
Speaking in Seattle, where the accused soldier is based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, [the soldier’s lawyer] said his new client was a “mild-mannered” man who bore no antipathy towards Muslims.
He described him as “a decorated soldier” with an exemplary record before the shooting.
The lawyer also suggested the soldier, who began his first deployment to Afghanistan in December, was not fit to serve because of injuries he had suffered on previous tours of duty.
Mr Browne said that a car accident caused by a roadside bomb in Iraq had given the soldier a concussive head injury. And part of his foot had been removed in surgery because of a battle-related wound, he added.
“I think it’s of interest that we have a soldier who has an exemplary record, a decorated soldier who was injured in Iraq, to his brain and to his body and then despite that was sent back,” he said.
