• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Volume 78, No. 152B ©SS 2019 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 stripes.com Free to Deployed Areas Trump issues pardons in war-crimes cases President intervenes despite opposition raised by military justice experts and Pentagon officials BY DAN LAMOTHE The White House said in a state- The service members were notified Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, was ex- The Washington Post ment Friday night that Trump, as by Trump over the phone late Friday pected to be released Friday night commander in chief, is “ultimately afternoon, according to lawyers for from prison at Fort Leavenworth, WASHINGTON — President Don- responsible for ensuring that the law Army Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn and Kan. He was convicted of second- ald Trump intervened in three cases is enforced and when appropriate, former Chief Petty Officer Edward degree murder in 2013 and was involving war-crimes accusations that mercy is granted.” Gallagher, the Navy SEAL. Golsteyn sentenced to 19 years in prison for Friday, issuing full pardons to two “For more than two hundred years, faced a murder trial scheduled for ordering his soldiers to open fire on U.S. soldiers and reversing disciplin- presidents have used their authority next year, while Gallagher recently three men in Afghanistan. ary action against a Navy SEAL de- to offer second chances to deserving was acquitted of murder but was con- Golsteyn and Lorance received spite opposition raised by military individuals, including those in uni- victed of posing with the corpse of an full pardons, while the president will justice experts and some senior Pen- form who have served our country,” Islamic State fighter in Iraq. tagon officials. Tr u m p the statement said. The third service member, former SEE PARDONS ON PAGE 2 By Rahim Faiez “We didn’t have enough money for the doctor and medi- Associated Press cine ... I can barely feed my children,” said Yousuf, who KABUL, Afghanistan works as a porter in a vegetable market earning ousuf fled with his family from his home in eastern barely a dollar per day. Like many Afghans Afghanistan eight years ago to escape the war, but he uses only one name. Y he couldn’t escape tragedy. In the capital, Kabul, five Afghanistan’s pollution might of his children died, not from violence or bombings, he said, be even deadlier than but from air pollution, worsened by cold and poverty. SEE PROBLEM At the camp for displaced people they live in, they and ON PAGE 3 other families keep warm and cook by burning the garbage FROM that surrounds them. One by one over the years, each of the children got chest infections and other mala- dies from the pollution and never made it to age 7, he told The Associated Press. Yousuf, 60, has nine surviv- ing children. Smoke spews from an exhaust pipe of an old mini bus last month in Kabul. Pollution in Afghanistan’s capital might have been responsible for more than 26,000 deaths in 2017 according to the research group State of Global Air. Rahmat Gul / AP MIDEAST NATION MUSIC Car bombing Key takeaways from Country singer Lambert in Syria kills second day of House taking sound in bold, at least 18 impeachment hearings punk-rock direction Page 4 Page 5 Page 16 Chargers, Chiefs set for showdown » NFL, Back page PAGE 2 •STARS AND STRIPES• Sunday, November 17, 2019 MILITARY Pardons: Some officials raise concerns over decision FROM FRONT PAGE establishes the President’s power direct the Navy to restore Galla- to grant pardons.” gher to his previous rank before In all three cases, advocates for he retires, the White House said. the service members had blasted His demotion marked the only the Pentagon for its handling of significant penalty he received their cases, detailing what they following his acquittal on the saw as questionable actions by murder charge. prosecutors and investigators. The news, first reported by Their cases have been featured on The Washington Post ahead of conservative media frequently, as the White House announcement, advocates prepared cases for the came at the tail end of a day dom- president behind the scenes. inated by impeachment hearings Phillip Carter, a former Army against Trump and efforts by officer and Obama administra- some senior Pentagon officials tion official, said that presidents to change his mind, according to have tended to support the mili- three U.S. officials. The officials, tary justice system and its ver- Free Clint Lorance; ANDREW CRAFT, THE FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER/TNS; SANDY HUFFAKER, GETTY IMAGES/TNS who spoke on the condition of ano- dicts to support good order and nymity because of the sensitivity discipline. From left, former Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. of the issue, said some command- The military, he said, has ers have raised concerns that “worked for decades to lay the body. Golsteyn said the man was action, and that they have lived in detainee. The case also saw a Trump’s move will undermine ghosts” of the Vietnam War and a suspected Taliban bomb-maker “constant fear of this runaway Navy prosecutor removed from the military justice system. war crimes committed during who had just crossed paths with a prosecution” by the Army. the case after he sent an email Other U.S. officials and advo- it to rest, and Trump’s decision tribal elder who was helping U.S. “Thanks to President Trump, to defense attorneys and a Navy cates for the service members risks undermining that. forces in the Taliban stronghold we now have a chance to rebuild Times journalist in an attempt to have said that carrying out the “Executive clemency like this of Marja. our family and lives,” Golsteyn determine whether anyone was president’s order should not be introduces doubt into the chain Golsteyn, in an interview with said. “With time, I hope to re- leaking information to the media. difficult. The system has com- of command, and creates uncer- The Post this year, said that the gain my immense pride in hav- Gallagher’s attorney, Tim Par- manders overseeing the legal tainty about accountability for man was set free because U.S. ing served in our military. In the latore, said Trump told his client process in the military’s chain of breaches of military rules,” said forces in his area weren’t autho- meantime, we are so thankful over the phone that he had been command, with Trump serving at Carter, who now studies national rized to keep detainees. He set for the support of family mem- watching the case and believed the top as commander in chief. security for the Rand Corp. an ambush for the man, whom bers, friends and supporters from reinstating his old rank was the The Army said in a statement The facts of the three cases he believed to be responsible for around the nation, and our legal right thing to do. released on Friday night that it vary. the recent death of two Marines, team.” “The president was very famil- will implement the pardons of In Golsteyn’s, the Special he said. He reasoned that if the In Gallagher’s case, the Navy iar with the prosecutorial miscon- Golsteyn and Lorance, and ac- Forces officer went from being man came in his direction, he SEAL faced a court-martial this duct associated with the case,” knowledged the president’s pow- regarded as one of the Army’s was returning to activities with summer after he was accused of Parlatore said. “I think that cer- ers to grant pardons. heroes in the Afghanistan war to the Taliban. mortally stabbing a wounded Is- tainly plays into his decision.” “The Army has full confidence under investigation in the 2010 “He had been released, and are lamic State detainee in the neck In Lorance’s case, nine mem- in our system of justice,” the death of an unarmed man in a you going to go back to what you and obstruction of justice for al- bers of his unit testified against statement said. “The Uniform combat zone. were doing? Or are you going to legedly threatening other SEALs him, including some under im- Code of Military Justice en- The case first emerged after go somewhere else?” Golsteyn who reported him. munity. They said under oath that sures good order and discipline Golsteyn, who had been deco- said. “If it had been me, this guy’s The murder case against Gal- Lorance, as their new platoon for uniformed service members rated with a Silver Star on the a-- would have beaten feet in a lagher fell apart after another leader, had ordered them to open while holding accountable those same deployment, said during completely different direction.” SEAL who was offered immu- fire on three Afghan men riding who violate its provisions. The a polygraph test while applying Golsteyn said in a statement nity to testify against him said motorcycles even though their in- foundation of military law is the for a job with the CIA that he had on Friday night that his family is in court that it was actually him, tent was not clear, and after issu- Constitution, and the Constitution killed the man and burned his “profoundly grateful” for Trump’s and not Gallagher, who killed the ing death threats to local leaders. T O D A Y IN STRIPES American Roundup ............ 14 Books .............................. 18 Business .......................... 13 Crossword/Comics ............ 19 Gadgets ............................ 20 Music .......................... 16-17 Opinion ............................ 22 Sports .........................24-32 Weather ........................... 13 Sunday, November 17, 2019 •STARS AND STRIPES• PAGE 3 MIDEAST Problem: More than 26K Afghans died of pollution-related illnesses in 2017 FROM FRONT PAGE ble.

Load more

  32

Copy Link