Sympathy for a devil?: Eager to hear (civil) thoughts on military mass murderer and death sentencing

The provocative start to the title of this post (as well as the image I have posted) not only borrows from my favorite Rolling Stones' song, but also seeks to encourage thoughtful reflections on readers' reactions and feelings concerning Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the Army soldier who is set to be charged in the killings of 16 Afghan civilian men, women and children. The personal and professional history of Bales emerged in the media this past weekend, and his backstory adds many potential layers to what is already a dynamic story of one man's experiences with both guns (in the military) and roses (though succes in other parts of his life). Here is some of that backstory via this lengthy Wall Street Journal article:

Interviews with those who knew Staff Sgt. Bales where he grew up outside Cincinnati, where he was known as "Bobby" and at Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Tacoma, Wash., where he was stationed, expressed disbelief over the accusations he is facing.  "That just wasn't him. That's why it's torn anybody up that knew him," said Nita Pertuset, who lives three doors from the house in Norwood.

Military officials have said alcohol was likely involved in the killing spree, and Staff Sgt. Bales has had minor skirmishes with the law over the past 10 years, according to records.

Records and interviews reflect the family's financial stress, a recent decision to sell their Lake Tapps, Wash., home at a loss, and professional disappointment, first at missing out on a promotion after a tour in Iraq and then being sent to Afghanistan after believing his overseas assignments were finished.

"It is very disappointed [sic] after all of the work Bob has done and all the sacrifices he has made for his love of his country, family and friends," Karilyn Bales, the soldier's wife, wrote last year on her family blog, say excerpts quoted by the Associated Press.  "I am sad and disappointed too, but I am also relieved, we can finally move on to the next phase of our lives."

She said that she hoped Staff Sgt. Bales would be given a new assignment in a different location, perhaps Germany, Italy or Hawaii. "We are hoping that if we are proactive and ask to go to a location that the Army will allow us to have some control over where we go next," she wrote.

Some who knew Staff Sgt. Bales in the community of Norwood, outside Cincinnati, were puzzled when he abandoned what seemed like a promising career in the financial-services industry to enlist in the Army following the Sept. 11 attacks.  He went to Norwood High School, where he played on the varsity football team. He was popular among other players: "The kind of guy that got everybody pumped up," said Mr. Berling, who was a teammate. "Popular guy, captain, big smile," Mr. Berling said. "He was always very personable."...

Robert Bales was ... a student of military history.  Mr. Berling remembers a course in which Staff Sgt. Bales went back and forth with the teacher over particulars of war.  "He knew all the names of the generals and battles, from the Revolutionary War and Bunker Hill, and all that," Mr. Berling said.

Still, some didn't understand why he enlisted in the Army, especially after attending Ohio State University and beginning a career as a financial adviser.  In a high school graduating class of about 125, most students had gone on to college, and few went into the military, which wasn't a particularly big part of the culture.

Another friend and neighbor in Ohio, Michael Blevins, 35, said he has known "Bobby" since he was 2 years old and Staff Sgt. Bales was 5.  Mr. Blevins still lives across the street from the red brick single-family home where the suspect grew up.  He and Mr. Berling both recalled that Staff Sgt. Bales helped care for a special needs man in the neighborhood. When he enlisted in 2001, he was heading to boot camp, and called Mr. Blevins the night before he left. Mr. Blevins said he told him that it "felt right to him.  He had a real sense of pride about it."

Once in the military, many of those who served with him considered him a "likable guy" — always laughing, quick with a joke, said retired Capt. Blake Hall.  Both were from Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Seattle and served in Mosul, Iraq, then saw fighting in Najaf and Karbala as well as action in Baghdad.  "He was involved in all of that," said Mr. Hall, who now operates an online firm called TroopSwap, which arranges consumer bargains for military families....

Mr. Browne, his attorney, has suggested in several interviews that Staff Sgt. Bales may have been deployed too often.  After three stints in Iraq, he has said the family thought the Middle East deployments were finished.  Then, however, Staff Sgt. Bales was sent to Afghanistan.

But others disagree with that complaint, and even some who knew him said they didn't think the massacre was a result of U.S. military policies and deployments.  "What he did is not systemic; he was a lone actor," said Mr. Hall, the retired captain, commenting on the allegations.  "The media is painting this as 'too many deployments,' [but] he broke several orders, first drinking and then shooting women and children."

In addition to urging readers to keep civil here, I am especially interested to hear from supporters of the death penalty concerning whether (and why) they think these and other personal background matters are important in assessing Bales' punishment for what seems like a death-deserving crime.  Unprovoked slaughter of many women and children is often justifiably viewed as a the kind of horrific crime for which death is a fitting punishment.  I fully expect the anti-death penalty crowd will be eager to stress the personal factors to explain why, even for an extreme mass murder, death is not a justifiable punishment.  But, especially due to the political and social overtones of this case, I want to know if strong death penalty supporters have a unique kind of sympathy for this (not-so-unique?) kind of devil.

Recent related post:

• "Soldier could face death penalty in Afghan killings, Panetta says"

UPDATE:  This lengthy new profile of Bales in the New York Times adds these addition details concerning how those who knew Bales before his recent arrest have come to think about why he was involved in this awful crime:

Friends, relatives and his lawyer say they have an idea of what that horrible thing was [which happened to him]: war.  Three deployments in Iraq, where he saw heavy fighting, and a fourth in Afghanistan, where he went reluctantly, left him struggling financially, in danger of losing his home.

And there were more direct impacts. During his deployments, Sergeant Bales, 38, lost part of a foot and injured his head, saw fellow soldiers badly wounded, picked up the bodies of dead Iraqis, was treated for mild traumatic brain injury and possibly developed post-traumatic stress disorder, his lawyer and military officials said.