Inside the stunning fall and war-crimes investigation of an Army Green Beret war hero

Washington Post ^ | May 19, 2015 | By Dan Lamothe

[Brad from Tennessee]

When President Obama draped the nation’s highest award for combat valor around the neck of an Afghan war hero at the White House in October 2013, a highly decorated Green Beret officer who sat nearby faced an ugly reality: The Army was investigating him on charges of murder and conspiracy.

Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn was invited to the ceremony by William D. Swenson, who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in Afghanistan four years earlier. Like Swenson, Golsteyn had braved enemy fire repeatedly, seen fellow soldiers die and voiced deep frustration with the ways he saw U.S. troops restricted in combat. But Golsteyn, a friend of Swenson’s, also may have had a darker chapter to his service.

According to Army documents, the young officer disclosed to CIA personnel during a 2011 job interview that he had killed an unarmed Taliban fighter he suspected of being a bombmaker. The documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, also suggest an elaborate cover-up that, if true, could amount to serious war crimes involving not only Golsteyn but fellow Green Beret soldiers.

However, the service closed a lengthy criminal investigation into the case last year without finding any evidence to charge Golsteyn. His lawyer and other supporters say that the service has exaggerated the claims and selectively released details from the case.

The case underscores a stunning fall for a highly regarded officer who has been lauded for his leadership and graduated from the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 2006. It has also pitted the Army against a war hero. . .

[2ndDivisionVet]

He should claim he’s transgendered. Problem solved.

[yoe]

The suspected bombmaker was not on a list of targets U.S. forces had been cleared to kill without following the rules of engagement....there's those pesky rules of engagement again....not to make light of this horrid situation...who made out the list of targets? Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn is serving under, perhaps the most pathetic Commander-in-Chief the nation has ever had. His superiors have made him the enemy to save their own necks...Golsteyn dared to use his head and make a decision with out calling home.

He will be cleared.

[Timber Rattler]

So the Army is finally leaking the details of this soldiers' "crime" to try and shut up his supporters.

As far as I'm concerned, he did a public service, and a service to his fellow soldiers by eliminating this particular vermin.

[NTHockey]

Rules of engagement? See my tagline.

[Jack Hammer]

Obama’s Pentagon lap dogs won’t rest in their exertions to polish their chairs with their non-combatant butts.

[BBell]

Charging a man with murder in this place was like handing out speeding tickets in the Indy 500......