World / Nation Briefs March 24, 2012

Bales charged in massacre of 17 Afghan villagers

WASHINGTON - 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 courtroom.

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 intelligence analyst Bradley Manning with leaking hundreds of thousands of pages of classified information. It took nine months before he was deemed competent to stand trial.

The Bales case is likely to be equally complex, involving questions of his mental state and the role that the stresses of war and possible previous 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 murder and six counts of assault in the March 11 pre-dawn massacre in two southern Afghanistan villages near his base. The father of two from Lake Tapps, Wash., was officially informed of the 29 charges just before noon at the U.S. military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he is confined.

Arguments could highlight liability for Romney

METAIRIE, La. - Mitt Romney on Friday looked to pre-empt Supreme Court arguments that will shine a spotlight on a key vulnerability for him in the Republican primary - health care reform.

Romney called Democratic President Barack Obama's signature overhaul "an unfolding disaster for the American economy, a budget-busting entitlement and a dramatic new federal intrusion 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 conservative anger, and critics say it represents unwanted or even unconstitutional government intrusion.

Romney, though, signed a health reform law as governor of Massachusetts 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 criticism against him. Skepticism 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.

Pope arrives in Mexico to warm welcome

LEON, Mexico - Pope Benedict XVI landed in Mexico on Friday to throngs of faithful who gathered at the tarmac and lined more than 20 miles of his route into the city shouting the ultimate welcome: "Benedict, brother, you are now Mexican."

Many thought such a warm reception, complete with folkloric dance and mariachis, would not greet a pope some consider distant and academic. But the world's largest Roman Catholic, Spanish-speaking country showed Benedict the same affection as they did to his predecessor, John Paul II, who was dubbed "Mexico's pope" after making five trips to the country.

"This is a proud country of hospitality, and nobody feels like a stranger in your land," the pope said upon landing to wild cheers. "I knew that, now I see it and now I feel it in my heart."

After his Alitalia flight landed, the streets of Leon where the pope will stay took on a carnival atmosphere, with entire blocks exploding in yellow confetti as he passed in his bulletproof popemobile along the 20-mile route from the airport.

Case prompts activists on health care law

WASHINGTON - 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, supporters 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 anniversary of the Affordable Care Act, Obama's advisers are trying to walk a fine line. They want to avoid any appearance of unseemly pressure on the justices while encouraging supporters to speak up. The Obama re-election campaign is also talking up the law's benefits, and there is a steady stream of cheery press releases from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Will any of it make the slightest bit of difference?

Polls show Americans are as divided as ever over the president's signature domestic policy achievement, hard-won legislation that will eventually expand health insurance to more than 90 percent of citizens and legal residents, providing federal subsidies to make premiums more affordable for millions who now struggle to find and keep coverage.

Santorum on defensive as race turns to La.

WEST MONROE, La. - Facing heightened pressure to revive his presidential bid, Rick Santorum was forced to explain another 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 President Barack Obama that make them indistinguishable on some issues. He caused an intraparty uproar earlier in the week after suggesting 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 disaster, but we can't have someone who agrees with him on some of the biggest issues of the day."

- The Associated Press