Trump pardons three, rejecting Pentagon advice

Donald Trump has used his executive privilege to intervene in the US military justice system and issue pardons for three high-profile servicemen, all charged with committing war crimes. Special Warfare Officer First Class Eddie Gallagher who led a Navy Seal team in Iraq, is possibly the most notorious case. He is a highly decorated commando and almost as soon as he was charged with fatally stabbing a teenage Iraqi prisoner of war in 2017, Trump made it clear he was on his side, never mind the evidence against him provided principally by his fellow Seals who were there at the time of the alleged execution. We all know that in the fog of war, terrible misdemeanours do take place where discipine breaks down and individuals commit acts which are against the laws of war and breach all human rights conventions. The military, whether the US or British or any other professional army, are trained to make decisions under extreme pressures and soldiers know what is right and wrong. Especially special forces units who have to undergo intense training just to be considered for selection. Gallagher was a tough guy in combat and has a string of medals and awards to show for it. When he was brought to trial, the prosecution's case was all over the place because witnesses came up with different versions of the alleged crime. One witness even said it was him who ended the life of the injured 17-year-old prisoner of war. As a result of all the confusion and Trump's very public interest in the case, Gallagher was acquitted of all the serious charges and was just convicted for having a photograph taken of him beside the dead body, for which he was sentenced to demotion. Trump has now reinstated him to his full rank of chief petty officer which will guarantee a better pension. On the face of it, the death of the Iraqi prisoner of war was a bad deed. Prisoners of war have to be treated fairly and humanely and if they are injured they have as much right to be medically assisted as someone from friendly forces. The number of occasions when the lives of prisoners of war have been saved by surgeons must run into the thousands in conflicts over the last seven decades. However, the Gallagher case was incompetently handled and the decorated Seal was acquitted. Had he not been acquitted I suspect Trump would have pardoned him anyway. Instead, all that was left to reinstate him to hero status was to give him back his senior non-commissioned rank. The Pentagon wanted the justice system to follow its natural course without the intervention of the commander-in-chief. I think that is the right approach unless the evidence is overwhelming that an invidual soldier has been wrongly or unfairly treated by the justice system. The two other cases where Trump has declared pardons involve 1st Lieutenant Clint Lorance who was convicted on two counts of murder for ordering his troops to fire on three men in Afghanistan in 2008, and Major Matthew Golsteyn, a Green Beret who had been awaiting trial for the alleged killing of a suspected terrorist bombmaker in Afghanistan in 2010. In both cases, former teammates of Lorance and Golsteyn have spoken out against the Trump pardons. The president has the right to make these decisions but pardons have to be totally justified and fully accepted by the military as a community. I don't believe Trump's action in these three cases will leave anything but a sour taste in the mouth for other comrades-in-arms.