WASHINGTON // The US soldier accused of the March 11 massacre of Afghan villagers was charged yesterday with 17 counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder and six counts of aggravated assault.
Robert Bales is alleged to have walked more than 1.5 kilometres to kill 17 people - the military raised the count from 16 on Thursday without explanation. His victims included women and nine children. He is accused of killing his victims in their sleep and then trying to burn 11 of the bodies before returning to his base in southern Afghanistan.
Legal jurisdiction in the case was expected to be switched from the US Forces-Afghanistan in Kabul to Sgt Bales's home base of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, US officials said.
The charges against the sergeant came as Americans continued to seek an explanation for the massacre - which if proven would be the worst war crime perpetrated by an individual US soldier since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq started.
The military has not given a motive for Sgt Bales' actions. Nevertheless, a picture is emerging of a soldier who had been stretched to breaking point after serving four tours of duty. The suggestion by US military officials is that Sgt Bales simply "snapped" under stress from money woes and a brain injury suffered in Iraq.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) can have dramatic consequences, not least combined with brain trauma, experts said. But some, including a former soldier, suggested that painting a picture of a lone soldier gone awry serves as an easy answer for a US public grasping for an explanation.
The narrative that Sgt Bales "just snapped" serves, of course, his defence, should it seek to pursue some kind of temporary insanity claim.
How the defence will shape up is not clear. It could be months before there is a public hearing and John Henry Browne, Sgt Bales's lawyer, appeared to be keeping his options open. On Thursday, he said Sgt Bales had no memory of the massacre and was "in shock" at the allegations against him.
"My meetings with him clearly indicate to me that he's got memory problems that go back long before that," Mr Browne told the television news programme This Morning on Thursday.
But Mr Browne also said there was a lack of evidence against his client and told The Washington Post that it would be a "hard case for the government to prove".
The US media has featured numerous interviews with friends, fellow soldiers and neighbours of Sgt Bales, 38, a father of two.
Most have painted a picture of a family man, worn down by the demands of war, a little frustrated by being overlooked for a promotion, but otherwise, according to one neighbour, "a good guy who got put in the wrong place at the wrong time".
Reports of drunken altercations and domestic tensions have also emerged. Sgt Bales, moreover, is a former financial adviser who in 2003 - not long after he joined the army - was ordered to repay former clients more than US$1.5 million (Dh5.5m) after being found guilty of fraud. It was not clear whether the money was ever repaid. No criminal charge against Sgt Bales was filed.
Jacob George, 29, a former paratrooper who served three tours in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2004, suggested the military had to bear at least half the responsibility for the massacre. The army has to ensure that its soldiers are fit "both physically and mentally" before combat, said Mr George, a member of Iraq Veterans against the War.
Sgt Bales should not be "used as a scapegoat" to absolve the US military of responsibility for "what we are asking these people to do over and over and over again".
He was not hopeful of that happening though.
"The department of defence has become master of the myth of the bad apple," Mr George said. "Whenever something like this happens, it is absolutely essential that it is framed that way."
okarmi@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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