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Zorro

(15,740 posts)
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 01:15 AM Dec 2019

Trump's pardon of Gallagher just got even more appalling

“Freaking Evil.” That is how Special Operator First Class Craig Miller described Eddie Gallagher, the chief of his Navy SEAL platoon. Then, he wept.

The New York Times last week revealed investigative video recordings of testimony from members of SEAL Team 7 who reported behavior from Chief Petty Officer Gallagher that they believed violated the spirit of their profession and the rule of military law. These agonizing accounts make even more appalling President Trump’s unprecedented decision to reverse Chief Gallagher’s demotion and pardon two other service members convicted of war crimes this fall, and to preserve Chief Gallagher’s Trident pin by preempting the plans of Navy commanders.

The SEALs’ descriptions portray a fighter unhinged from the military’s mission of defending the nation and dedicated instead to his own desire to spill blood. Chief Gallagher, SEALs said, purposely exposed his soldiers to enemy fire and thought casualties in his platoon could win him a Silver Star. They said he bragged that “burqas were flying” when he shot at women and boasted after an operation that he had killed four of them — with the excuse that he had fired warning shots first. Other members of the platoon, they said, began to spend their days trying to “save civilians from Eddie.”

The SEALs called Chief Gallagher a “psychopath.” He was “toxic.” He was “literally the worst of the worst.” His priority for the tour? “War stories at the end.” His motivation? “To kill anybody he can.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/we-shouldnt-forget-what-whistleblower-seals-told-us-about-eddie-gallagher/2019/12/29/7ce7e0f0-28c9-11ea-b2ca-2e72667c1741_story.html

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BigmanPigman

(51,608 posts)
1. tRump pardoned him because he is as sick and perverted
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 02:14 AM
Dec 2019

and would do the same. He is sadistic, vengeful and mentally ill just like the murderous Gallagher.

RockRaven

(14,972 posts)
2. It's not "more appalling" b/c of this report, WaPo, this shit was known from the beginning...
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 02:19 AM
Dec 2019

and was the basis of his prosecution/punishment. Fuck off with this "look, we're breaking news!!!1!!!1 OMG1!!" bullshit... There is no really new news here. Just a rehash of previously known awfulness.

To claim Trump's pardon is "even more appalling" gives him cover in the future *citing your article* to claim he was "unfortunately" or "inexplicably" unaware of, uh..., something... WHICH IS TOTAL BULLSHIT.

All of this was known to the relevant parties *AND (for the most part) THE PUBLIC/MEDIA* at the time of the pardon -- WHICH WAS WHY THE PARDON WAS NEWS in the first place, ya fucksticks!

RockRaven

(14,972 posts)
5. I'm objecting to the "just got" language... it claims immediacy/newness -- which is total BS.
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 03:17 AM
Dec 2019

Writing editorials which claim any immediacy in headline or tag-line, many months after anyone bothering to pay attention already knows the content of said editorials, is click-bait-y bullshit.

 

DanieRains

(4,619 posts)
3. The Piece Of Garbage Murdered Children In Cold Blood
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 02:34 AM
Dec 2019

He is one of the few people walking the planet that is actually a worse human being than Trump.

That is sayyin' a lot.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212820308

Of course I did an op the other day on this bloodthirsty child killer.....

Hekate

(90,708 posts)
6. Big article in the Los Angeles Times today, too. So you know the truth is spread far and wide
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 03:38 AM
Dec 2019

Too damned bad somebody didn't just frag the bastard. And pardon me if that sounds unseemly -- but Trump now has a military man with a personal oath of loyalty to him and not the country, which is something Trump has always wanted.

Pachamama

(16,887 posts)
8. +10000
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 05:02 AM
Dec 2019

Completely Agree

And its frightening who Trump holds up as his military ideal and that should scare everyone - including in the military.

Peace06

(248 posts)
7. Responsible for Gallagher
Mon Dec 30, 2019, 04:01 AM
Dec 2019

Maybe my thinking on this is wrong. I do agree with all the posts on his behavior. However, I think I read that Gallagher had been sent on multiple successive missions. Don't these men go through some type of psychological exam before they are sent on another mission? Maybe he suffered some type of psychological damage after all those successive missions. Or, maybe I just don't want to believe that one of our Seals is evil. Any thoughts from military men or women?

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