by Pa Rock
Veteran
In 2018 six Navy Seals came forward with accusations against one of their own team. The gory allegations claimed that Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher, a decorated veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, had essentially gone off the rails during his last tour of duty in Iraq and shot unarmed civilians without cause, including a young girl walking with friends and an elderly man, and had stabbed to death an injured and sedated 17-year-old ISIS prisoner - and that Gallagher had then had his picture taken holding the corpse's head by the hair, and sent that photograph to friends.
In what looked like an attempt to spare Gallagher any prison time, a medic who had been granted immunity came forward during the subsequent military trial and testified that the stabbing had failed to kill the boy, and that he, the medic, had then suffocated the young fighter with a pillow.
Several charges had been brought against Gallagher under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), but he was only found guilty of one: posing with the corpse of the murdered teenager. Gallagher was sentenced to demotion - all the way down to E-1 - and confinement for four months. The confinement was ruled to have been already served during the military trial.
After the findings were announced right-wing commentators rushed to Gallagher's defense, and Donald Trump, sensing a campaign boost, became involved and restored Gallagher's rank - which allowed him to retire with his full retirement pay. The Navy gave commendation medals to the four prosecutors involved in the murder case, and an angry Trump ordered that those awards be revoked.
During the same time that Donald Trump intervened in the Gallagher case he also dismissed a murder charge against a Green Beret who had been accused of killing an Afghan prisoner - and he pardoned an Army officer who had been serving time for ordering his troops to fire on unarmed Afghan men.
All of those actions were seen by many in the military as being detrimental to maintaining moral authority and good order on the battlefield. Some obviously felt that Trump was using his position as commander-in-chief to stoke the right-wing fervor of his political base - something for which civilian control over the military was never intended.
Fast forward to the present . . .
Navy Captain Brett Crozier was relieved of command of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt yesterday while the aircraft carrier was docked in Guam. Captain Crozier had sent an email to several of his superiors informing them of a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship and requesting that action be taken to protect the sailors under his command. Someone leaked the contents of that email to the San Francisco Chronicle, and excerpts began appearing in social media. The email quickly became an embarrassment to the Trump administration, and a couple of days ago Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announced that Captain Crozier was being relieved of his command.
Initial reports indicated that Captain Crozier would be drummed out of the Navy, but yesterday, after much public outcry on the matter, Acting Navy Secretary Modly, a political appointee of Trump, announced that he would be transferred to another assignment. Yesterday it was also announced that the ship's crew would be placed in quarantine in hotels in Guam where they will be tested for coronavirus. Current reports indicate that more than one hundred are known to be positive for the killer virus. If not for the fortitude of Captain Brett Crozier in dogging his superiors on this critical matter, all of those sailors would likely still be at sea and in imminent peril.
Yesterday as Captain Crozier left his ship for the last time, more than 3,000 sailors showed up on deck to cheer the man who had put his career on the line to save them. They saw Captain Crozier for what he was - a true American hero.
Meanwhile Donald Trump, a man who energetically avoided serving in the military during the Vietnam War, sits in the White House and speaks in terms of "my" military while he rewards the bad guys and heaps scorn and punishment on leaders who are striving to insure the health and welfare of those serving under them.
If ever the wrong man was leading at the wrong time, that man would be Donald John Trump - and the time is now. He has no understanding or appreciation of the men and women who serve our nation in uniform and the important work they do, and his constant political maneuvering is demoralizing to their resolve and puts the United States at risk.
It is Donald Trump who should be, and ultimately must be, relieved of command.
Veteran
In 2018 six Navy Seals came forward with accusations against one of their own team. The gory allegations claimed that Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher, a decorated veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, had essentially gone off the rails during his last tour of duty in Iraq and shot unarmed civilians without cause, including a young girl walking with friends and an elderly man, and had stabbed to death an injured and sedated 17-year-old ISIS prisoner - and that Gallagher had then had his picture taken holding the corpse's head by the hair, and sent that photograph to friends.
In what looked like an attempt to spare Gallagher any prison time, a medic who had been granted immunity came forward during the subsequent military trial and testified that the stabbing had failed to kill the boy, and that he, the medic, had then suffocated the young fighter with a pillow.
Several charges had been brought against Gallagher under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), but he was only found guilty of one: posing with the corpse of the murdered teenager. Gallagher was sentenced to demotion - all the way down to E-1 - and confinement for four months. The confinement was ruled to have been already served during the military trial.
After the findings were announced right-wing commentators rushed to Gallagher's defense, and Donald Trump, sensing a campaign boost, became involved and restored Gallagher's rank - which allowed him to retire with his full retirement pay. The Navy gave commendation medals to the four prosecutors involved in the murder case, and an angry Trump ordered that those awards be revoked.
During the same time that Donald Trump intervened in the Gallagher case he also dismissed a murder charge against a Green Beret who had been accused of killing an Afghan prisoner - and he pardoned an Army officer who had been serving time for ordering his troops to fire on unarmed Afghan men.
All of those actions were seen by many in the military as being detrimental to maintaining moral authority and good order on the battlefield. Some obviously felt that Trump was using his position as commander-in-chief to stoke the right-wing fervor of his political base - something for which civilian control over the military was never intended.
Fast forward to the present . . .
Navy Captain Brett Crozier was relieved of command of the U.S.S. Theodore Roosevelt yesterday while the aircraft carrier was docked in Guam. Captain Crozier had sent an email to several of his superiors informing them of a coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship and requesting that action be taken to protect the sailors under his command. Someone leaked the contents of that email to the San Francisco Chronicle, and excerpts began appearing in social media. The email quickly became an embarrassment to the Trump administration, and a couple of days ago Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly announced that Captain Crozier was being relieved of his command.
Initial reports indicated that Captain Crozier would be drummed out of the Navy, but yesterday, after much public outcry on the matter, Acting Navy Secretary Modly, a political appointee of Trump, announced that he would be transferred to another assignment. Yesterday it was also announced that the ship's crew would be placed in quarantine in hotels in Guam where they will be tested for coronavirus. Current reports indicate that more than one hundred are known to be positive for the killer virus. If not for the fortitude of Captain Brett Crozier in dogging his superiors on this critical matter, all of those sailors would likely still be at sea and in imminent peril.
Yesterday as Captain Crozier left his ship for the last time, more than 3,000 sailors showed up on deck to cheer the man who had put his career on the line to save them. They saw Captain Crozier for what he was - a true American hero.
Meanwhile Donald Trump, a man who energetically avoided serving in the military during the Vietnam War, sits in the White House and speaks in terms of "my" military while he rewards the bad guys and heaps scorn and punishment on leaders who are striving to insure the health and welfare of those serving under them.
If ever the wrong man was leading at the wrong time, that man would be Donald John Trump - and the time is now. He has no understanding or appreciation of the men and women who serve our nation in uniform and the important work they do, and his constant political maneuvering is demoralizing to their resolve and puts the United States at risk.
It is Donald Trump who should be, and ultimately must be, relieved of command.
1 comment:
Narcissist-in-Chief Trump complained that Captain Crozier should have called him at the White House to discus this problem. Cadet Bone Spurs never learned that chain of command concept. The good Captain was voicing his concerns to that chain of command.
Meanwhile the intellectually challenged impeached Trump never realized that the damage done to his illusory image of being an efficacious Wartime President was done by a whistleblower of sorts. Trump reeling from a bruised ego blamed the Captain instead.
Everything Trump touches turns to crap.
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