By Benjamin Minick
Trump says Chief Edward Gallagher's case handled badly from the
beginning.
Tells Navy to "go back to business."
The Navy continues to take a beating from the President
over its handling of the case against Chief Edward Gallagher, who was accused
of multiple counts of dereliction of duty in a war zone, including murder,
attempted murder and posing with the corpse of a deceased Islamic State
fighter.
The naval leadership had convened a board to determine the
fitness of the SEAL chief and to determine whether or not they were going to
remove his coveted Trident pin, which symbolizes membership in the SEALs.
Sources told the International Business
Times that the Navy leadership was concerned that regardless
of what was determined by the board, the President was going to step in and
reverse the decision.
That is precisely what happened Thursday morning. President
Trump tweeted his support for the embattled Navy SEAL and stated that they
would not be removing his Trident pin and that it was time to "get back to
business." He cited the poor handling of the case by the U.S. Navy.
No matter where you fall on this issue, it's crucial to
realize that Chief Gallagher is not the first person in the history of the
military to pose with a corpse of an adversary on the battlefield. It's
actually a pervasive thing and the general feeling from veterans across the
services is that if one person is going to be punished for it, then everybody
should be punished for it.
However, in the history of the U.S. military, nobody has ever
been brought before a court-martial on charges of posing with a corpse of a
foe. The Navy has done a horrible job of handling this case from the very
beginning, and President Trump has echoed that sentiment. For a branch of the
service that is steeped in such honor and tradition, the Navy sure hasn't shown
it thus far in this case.
The military is not a democracy, and the entire case
started when subordinates were unhappy with their treatment and decisions by
their leader. They came together to level charges against Chief Gallagher after
returning home from a deployment. Chief Gallagher was acquitted of all the charges except
for the lesser charge of posing with a corpse, and while that might not seem
like proper decorum, it happens.
A source indicated to International Business
Times on Wednesday that the Navy leadership felt that Presidential involvement would
weaken the command structure of the United States Navy,
rendering its leaders ineffective. In this case, that seems to be what
might need to happen. Chief Gallagher did not do anything that jeopardized the
safety of his team or the mission; the job that these men do is one of the most
difficult on the planet, and there is no rule book for accomplishing the task.
The real problem here is that the Navy has attempted to
generalize and create a politically correct image for special operations
operatives. War is hell and that is a terrible precedent to set because if
you take away the tip of the spear, then the weapon essentially becomes
useless. While photographs may be in poor taste the effectiveness of one's
ability to do their job is not determined by pictures that are taken on the
battlefield.
It would be one thing if the court-martial had found the Chief
guilty of murder or attempted murder; it's a whole other thing to continue to
persecute the man after the President has expressed unwavering support, even
going so far as to overstep leadership. Maybe it is time to get back to
business as the President said.
(Navy leadership “believed
presidential involvement would weaken the command structure.” Hey, Navy
leadership. You make stupid decisions from the beginning, and a trial judge had
to slap you down, you better expect presidential involvement. This is not the
Obama feel-good Navy, it is beginning to be the real Navy.)
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