SEATTLE (AP) - The U.S. soldier accused of slaughtering 16 Afghan
villagers last weekend had been reluctant to leave on his fourth
deployment and surprised to be deployed to Afghanistan, where soldiers
at his base were shaken by the serious injury of a comrade a day before
the shooting rampage, his lawyer said Thursday.
Browne declined to release his client's name, citing concerns for the
soldier's family, which is under protection on Joint Base Lewis-McChord,
near Tacoma. But he said the soldier has two young children, ages 3 and
4.
The soldier, a 38-year-old father of two who is originally from the
Midwest, deployed last December with the 3rd Stryker Brigade, and on
Feb. 1 was attached to a "village stability operation." Browne described
him as highly decorated and said he had once been nominated for a Bronze
Star, which he did not receive.
He and the rest of his brigade had initially been told they wouldn't
have to go to Afghanistan, Browne said.
Browne and his co-counsel, Emma Scanlan, said they had met with the
soldier's wife and other family members, and Browne said he spoke
briefly by phone with the soldier, whom he described as stunned and
distant.
His family was shocked: "They were totally shocked," he said. "He's
never said anything antagonistic about Muslims. He's in general very
mild-mannered."
Browne said he knew little of the facts of the shooting, but disputed
reports that a combination of alcohol, stress and domestic issues caused
him to snap. He said the family said they were unaware of any drinking
problem, and described the couple's marriage as "fabulous."
The soldier is suspected of going on a shooting rampage in villages near
his base in southern Afghanistan early Sunday, killing nine children and
seven other civilians and then burning some of their bodies. The
shooting, which followed a controversial Quran-burning incident
involving U.S. soldiers, has outraged Afghan officials.
The suspect was flown out of Afghanistan on Wednesday evening to what
officials describe as a pretrial confinement facility in Kuwait.
Officials have anonymously described him as a father of two who has been
in the military for 11 years. He has served three tours in Iraq and
began his first deployment to Afghanistan in December.
http://news.yahoo.com/lawyer-afghanistan-suspect-loath-deploy-211017201.html
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