President Trump gave a full pardon to Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance and Major Matthew Golsteyn. He also restored the rank of Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher.
The media is reporting that military officials are displeased that he went against their rulings. It will ruin the discipline of the military, allegedly.
ATROCITIES WILL BE TOLERATED
Reuters reported that U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned two Army officers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan and restored the rank of a Navy SEAL platoon commander who was demoted for actions in Iraq, a move critics have said would undermine military justice and send a message that battlefield atrocities will be tolerated.
Liberals often hate the military but they are the same people who will fight for murderers on death row and mourn the imprisonment of criminals. They want drug dealers and killers out of jail but men who served their country should spend their lives locked away.
According to the NY Times, “But many in the military, especially in military legal circles, are not celebrating. Mr. Trump’s reprieves, issued against the advice of top defense officials, were seen as a sign of disregard not only for the decisions of military juries but for the judicial process itself.”
Privately…many worried that Mr. Trump’s actions could erode discipline by sending a message to troops and commanders that in some cases the laws of war would not apply, the Times reported.
“It’s just institutionally harmful,” said Rachel VanLandingham, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and former judge advocate who now teaches law at Southwestern Law School. “This isn’t about these three individuals, it’s about the whole military justice system and whether that system itself is something of value to the operations of the military.”
The president, she added, “is saying he knows best.”
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THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE
“Institutionally harmful!” Is it about the institution?
In many of these cases, where soldiers are locked up after killing the enemy under absurd rules of engagement, the government has acted badly. The agency has become politicized and is another administrative state operating as a deep state at times.
Many senior military leaders felt the pardons sent the wrong message, said Phillip Carter, an Iraq War veteran who researches military issues at the RAND Corporation, the Times continued.
“Ever since Vietnam the leadership has sent a message that there is a link between discipline, respect for laws of war and military effectiveness,” Mr. Carter said. “The pardons send a different message that sometimes the laws get in the way.”
Does anyone really believe the soldiers will do whatever they please on the hope that a Donald J. Trump will come along and free them?
There are probably very few who are opposed to Trump’s pardons, but the media likes to make it into an attack on the President. He cannot be praised for anything he does.
HOW CAN ANYONE NOT BE HAPPY FOR THESE MEN?
Clint Lorance
“Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, one of two U.S. Army officers granted clemency Friday by POTUS Trump, was released from prison in Kansas on Friday night & reunited w/ family members.” ➡️https://t.co/SjeGn8CnoP
Below, Clint reunites w/ family, after 6yrs (19yr sentence) in prison. pic.twitter.com/dpoSwanojS
— Dan Scavino (@DanScavino) November 16, 2019
Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance is one of two U.S. Army officers granted clemency Friday by President Trump. He was released from prison in Kansas on Friday night and reunited with family members, according to his lawyer.
“I want to say thank you to President Trump,” he said amid a throng of well-wishers. “And I want the rest of the country to do that, too.”
His lawyer Don Brown sent a photo to Fox News of Lorance with his relatives as he left prison last night.
The officer, a 34-year-old native of Oklahoma, was six years into serving a 19-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth for ordering his soldiers to open fire and kill three Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Matthew Golsteyn
Major Matthew Golsteyn, a Green Beret, who faced life in prison if convicted, had been stripped of his Special Forces qualification as well as a Silver Star he earned during his deployment to Afghanistan, said it had been a “whirlwind” few hours.
“We woke up today probably still incredibly stunned and awed by the president’s generosity, the time that he spent with us on the phone,” he said, adding that Trump was “just incredibly sanguine and warm and demonstrated an amazing degree of knowledge about the case and what had been going on.”
He can no longer be hounded by the military administrative state.
Eddie Gallagher
Eddie Gallagher was found innocent of murder but was reduced in rank for posing by the militant’s body. President Trump restored his rank.
Eddie Gallagher is once again a Chief Petty Officer. The highly-decorated SEAL can collect the pension he earned and enjoy the rest of his life with his family.
“There are no words to adequately express how grateful my family and I are to our President Donald J. Trump for his intervention and decision,” Eddie Gallagher wrote late Friday in an Instagram post. “We would also like to thank the American people for their unwavering support during this very difficult time for my family. I can never thank you enough.”
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