More abuse of power, with the Navy SEALS

[mysteryowl]

SEAL crimes going unpunished because a commander has openly has been praising Trump.
Yet more horrific abuses of power!

The Navy Wants to Push Out Problem SEALs. But Trump May Get in the Way.
Spiking drinks with cocaine, shooting Iraqi civilians, strangling a Green Beret: The Navy SEAL teams have been rocked by one high-profile scandal after another in recent months, and the leader of the elite commando force, Rear Adm. Collin P. Green, has vowed to clean house.

Admiral Green has come down hard on misconduct, fired two key leaders and made an unusually public admission that the Navy’s secretive warrior caste has an “ethics problem.” At the same time, though, he has steered wide of the SEAL at the center of one of the grimmest episodes, Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher, who was charged with shooting civilians, murdering a captive Islamic State fighter with a knife, and threatening to kill witnesses.

Chief Gallagher was acquitted of murder charges this summer, but evidence that he had engaged in a range of other misconduct, including theft and drug use, had come to light during the investigation. Admiral Green and other Navy leaders were planning to demote him and force him out of the SEALs — sending a message that such conduct had no place in one of the country’s premier fighting forces.

None of that has happened, though, because one of Chief Gallagher’s most vocal supporters happens to be the commander in chief. President Trump has repeatedly intervened, and has posted so many expressions of support for the SEAL on Twitter that the Navy now sees Chief Gallagher as untouchable, according to three Navy officials familiar with the case. Any talk of punishment has been shelved, not only for the chief, but for two other SEALs who had been facing possible discipline in the case, these officials said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/18/us/edward-gallagher-navy-seal.html

[braddy]

1. The SEALs have always had a problem with not enough self control and discipline, as

standards start slipping for Special Forces we will hear of more Green Beret problems occurring that will start to resemble what we have seen from SEALs since their inception.

[brewens]

2. This is one reason why I don't go along with all the patriotic hooha, the constant "thank you

for your service" and all that. I support the guys that are out there for the right reasons, but I think we have an overall problem with our warrior caste we have created. We have them being radicalized by Christian fundamentalists and white supremacists. They need some major investigating and reforms to root that shit out!

[Hortensis]

3. Agree strongly to a very limited degree. It's not sensible or

at all workable to equate the 1.3 million people in uniform with murderous criminals and the minority vulnerable to extremist influences. Those we need to root out, and we owe it to all the others also.

Btw, it's interesting that the conservatives who used to go in for all that "patriotic hooha" and speak glowingly about taking care of "our boys" mostly stopped some while ago, after their party revved up their exploitation, abuse, neglect and abandonment of military personnel, especially after discharge.

I remember for some while people here in the Bible Belt chatting about sending packages with sunscreen and socks, or whatever the many basic things deployed military needed and couldn't afford to keep themselves supplied with, actually were. And the ongoing attempts to destroy the VA. They didn't stop voting Republican, but illusions somehow couldn't be maintained and the "our boys" sentiment has mostly gone silent. Seemingly compartmentalization is not perfect; some awareness of massive hypocrisy and betrayal must seep out, even if unexamined.

[brewens]

4. That's why I said I support those that are in there for the right reason. I think the way

they may be being radicalized may be way underestimated. A lot of troops want to get their training and go for big bucks with the private contractors. Eric Price recruiting for his little private crusader/pervert army may be a large part of it.

I think the DOD is the biggest cesspool of waste and fraud in government. Because it can be. We need to clean house there.

[cutroot]

5. They also serve who only stand and wait. Milton

[Pepsidog]

6. He so desperately wants to be accepted by the military.

[IronLionZion]

7. Openly asshole president encourages asshole behavior

I'm sure plenty of Navy Seals serve for the right reasons and don't appreciate these few assholes abusing their power with impunity because the president supports it.

As we've seen in Syria, this president is very bad for our military and doesn't support the troops, he just pretends to.

[Collimator]

8. At least part of the problem is. . .

. . .In what we ask of soldiers--particularly those of "elite" status.

We train them to do unthinkable, violent things in a functional, analytical manner. Then we expect them to come back home and be well-behaved, decent citizens.

[Falcata]

10. +1

[usaf-vet]

9. Yup living up to the one truth Trump maintains. Anything he gets close to dies or fails.

[Wounded Bear]

11. "Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"

"Who watches the watchmen" redirects here. For the Star Trek the Next Generation episode, see Who Watches the Watchers.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? is a Latin phrase found in the work of the Roman poet Juvenal from his Satires (Satire VI, lines 347–348). It is literally translated as "Who will guard the guards themselves?", though it is also known by variant translations, such as "Who watches the watchers?" and "Who will watch the watchmen?".

The original context deals with the problem of ensuring marital fidelity, though the phrase is now commonly used more generally to refer to the problem of controlling the actions of persons in positions of power, an issue discussed by Plato in the Republic. It is not clear whether the phrase was written by Juvenal, or whether the passage in which it appears was interpolated into his works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quis_custodiet_ipsos_custodes%3F