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6B Daily News – Saturday, March 24, 2012 WORLD BRIEFING Army Sgt. charged in massacre of 17 Afghan villagers WASHINGTON (AP) — Charges filed Friday against Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales reflect the horror of the crime: 17 counts of premeditated murder, more than half of them children, during a shooting rampage in southern Afghanistan. But while Afghans are calling for swift and severe punishment, it will likely be months, even years, before the public ever sees Bales in a court- room. One only has to look at two recent and similarly high-profile cases to see that the wheels of military justice turn slowly. It's been nearly 29 months since an Army psychiatrist, Maj. Nidal Hasan, allegedly killed 13 and injured two dozen more at Fort Hood, Texas. His trial is scheduled to begin in June. And it's been 21 months since the military charged intelli- gence analyst Bradley Manning with leaking hundreds of thousands of pages of classified infor- mation. It took nine months before he was deemed competent to stand trial. The Bales case is like- ly to be equally com- plex, involving questions of his mental state and the role that the stresses of war and possible pre- vious head injuries may have played in his alleged actions. Most of the eyewitnesses are the Afghan villagers and survivors who may be brought in for the trial. The military on Friday charged Bales with 17 counts of murder, six counts of attempted mur- der and six counts of assault in the March 11 pre-dawn massacre in two southern Afghanistan vil- lages near his base. The father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash., was offi- cially informed of the 29 charges just before noon at the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he is con- fined. Fla. teen's friends say he wouldn't have picked a fight MIAMI (AP) — Wear- ing a hoodie. Listening to music and talking on his cellphone. Picking up Skittles for his soon-to-be stepbrother. Friends say that's how they would have imagined 17-year- old Trayvon Martin on a Sunday afternoon. Starting a fight? Possi- bly high on drugs and up to no good? No, friends say that description of Martin from the neighbor- hood crime-watch volun- teer who shot and killed the unarmed black teenager doesn't match the young man they knew. ''There's no way I can believe that, because he's not a confrontational kid,'' said Jerome Horton, who was one of Martin's former football coaches and knew him since he was about 5. ''It just wouldn't happen. That's just not that kid.'' Martin was slain in the town of Sanford on Feb. 26 in a shooting that has set off a nationwide furor over race and justice. Neighborhood crime- watch captain George Zimmerman, whose father is white and mother is Hispanic, claimed self- defense and has not been arrested, though state and federal authorities are still investigating. Since his death, Mar- tin's name and pho- tographs — in football jerseys, smiling alongside a baby, and staring into the camera in a gray hoodie — have been held up by civil rights leaders and at rallies stretching from Miami to New York demanding Zimmerman's arrest. Obama says 'If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon' WASHINGTON (AP) — Urging Americans to ''do some soul search- ing,'' President Barack ing entitlement and a dra- matic new federal intru- sion into our lives.'' Romney was marking the second anniversary of the signing of the health care law, which requires all Americans to pay insurance or face a tax penalty. That mandate to buy insurance has become a focal point for conserva- tive anger, and critics say it represents unwanted or even unconstitutional government intrusion. Romney, though, Obama injected himself into the emotional debate over the fatal shooting of a teenager in Florida, turning the racially charged case into a per- sonal matter for the nation's first black presi- dent. ''If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon,'' Obama said Friday. Obama's words also catapulted the death in Florida of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, already the focus of major nation- al attention, into the pres- idential campaign. Three Republicans seeking Obama's job all used the word ''tragedy'' to describe the shooting, as the president did. ''I can only imagine what these parents are going through, and when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids,'' Obama said at the White House. Obama said the parents of Martin, who was shot on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., a suburb of Orlando, have a right to expect ''that we're going to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.'' Court could highlight key liability for Romney METAIRIE, La. (AP) — Mitt Romney on Fri- day looked to pre-empt Supreme Court arguments that will shine a spotlight on a key vulnerability for him in the Republican pri- mary — health care reform. Romney called Demo- cratic President Barack Obama's signature over- haul ''an unfolding disas- ter for the American economy, a budget-bust- signed a health reform law as governor of Massa- chusetts that required everyone in the state to buy insurance, legislation that became the model for the national overhaul. Romney's support of the Massachusetts law has fueled conservative criti- cism against him. Skepti- cism about his health care record, combined with moderate positions he's taken on other issues in the past, is part of what's contributing to Romney's struggle to wrap up the GOP nomination. The White House on Friday released a report highlighting the benefits of the overhaul, including a provision that makes it illegal for insurance com- panies to refuse to cover people who have pre- existing medical condi- tions. Court case prompts activists on all sides WASHINGTON (AP) — America's national shouting match over health care will only get louder next week as the Supreme Court weighs the fate of President Barack Obama's overhaul. With formal arguments off-limits to cameras, sup- porters and detractors have laid elaborate plans to compete for the public's attention outside the Supreme Court building. At the White House, which on Friday observed a low-key second anniver- sary of the Affordable Care Act, Obama's advis- ers are trying to walk a fine line. 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Santorum on defensive as race turns to Louisiana WEST MONROE, La. (AP) — Facing heightened pressure to revive his presi- dential bid, Rick Santorum was forced to explain anoth- er apparent misstep as he courted Louisiana voters Friday, the eve of a critical contest in a Republican nomination battle that increasingly favors Mitt Romney. Santorum said he would support the eventual GOP nominee — if it isn't him — despite what he insists are similarities between front- runner Romney and Presi- dent Barack Obama that make them indistinguish- able on some issues. He caused an intraparty uproar earlier in the week after sug- gesting he'd prefer a second term for Obama over a Romney presidency. ''I've said repeatedly and will continue to say, I'll vote for whoever the Republican nominee is and I will work for him,'' Santorum said as he walked back his original comments less than 24 hours before Louisiana polls were set to open. ''Barack Obama is a disas- ter, but we can't have some- one who agrees with him on some of the biggest issues of the day.'' The situation under- scored Santorum's chal- lenges ahead of a Louisiana contest he's favored to win. Santorum has had success in the South, having won last week's contests in Alabama and Mississippi. Blinds Need Blinds? C A L L P A U L Blinds & Draperies www.nsbd.biz Lic.#906022 Contractor When you want it done right ... HIRE A LICENSED CONTRACTOR! Complete directory of Tehama County contractors online, listed by specialty on 2011 Contractors Guide under "Special Sections" www.RedBluffDailyNews.com Click on Plumbing/Handyman Jim the Plumber and Handyman Services 25 years experience Free Estimates Free Travel Time See Angie's List No Job to small Quality work ...cheaper! Local References (530)366-6033 24 hour service Lic#11003 527-0842 North State Paul Stubbs Regardless of the outcome Saturday, however, Romney will have collected more delegates than his oppo- nents combined as the race then turns to more favorable territory in the coming weeks. Santorum's continued missteps are complicating a candidacy already strug- gling to overcome major financial and organizational deficiencies. Before losing this week's Illinois primary, Santorum hurt himself by declaring that neither the economy nor the nation's unemployment rate was his top concern. Tens of thousands in Syria call for fall of regime BEIRUT (AP) — Tens of thousands of Syrians braved tear gas and gunfire to protest across the country Friday, vowing to storm the capital Damascus to oust President Bashar Assad as the European Union ramped up pressure on the regime by imposing sanc- tions on his wife and other close relatives. Security forces deployed in many cities to disperse protests, but oppo- sition groups reported fewer protester deaths than in past weeks. Activists said more than 20 people were killed nationwide in army attacks on opposition areas or clashes with armed rebels. International condemna- tion and high-level diplo- macy have failed to stop the year-old Syria crisis, which the U.N. says has killed more than 8,000 people, many of them civilian pro- testers. Friday's sanctions bring to 13 the sets imposed by the EU to try to compel the regime to halt its violent crackdown on dissent. The U.S. and others have also imposed sanctions. Previ- ous measures were aimed at Syrian companies and Assad himself. Those imposed Friday targeted Asma Assad, Syria's British-born first lady, banning her from traveling to EU countries and freezing any assets she may have there. They also included the presi- dent's mother, sister, sis- ter-in-law and eight gov- ernment ministers. 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