The U.S. will "spare no effort" in conducting an investigation into a soldier accused of a shooting rampage in Afghanistan, President Obama said Tuesday, as Pentagon investigators mull charges that could result in the death penalty if the soldier is found guilty of killing 16 Afghan civilians.
"The United States takes this as seriously as if it was our own citizens, and our children, who were murdered. We're heartbroken over the loss of innocent life," Obama said Tuesday during a White House event.Â
"I've directed the Pentagon to make sure that we spare no effort in conducting a full investigation," Obama said. "We will follow the facts wherever they lead us and we will make sure that anybody who is involved is held fully accountable with the full force of the law.
On Sunday, the soldier, whose name is being withheld until charges are filed, reportedly walked off the U.S. base in Kandahar province -- where he had been stationed for just six weeks -- and allegedly entered homes in a nearby village, shooting people while they slept. Nine children and three women are among the dead, and some of whose bodies were apparently burned.
Afterward, the soldier, who is said to have suffered a traumatic brain injury during one of his three prior tours in Iraq, but which military officials later described as a mild injury resulting from a vehicle rollover, returned to the base where he supposedly confessed to his deeds and was detained by his unit.Â
Military officials also say the suspected shooter is not talking and is generally not cooperating with investigators. He has invoked his rights to an attorney, but it's not clear yet whether he has retained one, either private or military.
As the news trickles out across the country, the alleged massacre has already generated threats of violence. On Tuesday, an Afghan delegation sent by President Hamid Karzai to investigate the shooting scenes were attacked by militants. Multiple people were wounded and one Afghan soldier was killed, a senior military official in Afghanistan told Fox News.
The Taliban, with whom the U.S. and Afghan officials are said to be negotiating, has vowed revenge, including reportedly threatening to behead American soldiers.Â
But while Afghanistan's parliament has called for the soldier to be tried in an Afghan court, he will likely be returned to the United States and face a general court-martial under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Gary Solis, a Georgetown University law professor and expert on war crimes and the military justice system, said he thinks there's "a good chance" that an insanity defense will be raised.
"Given the circumstances of this case and the previous records of deployments of this staff sergeant, I think it's an obvious defense of his defense counsel," Solis told Fox News.Â
"It's hard to say whether the case will even go to trial because in war crimes like this it's very possible that there will be ... an insanity defense, that he is unable to recognize the wrongfulness of his act because of a severe mental disease or injury," Solis told Fox News.
Solis, a former Marine military prosecutor, said that the military is well aware of the side effects of multiple deployments in war zones, including post-traumatic stress disorder, the high divorce rate and the spousal abuse rate, among others. He said PTSD and insanity are not the same, and PTSD is not a defense, but "the groundwork has been laid" by his repeated deployments to declare insanity. Â
"Those individuals with PTSD should not ever be confused with someone who is insane, but insanity is much more than that, and one merely looks at the acts that this individual allegedly committed to say this is just not the working of a rational mind," Solis said.
President Ronald Reagan reinstituted the death penalty for soldiers by executive order in January 1984. In the order, he required that the president personally sign-off on an execution before it can take place. Though the last time a soldier was put to death -- for rape and murder -- was in 1961, six military members are currently on death row.Â
Solis said death sentences are relatively rare in the Armed Services. More common is for charges to be brought under a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
If the accused soldier doesn't claim an insanity defense, he may be able to use insanity as a mitigating factor to avoid death. He could also argue that his long service to the nation makes him eligible for a milder sentence.Â
Article from FOXNEWS
