Former U.S. Army Captain on Afghanistan murders: ‘This doesn’t reflect on the American military’

Former U.S. Army Captain and Congressional candidate Thomas Cotton joins Early Start to discuss the American soldier who allegedly murdered 16 civilians in Afghanistan.

Thomas says, “I wanted to extend my condolences to the families. Obviously, the loss of family and loved ones anywhere is a terrible tragedy. And also, express regret, but also ensure that the American people and people around the world know this doesn’t reflect on the American military. This is an extremely rare circumstance and the American military is the most disciplined and professional and humane military in the world… From what I have seen, it seems to be the work of… one lone soldier.”

When asked by CNN Host Zoraida Sambolin if he feels that PTSD brought on by multiple tours of duty contributed to the killings, Cotton responds, “Well, any tour of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan obviously is very stressful not just for the soldier but for families at home. There have been hundreds of thousands of soldiers over the last 10 years that have made multiple tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan without committing any kind of crimes like this. So, I think it’s possible but it’s not something that necessarily directly attributable…The military… takes post-traumatic stress syndrome very seriously. They’re monitoring soldier health and well being on a constant day to day basis. Right now, we need to let the investigation carry its course and the American troopers on the ground there will keep doing what they do every day, which is work with Afghan civilians hand in hand to try to defeat al Qaeda and the Taliban.”

Early Start with Ashleigh Banfield & Zoraida Sambolin airs week mornings from 5-7am ET on CNN.