A bit pointless since we do not know what was actually presented as evidence, for or against. I will assume that truth won.
Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher found not guilty on murder and attempted murder charges
- Thread starter rlongnt
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If I heard it right, the enemy combatant was actually killed by suffocation not stabbed in the neck. The person suffocating him was one of the accusers and admitted it during the proceedings.
Well said............
Well, that and a complete lack of evidence. Not to mention the serious prosecutorial misconduct with NCIS and JAG Corps. I'd say those things probably carried more weight than a sewing circle who waited until there was no hope of recovering any evidence whatsoever to even say anything.
BTW, did any of his team who apparently hated him, die under his watch?
“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”
― Heraclitus
Eight tours to the Mideast? That ought to change anyone I'd think. ISIS skins, mutilates and murders innocent people as well as our own personnel and Gallagher was supposed to treat them with kid gloves. After all he's seen, that'd be hard to do. I'm for Gallagher.
It is my understanding that the ones that testified for the prosecution only testified to the fact that he posed for pictures with the body( they all did also) and that he did his reinlistment next to the body. The prosecution claimed that that showed he had disregard for the enemy and therefore was capable of murder. A medic who received immunity for his testimony claimed in open court that he actually killed the isis fighter by smothering him
Military justice, OFTEN is justice at all. Also, misconduct by CID, OSI, NCIS and JAG is standard operating procedure. Had the charges been brought by the Command, I might agree with you. Its very rare when charges are brought by subordinates for fear of retribution. So when 6 of the most damaging charges were brought by subordinates, there is a pretty good chance that there was some substance to the charges.Well, that and a complete lack of evidence. Not to mention the serious prosecutorial misconduct with NCIS and JAG Corps. I'd say those things probably carried more weight than a sewing circle who waited until there was no hope of recovering any evidence whatsoever to even say anything.
BTW, did any of his team who apparently hated him, die under his watch?
“Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters, and we are lucky to have them, for they make the battle. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.”
― Heraclitus
I can also tell you that when your superiors go to bat for you in a trial, that carries a **** ton of weight. I have seen a Lot of NCO's Senior NCO's and Officers get away with some serious crap in 22 years in the Army.
One in particular, a SSG, got caught with child pornography on computer when he was caught in a sting op. When his Chain of Command went to bat for him, he was found guilty of lesser charges and basically got off scott free. He even came out on the Promotion list for SFC (E7) until the Detective in charge of the case got wind. Presumably, by some one in the battalion that had a conscience, reported it. Only then was he removed from the Promotion list.
So just because he was found not guilty of the charges that would of landed him in prison doesn't mean he wasn't guilty
Listening to FOX News last night, they interviewed Gallagher, his wife, and his attorney. His attorney mentioned that when the one soldier admitted to suffocating the ISIS fighter, the attorney said he pounced on that witness.
I don't remember if what I heard was related to this case or not, but it seems that I remember that Gallagher wounded the ISIS fighter and the other guy suffocated him so he wouldn't suffer as he was lying their wounded. I don't know if the other guy knew for sure the ISIS fighter was dying or not, but apparently he thought he was being humane in suffocating the fighter.
At any rate, the admission by the other soldier basically cleared Gallagher of murder. The best they might have done was convict him of something like "assault with a deadly weapon."
I don't remember if what I heard was related to this case or not, but it seems that I remember that Gallagher wounded the ISIS fighter and the other guy suffocated him so he wouldn't suffer as he was lying their wounded. I don't know if the other guy knew for sure the ISIS fighter was dying or not, but apparently he thought he was being humane in suffocating the fighter.
At any rate, the admission by the other soldier basically cleared Gallagher of murder. The best they might have done was convict him of something like "assault with a deadly weapon."
I don’t even know what your point is here?
The choice was clear. Pursue a fatally flawed criminal investigation for some purpose other than justice, or follow the law and criminal procedure, which would be to keep the investigation open if and until at least some shred of corroborating evidence came to light.
The Navy took the least smart route. My personal opinion based on both time in service and lots of research, is the Navy prefers command and control over justice and the rule of law. So they went after him wildly and aggressively, to include unnecessary detention and restraints. They had a message to send; “We own you”.
The man had EIGHT deployments in combat, but this was his first time to go off the rez? Yeah, something is fishy here. It sounds less like a modern American legal prosecution, and more like the Salem Witch Trials. Regardless, what you or I think doesn’t matter. Seven of his peers have found him Not Guilty. He can never be prosecuted for these alleged crimes again. He won, they lost, end of story. Whatever’s left is between him and God.
Between this and the SEALS killing the Green Beret in Africa, as well as other serious issues the past few years, I think there's something wrong with their culture. If I were JCS Dunford, I'd order a top to bottom INDEPENDENT review of the entire program. They need to clear the decks and shape up most ricky tick. You don’t hear SFOD, Rangers, Green Berets, MARSOC, TACP/CCT/PJ’s having these issues that make headlines. They’re the silent professionals whereas the SEALS seem to skyline themselves way too much.
That’s not a Gallagher problem, that’s a command and control problem.
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