Sgt. Robert Bales is to be charged with 17 counts of murder, 6 counts of attempted murder, and 6 counts of aggravated assault as well as dereliction of duty and other violations of military law. This is for the recent massacre in Afghanistan. But if he had sat in an air-conditioned office in the United States and guided a drone over Afghanistan and killed these same 17 people he would be a hero. Likewise if he had killed 17 people while devastating Fallujah in Iraq. Events like the massacre in Afghanistan only serve to divert attention from the criminality of the war to begin with.

The Best of Laurence M. Vance