The Norman Transcript

Nation/World

Discussion

November 11, 2012

Victims testify about details of massacre

The Associated Press Associated Press

NORMAN — JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. — Stories of the massacre came, one by one, over a live video link from Afghanistan into a military courtroom outside Seattle: torched bodies, a son finding his wounded father, boys cowering behind a curtain while others screamed.

As the Afghans recounted the horror that left 16 dead in the darkness early on March 11, the U.S. soldier accused of carrying out the rampage sat quietly in the courtroom.

At one point, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales moved closer to a large monitor showing the testimony. At other times, he watched as it played on a laptop screen in front of him. Either way, he gave no discernible reaction.

Speaking through an interpreter, one Afghan closed his remarks with the words: “My request is to get justice.”

The hearing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord is meant to help determine whether Bales, 39, will face a court-martial in the deaths of the seven adults and nine children. He could face the death penalty if he is convicted.

The hearing was held overnight Friday to accommodate Afghan witnesses.

They recounted the villagers who lived in the attacked compounds and listed the names of those killed, to provide a record of the lives lost. The bodies were buried quickly under Islamic custom, and no forensic evidence was available to prove the number of victims.

The youngest witness was Sadiquallah, a boy of about 13 or 14. With his ears sticking out from beneath a white cap, he described being awakened screaming that an American had “killed our men.”

He said he and another boy ran to hide in a storage room and ducked behind a curtain. It provided no protection from the bullet that grazed his head and fractured his skull. Sadiquallah said the shooter had a gun and a light, but he could not identify the man.

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Nation/World
  • Disaster central

    WASHINGTON — Many states get hit frequently with tornadoes and other natural catastrophes, but Oklahoma is Disaster Central. The twister that devastated Moore was the 74th presidential disaster declared in the Sooner state in the past 60 ...

    May 25, 2013

  • I-5 bridge falls into river

    MOUNT VERNON — The trucker was hauling a load of drilling equipment when his load bumped against the steel framework over an Interstate 5 bridge. He looked in his rearview mirror and watched in horror as the span collapsed into the water ...

    May 25, 2013

  • Obama balances threats to America

    WASHINGTON — Forecasting the changing nature of threats against the U.S. for years to come, President Barack Obama says “America is at a crossroads.” And so, too, is his presidency’s counterterrorism policy, which has long struggled to ...

    May 25, 2013

  • Third-grader left school with minutes to spare

    Faces of the storm The Oklahoma medical examiner’s office says it has positively identified all 24 people killed in the tornado that ripped through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, including 10 children: Monday’s tornadoes — Terri Long, ...

    May 24, 2013

  • Man fatally shot while questioned in Boston probe

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A Chechen immigrant was shot to death by authorities in central Florida early Wednesday after he turned violent while being questioned about his ties to one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, officials said....

    May 23, 2013

  • More tornadoes from global warming? Nobody knows

    A deadly tornado hit suburban Oklahoma City on Monday. A quick look at some basic facts: Q: Is global warming to blame? A: You can’t blame a single weather event on global warming. In any case, scientists just don’t know whether there will ...

    May 22, 2013

  • Tornado season starts late, but starts nonetheless

    TULSA — Deadly tornadoes that have raked communities in Middle America over the past week, including Monday’s massive twister that carved a path of destruction through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, belie what had been a relatively ...

    May 21, 2013

  • Israeli seeks interim deal with Palestinians

    JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior coalition partner says that reaching a final peace agreement with the Palestinians is unrealistic at the current time and the sides should instead pursue an interim arrangement....

    May 20, 2013

  • Syrian troops push into town

    BEIRUT — Syrian troops pushed into a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border on Sunday, fighting house-to-house and bombing from the air as President Bashar Assad tried to strengthen his grip on a strategic strip of land running from the ...

    May 20, 2013

  • Fate of Los Angeles marijuana shops left to voters

    LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles politicians have struggled for more than five years to regulate medical marijuana, trying to balance the needs of the sick against neighborhood concerns that pot shops attract crime. Voters will head to the polls ...

    May 20, 2013