Proposed Memorial Day pardons dishonor veterans
Glenn Kirschner, former assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia
May 26, 2019, 10:23 AM EDT
In May, President Donald Trump pardoned former U.S. Army Lieutenant Michael Behenna, who was convicted of stripping naked, torturing and then executing an unarmed Iraqi man in 2008. We now hear that Trump is considering pardoning other war criminals as some kind of grotesque Memorial Day celebration ... These contemplated pardons represent a degradation — not a celebration — of Memorial Day.
Let’s look at some of the men the president is reportedly thinking about pardoning. Navy Seal Edward Gallagher is scheduled to be tried at court-martial in June. He is charged with multiple counts of murder, obstruction of justice and bringing “discredit upon the armed forces.” In one incident, Gallagher is alleged to have used his sniper rifle to shoot and kill an elderly Iraqi man and a school-aged girl, both unarmed and posing no threat to anyone. He’s also charged with murdering a teenage Islamic fighter — who was being held as a military prisoner — by stabbing him to death and then proudly posing with the corpse. Several of Gallagher’s Navy Seal teammates are expected to testify against him.
Lieutenant Behenna, who Trump has already pardoned, was found guilty of murdering an Iraqi prisoner, Ali Mansur, who was suspected of being involved in a roadside bombing that killed two U.S. soldiers. After military authorities were unable to find enough evidence to connect Mansur to the bombing, Behenna interrogated him again on his own and without permission, ultimately shooting him dead. Behenna claimed that he acted in self-defense, but his conviction was affirmed by military appellate courts. Nevertheless, Trump pardoned Behenna for his war crimes.
As a former career prosecutor, including six years spent as an Army Judge Advocate General (JAG), even the idea of potentially pardoning war criminals sickens me. Our military criminal justice system protects the rights of soldiers accused of crimes as well as, if not better than, many civilian systems. It’s rarely an easy decision to prosecute a soldier, particularly for crimes committed during a time of war or in an hostile environment. But we expect, indeed demand, that our soldiers not commit murder or other atrocities. Indeed, in order to maintain good order, discipline and a cohesive fighting force, soldiers must always act in a law-abiding way — even under the most difficult circumstances ...
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/trump-s-proposed-memorial-day-pardons-dishonor-veterans-pervert-justice-ncna1010241
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