U.S. soldier in Afghan murder trial declines to withdraw guilty plea

By Jonathan Kaminsky TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) – A U.S. army soldier who in June admitted the slaughter of 16 Afghan civilians declined to withdraw his guilty plea in a military court on Monday. U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Robert Bales made his decision in advance of legal arguments set to begin Tuesday that will determine whether his life sentence will come with the possibility of parole. "I'm just trying to do the right thing," he said in a hearing Monday to establish ground rules for the roughly week-long sentencing proceedings. …