Trump grants clemency to 2 Army officers accused of war crimes, restores Rate to Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher

| November 16, 2019

Trump signs full pardons for Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance and Army Major Mathew Golsteyn, directs promotion of Special Warfare Operator First Class Edward R. Gallagher.

President Trump has granted clemency to two Army officers accused or convicted of war crimes and restored Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher to the rank Rate of Chief Petty Officer after he was docked a pay grade after being convicted of posing for a photo with a dead Islamic State (ISIS) fighter, the White House announced Friday.

Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance could be released from the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as soon as Friday evening, six years after being found guilty of second-degree murder.

Maj. Matt Golsteyn, a former Green Beret, will have the murder charge against him dropped.

President Trump has granted clemency to two Army officers accused or convicted of war crimes and restored Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher to the rank of chief petty officer after he was docked a pay grade after being convicted of posing for a photo with a dead Islamic State (ISIS) fighter, the White House announced Friday.

Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance could be released from the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as soon as Friday evening, six years after being found guilty of second-degree murder. Maj. Matt Golsteyn, a former Green Beret, will have the murder charge against him dropped.
Lorance was six years into serving a 19-year sentence at Fort Leavenworth for ordering his soldiers to open fire and kill three men in Afghanistan. Lorence’s supporters say he killed Taliban fighters. Nine members of his unit testified against him, saying the men were innocent.

Gallagher, a 15-year SEAL whose case garnered national attention, was found not guilty of murdering an ISIS fighter in Iraq in 2017 but was convicted in July of a lesser charge of posing for a photo with the dead ISIS prisoner’s corpse.

His punishment included a reduction in rank rate  from chief petty officer to 1st class petty officer, which would have cost him about $200,000 in retirement funds. His family and defense team were fighting to have his rank restored.

“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 said in a public statement Friday night. “We would also like to thank the American people for their unwavering support during this very difficult time for my family and I — we can never thank you enough.”

The entire article may be viewed here: Fox News

Category: Afghanistan, Army, Navy

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2banana

The insanity of obama progressive policies destroying the US military slowly starts to fade…

A Proud Infidel®™

May President Trump be 100% successful in getting rid of his predecessor’s legacy!

Graybeard

From your lips to God’s ears, API. Amen and Amen.

OldSoldier54

Truly, truly.

Commissar

Nonsense. The law of lan warfare and our expectation of adherence to it is not a “Obama” era initiative. And the ROE under Bush was restrictive as well.

Poetrooper

Guess what, genius? ALL rules of engagement are restrictive which is why they are so damned dangerous. ROE, if we are to have them, should be drawn up by a commission consisting of company grade officers and line company NCO’s from the Army and Marine Corps, the folks who, along with the troops they are responsible for, have to live by them.

ROE promulgated by politicians and REMF’s are a crock of bullshit.

2banana

Destroying a decorated commando for taking a pic with a dead enemy in it.

In any other war, that would have been called Tuesday.

rgr769

The “law of Ian warfare” is that in the rules of your World of Warcraft gaming? Cuz, Poodledick, you don’t know anything about any field of law. Got law degree? I think not.

Blaster

Wasn’t right then either. Your point is ludicrous!

A Proud Infidel®™

Commissar, once again you’re totally full of shit!

OldManchu

Shut up dickweed.

Twist

Once again you are full of shit. I deployed to Iraq under both Bush and Obama. The ROE was extremely more restrictive. The biggest killer of our troops in Afghanistan was the Obama Administration’s ROE. For a good example of how Obama’s ROE cost lives read Dakota Meyer’s book “Into the Fire”.

26Limabeans

Obama is the one that belongs in prison.

Sapper3307

WooPWoop!
Thanks boss

11B-Mailclerk

(Very loudly)

HOOAH!

Ex-PH2

If they ever get rid of the chair warmers and lectern leaners in the Nuthouse in Arlington, someone please let me know.

Ex-PH2

Remember this guy? Admiral Shipwrecker? Some of these guys in the Society of Chairwarmers make him look like a genius.

Ex-PH2

Sorry, this is the link:

https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=92050

5th/77th FA

Would this be what we could call past due Command Influence? BZ Mr. President Trump! Please continue to dismantle the oblowme sh^t shack.

New Rules of Engagement. Kill those sumbitches before they kill you.

Graybeard

“past undue Command Influence” – FIFY

5th/77th FA

How about undo past Command Influence GB? Or maybe even redo past Command Influence?

Graybeard

Mea Culpa – I read it with a different meaning, thinking you were referring the the President-without-a-legacy.

I’ll return to my foxhole now.

Combat Historian

JAG emperors and feudal lords hardest hit…

SFC (R) Blizz

I guess I’m the only one who disagrees here. I think Lorance deserves to still be in jail. Myself and thousands of other Soldiers somehow managed to follow the ROE and still accomplish our mission. I’m not saying I agree with the ROE, but it’s a rule like any other that you adjust to.

Club Manager, USA ret.

I was not familiar with this case so I just read it. ROE do not mean anything to the other side in Afghanistan and I would rather see a U.S. soldier error on the side of protecting his troops than worry about ROE. That being said, where was his senior NCO with the sage advice? The other question were the troops complaining about his leadership on the receiving end of having to shape up under a new OIC? What I want to hear is what the senior NCO has to say and I could not find it.

timactual

That makes at least two of us. Silly me, I still expect officers to obey the rules and lead by example.

rgr769

Well Lorance was convicted for making a split second decision. There is a priority above ROE in combat. That is accomplish your mission while protecting your men. But career fobbits don’t really understand or care about that. Also, the two men charging toward his men on a motorcycle were Taliban bomb makers. A little factoid concealed from the trial panel.

E

I agree. Lorance’s charges and conviction were fair.

Poetrooper

SFC (R) Blizz

“Myself and thousands of other Soldiers somehow managed to follow the ROE and still accomplish our mission.”

That’s all well and good, but the weakness in your argument is that it assumes no other troops encountered tactical situations different from yours in which the ROE could have resulted in friendly deaths unless the ROE were disregarded.

Von Moltke’s aphorism that “no operations plan survives beyond initial contact with the enemy,” could be paraphrased to “ROE are too inflexible to survive every contact with the enemy.”

My own experience as an infantry NCO in Vietnam was that ROE are NEVER created by the people who know what works, that is, the people actually and currently engaged in confronting a particular enemy, but rather by well-meaning but unrealistic rear echelon desk riders who have no idea of the myriad implications of their unrealistic rules. This is particularly true of the Obama era ROE.

And I say this as someone who saw it from both perspectives, as an infantry squad leader and as a staff wienie NCO at battalion and brigade. In all those jobs, my observation was that ROE were largely ignored by those they impacted the most, the grunts bearing the brunt of the fighting.

My opinion is that ROE should be guidelines for preferred behavior where applicable, not statutory regulations carrying punishments for violations.

rgr769

Also, all effing ROE were created by effing lawers. As someone who was one for many more years than some of you have been out of a onesie, I can assure you lawers are not trained or skilled in how to make split second decisions in life or death combat situations.

Poetrooper

In my response to Lars I referred to authors of ROE as politicians and REMF’s.

Doesn’t that pretty much account for all lawers?

Except those sporting a Ranger tab, of course…

rgr769

Yes, it does. I became a Ranger about six years before law school. Ranger-ing had little to do with lawering, except for the idea that exploiting an unexpected development in trial that hurts your opponent is a smart move.

Slow Joe

Apparently Defense Secretary Mark Esper was against the pardon.

Poetrooper

He’s probably catching a lot of flak from all those “woke” Obama holdovers still infesting the puzzle palace.

CDR_D

I remember when then-COL George Patton IV, the son of the WW2 hero, sent Christmas cards with pictures of dead Viet Cong on them. It “sparked outrage” (love that term from the snowflake journo handbook), but he still retired a Major General.

The Other Whitey

Gallagher’s conviction is bullshit, because a dozen other guys with him posed for the exact same pictures and nothing happened to them. Maybe Gallagher is an asshole, I don’t know. Some folks have offered stories indicating that he is. I don’t know if they’re true or not. But the inconsistent and arbitrary nature of his charges, while others involved skated, never mind the illegal actions of the prosecution team, reeks of bullshit. For that reason, I think the Prez made the right call in his case. If what he did was so bad, then surely the Navy would get its shit together and drop the hammer on everyone who did it.

rgr769

Ditto.

Skippy

Amen ^^^^^

Friend

Wonderful morning news..
Celebrating with Eggs Benedict…

Jeff LPH 3, 63-66

Foxe’s Pete Hegsseth(hope I spelled it right) mentioned that these ROE’S are written up by people in air conditioned offices without people shooting at them. Saw pics of two dead German soldiers tied on a jeeps fenders like deer. This stuff went on and will also go on, but the camera is sometimes the thing that gets one in trouble.

Club Manager, USA ret.

The camera, Facebook postings, cell phone recordings, an ex-wife, a disgruntled troop and a need to brag will bite you on the ass every time.

OldSoldier54

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

lmn0351

Thank You CIC