Posted on 05/24/2019 3:56:16 AM PDT by Kaslin
Combat isn’t black and white -- I know, I’ve lived it.
When it was announced over the weekend by the New York Times that President Trump is preparing to pardon multiple veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who have been wrongfully convicted or charged with war crimes, a firestorm of opinions and accusations began to fly.
Salon described President Trump’s decision to pardon veterans as taking “imperial overreach to a new level;” The Washington Post’s Editorial Board said “such pardons would send a message of disrespect for the laws of war;” and The New Yorker published an interview with Yale Philosophy Professor Scott Shapiro who argued that pardoning military veterans was inherently racist.
Despite the fact that not one of these authors has ever seen even a glimpse of combat firsthand, I wasn’t surprised at the outcry. Having dealt with Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and the resistance in Iraq, I can attest to the fact that the so-called “laws of war” as described by Shapiro are seen much differently by our enemies… and the enemy employs no Rules of Engagement (ROEs) to limit their violence.
What I did find particularly disappointing was former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Tweet on Monday, in which she described the pardoning of military veterans as “grotesque.”
Never mind the fact that most of the alleged “war crimes” President Trump is considering for review took place under her watch, the more disturbing fact other than any argument from the New York Times or Secretary Clinton is the ease with which those with influence dismiss the presumption of innocence.
Although our Constitution does not state it explicitly, for 232 years, the presumption of innocence has been a fundamental individual right drawn from our 5th, 6th, and 14th Amendments. Over a century ago, our Supreme Court described the presumption of innocence as “undoubted, axiomatic and elementary.” It is, the Court said, “unquestioned in the textbooks” and can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome.
Unfortunately, some in the media, certain politicians, and a few in academia seem to have abandoned our tried and true principle of the presumption of innocence when it comes to our veterans. Before most of these trials even begin, veterans who face war crimes have their innocence ripped from them based solely on the opinions of people who have a political agenda.
The high profile cases of Army Special Forces Major Matt Golsteyn and Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher are perfect examples of this unfortunate turn in legal debate. Golsteyn has been referred to as a murderer and Gallagher was described in the New York Times as: “Stabbing a defenseless teenage captive to death. Picking off a school-age girl and an old man from a sniper’s roost. Indiscriminately spraying neighborhoods with rockets and machine-gun fire,” -- all before even an ounce of evidence or testimony had been presented in court.
Before we throw away the ‘presumption of innocence’ -- the respected legal precedent which has saved many men and women from the injustice of false accusations and horror of lynch mobs -- we should all take pause, especially for our veterans who willingly go in harm’s way on our behalf to protect it.
The 1960’s cultural revolutionists that spit on returning vets are now in charge. A paradox of sorts, the very freedoms they are using to destroy our country are being protected by those they hate the most.
In the abortion debates there is no presumption of innocence for the unborn by the same group of politicians and media. Those who pre trial convict military personnel generally have the notion that battle is some kind of sport or an encounter group meeting. They also look at the incident in a vacuum without regard to state of mind leading up to it. Military personnel are not robots without a soul. These REMFs make me sick.
And then you have the morons like Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware who claims you are guilty until proven innocent. Remember the Cavanaugh hearings?
Ping!
Compare the Fraud’s pardons with President Trump’s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_granted_executive_clemency_by_Barack_Obama
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_granted_executive_clemency_by_Donald_Trump
Bump!
Every single one of these military personnel should get get reinstated to active duty, be promoted to the rank of their peers, and get all their back pay and allowances. They should be allowed to retire as if they served 20 years; more if their term of imprisonment carried them past 20 years.
They deserve nothing less.
Now wait a minute... they presume eternal innocence where good Domoc🐀s are involved! Only Judge Kavanaugh, Donald Trump, Republicans, veterans and patriots are already known to be guilty... just look at poor Jussie Smollett - misled people still insist that he is guilty while Kavanaugh and POTUS still walk around free.
Who provided that alleged info? John Kerry?
At least Derrick Miller (Hagerstown, MD) is being sprung, and I believe he is on Trump's pardon list. He is also a Black man, professor Shapiro.
Maryland "Freak State" PING!
That passage is amazing in its simplicity, but goes deep. I think none of us who have never been in the military can ever understand what the pressures of war are truly like. It’s easy to judge. It’s much harder to truly understand something completely outside the realm of the majority in this country. How does a civilian even begin to comprehend???
A great quote from a truly powerful movie. Here is the entire scene: Link
Thank you. Have a wonderful weekend.
TSR, do you have any link to Derrick definitely being on Trump's pardon list? I read several other names here on FR, but have not found the entire list.
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