Posted on 07/05/2019 4:09:03 PM PDT by Kaslin
On Wednesday we looked at the trial of Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, charged with war crimes in the death of an ISIS militant in Iraq in 2017. Chief Gallagher was found not guilty of the most serious crimes, including murder, but was convicted of posing with the corpse of the militant for a picture. When the time came for sentencing, it went mostly as anticipated, with a couple of exceptions. (Fox News)
Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher will have his rank reduced and is sentenced to four months of confinement, which he has already served, for posing with the body of a dead Islamic State fighter, the San Diego jury decided Wednesday.
Gallagher’s attorney confirmed to Fox News that he will retire from the U.S. Navy when he becomes eligible in about three weeks as he hits his 20 years of service.
The SEAL was found not guilty Tuesday on six of the most serious counts he was facing, including premeditated murder, willfully discharging a firearm to endanger human life, retaliation against members of his platoon for reporting his alleged actions, obstruction of justice and the attempted murders of two noncombatants.
In a way, they kind of threw the book at Gallagher, giving him nearly the most they could on this specific charge. His attorneys are appealing the sentence, so we won’t know the official outcome until he’s already retired. (Gallagher will be eligible for retirement when he reaches the twenty-year mark this summer, and he’s already said he plans to submit his papers .)
After some negotiating, Gallagher will have his rank reduced from Chief Petty Officer (E-7) to Petty Officer First Class (E-6) and have his pay reduced for two months. He was further sentenced to four months in the brig, but he’s already served quite a bit more than that so he’s free to return to duty.
That reduction in rank will add up to a big hit to his retirement income if they can’t manage to have that portion of his sentence reversed. But aside from that, I suppose this sentence can’t be seen as too harsh since he was convicted by a military jury. I understand the argument made by the defense, saying it was unfair to only punish Gallagher when nearly the entire platoon had posed for pictures with the corpse, but he was the one in charge so I guess that means more of the responsibility falls on his shoulders.
If we’re to take anything away from this bizarre trial, it’s that we can’t be too careful when we feel the temptation to rush to judgment, as David French observed yesterday. Gallagher had been tried and convicted in the media and the court of public opinion before he ever stepped foot in the courtroom. He was accused of randomly taking sniper shots at civilians, including a young child. And the stabbing of the injured ISIS fighter was portrayed as a war crime. But as the details unfolded, we learned that a very flawed picture had been presented.
Gallagher served his country for twenty years, admitted to making some mistakes and was held accountable for them. And now he gets to go home.
Plenty of ex-SEALS running their own companies, with most providing on-board security to tankers and other ships that are exposed to risks by pirates and such.
I suspect he will find employment there.
No one should be able to prosecute someone for war crimes unless they serve on the front line themselves.
I can tell you from the prospective of a retired Army Officer who issued various punishments during my career that the judge risks having this sentence overturned as excessive punishment. This is a “crime” that could have been addressed with a reprimand, official or unofficial or something along those lines. Jail time for taking this photo is absurd and I hope President Trump will now move forward on a pardon full and complete. I would have called him in my office and read him the riot act or even given him all copied of a letter of reprimand which he could have done with as he pleased.
His trial was a witch hunt.
I'll bet they still call him "Chief." I will.
“This is a “crime” that could have been addressed with a reprimand, official or unofficial or something along those lines. Jail time for taking this photo is absurd”
You’re right. Tasteless, but any confinement is unwarranted. He has already been unjustly punished.
Agree. I hold his superiors responsible for not removing him from combat duties years ago. Too much.
He should reenlist. Force his superiors to deal with him. His 20 years are just about up. Retirement should not be thought of as the light at the end of the tunnel. That them on!
Bttt.
5.56mm
If you can’t pose with a dead isis muzzy, what good are they?
Impossible. Not with a court-martial conviction.
My father arrived on Saipan as part of Navy construction battalion, just after the island was liberated.
He befriended some Marines, and was given a Japanese company or battalion flag that one of them had from a captured in bunker complex, as a gesture for a couple cases of beer and some cigarettes my father had access to. My father later donated it to a museum
He talked to the Marines and asked how they got it. One of them said “first, we had to kill every.single.jap we saw. After that, taking it was easy.”
A bureaucracy that trains a man to kill, sends him to god forsaken places in the mid-east in endless war, to battle the government’s declared enemies - and then prosecutes him for taking a photo with a damned corpse isn’t fit for purpose.
I agree with you. This charge was thrown in just in case the other charges ran into trouble. Of course, they did, because the prosecution had gone rogue.
I’m personally guilty of this charge, but I’m pretty sure that I have the only copy of the photo. It wasn’t a full body, just a skull that one of my platoon leaders had left as a trail marker so that I knew which fork to take. I took a number of photos of dead soldiers for intel purposes and I knew that posing with dead enemy was verboten.
Posing with the entire platoon was a dumb ass move, not professional, but it deserved a good ass chewing.
Are all lawyers corrupt?
There I go again, axing a self answering question.
I guess the jury is all military which I feel is fair.
Not to mention, he was the only one charged when it was a group photo.
“As God as my witness I swear I thought this turkey was still alive”
Apologies to WKRP in Cincinnati
Who are you talking about? Are you sure you are on the right thread?
Twenty years is "high year tenure" for an E-6, Gallagher's new pay grade (exceptions can be made to increase it to 22 years for Sailors on sea duty). Plus, he undoubtedly received a "not recommended for retention" endorsement on his special evaluation.
He's done with the Navy. Time to call it a career and enjoy life as a retiree and, most importantly, a free man.
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