Potential Memorial Day Pardons

[Dill]

(11-25-2019, 04:08 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: As you know the court martial involved a murder case, not just posing with a dead body. A charge such as murder will only involve trial by court martial, not NJP.

Also, the rules are the rules whether you agree with them or not. If you don’t follow the rules you can be charged with disobeying a lawful order at a minimum which is no-no especially for senior NCOs.

Service members in SOCOM units can be kicked out at any time for not upholding unit standards. I’ve seen guys kicked out of the Ranger Regiment for stuff that didn’t even involve UCMJ action and the president never stepped in. Trump’s involvement in the SEALs deciding who will/won’t be a unit member is gross micromanagement. Plus he’s politicizing a military discipline matter while ignoring advice from senior SEAL commanders and the Secretary of the Navy who know a helluva lot more than he does.

You are right. It's not about "posing with a corpse."  It's about discipline, good order, and the special accountability of people responsible for upholding them. In public cases like this it's also about what the US stands for, as "leading" coalition member in Iraq--and post-Abu Ghraib. The reason we left Iraq was precisely because the US would not accept any SOFA agreement which could place US military in Iraqi courts, like rule of law was not to be entrusted to others. 

Also, the actions of someone wearing the uniform are not like the actions of a private citizen.  E.g., a crazed Bengals fan pours beer on the Ravens fan at a game, and then punches him when he turns around, is just a private individual acting up whose actions will have individual consequences.  So different if someone wearing a Navy uniform does that, bringing the service into disrepute.

I'm especially disturbed about the disruption of process here.  That makes it hard for officers and NCOs to know what's really expected of them--not to mention troops on the ground. Cross the line or not? Report it or not?  Couple that with the aforementioned rash of pardons for those accused and/or convicted of war crimes.  Seems like a deliberate message sent to Trump's base, to the military, and to the world, and a very confusing one for the latter two recipients. Outsiders looking in could be forgiven for getting the impression that Trump is pardoning Gallagher (and others) precisely BECAUSE they crossed the line to threaten/kill civilians and prisoners.

I also wonder if we are seeing a split in the military now, parallel with that in our national politics, with some military members applauding the pardons and (Hannity-style) defining military leaders who push back against Trump's impulse-over-process style as the ones who are "really" the threat to good order. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/editorials/2019/11/24/president-must-have-final-say-opposing-view/4293598002/.  Is this limited to at tiny minority of enlisted? To special forces? Something to watch, in any case.

We see how the C-in-C sets the tone. The coming election really is about who we are as a country.