Edward Gallagher & Military Wrongdoing
Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher was tried in June 2019 on accusations of killing civilians and a teenage ISIS member in US military custody during his 2017 deployment in Iraq. Gallagher firmly felt that the accusations were coordinated based on personal bias toward him, despite the fact that private text messages between the accusers showed no evidence of this.
However, in an unprecedented move, Special Operator First Class Corey Scott, who was in his squad, admitted in court under immunity that he was the one that killed the ISIS fighter by plugging his breathing tube. He said he did it as an act of mercy so that the teenager would not be tortured by ISIS interrogators once he was released. This came as a shock to many, as Scott had initially accused Gallagher of murdering the teen.
Gallagher was acquitted of all charges, save for a minor charge for posing with the dead ISIS member in a photo. He was sentenced to a demotion in rank to petty officer first class.
However, President Trump intervened in November as commander-in-chief, restoring Gallagher’s rank and pay. The Navy then announced that they would call an administrative review board to evaluate whether or not Gallagher was fit to stay in the force. Shortly after, Navy Secretary Richard Spencer was dismissed for secretly seeking a compromise with the White House without the knowledge of Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who had been overseeing the case. While Spencer had publicly denounced Gallagher, it was revealed that he had privately proposed to the White House to rig the review so Gallagher could retire with his rank and Trident pin for honorable service.
In the end, Gallagher was honorably discharged with his pin, and no review was conducted.
At first glance, this case doesn’t seem to run too deep: a military man murdered innocents while on tour, and his squadmates came out to bring him justice. However, with so many unexpected interventions, the truth becomes cloudy, and more importantly, it reveals many flaws within the military justice system.
Gallagher is the third war criminal that Trump has gotten involved with. The president has shown sympathy towards convicted soldiers in the past, stating in a tweet: “We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!” Not only does his tweet demonstrate a grave misunderstanding of the nation’s military, it paints violence in a favorable light. If his words are taken literally, soldiers will be more inclined toward using violence.
According to the New York Times, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Defense Secretary Mark Esper both asked the president not to get involved, afraid that his continuous intervention in such cases will undermine the authority of the military and discredit its rulings. Esper has stated that he “[has] full confidence in the military justice system.”
Additionally, continued executive intervention in the prosecution of international war crimes could escalate tensions between the US and other nations. It could also undermine forces agreements—agreements that assure countries who host US troops that American soldiers who commit a crime on their soil will be tried under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
by HANNAH OH