Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Navy Seal Commander on trial

I have a problem when people wait a year or more to report a crime. Makes the claim dubious

1. He is not an enemy prisoner, so there goes most of the written, albeit not moral argument
2. None of us have enough information to render a fair opinion I think, but based on what I read and my experience, my original comment stands.

Good point.

These guys are hammers, and to a hammer, every enemy combatant is a nail.

We damned sure trained them to kill enemy combatants. Let 'em do their jobs. Quit picking nits.

Who all are hammers? All armed forces or just Seals? Do they have the double O license?

How about a specialer name? Einsatzgruppen has a ring to it, wouldn't you say?

An eye witness to the stabbing has testified.

You obviously never stared down that hell hole and neither you or anybody here have all the facts, let alone being there. What they government must prove, is he stabbed him to death for no other reason than to watch him die. if he's found guilty, then that's what it is...

And recanted.

“But officers from his unit, SEAL team 7, waited so long to report the alleged war crimes — nearly a year after they took place — that by the time an investigation was begun, much of the physical evidence was gone.

“There is no crime scene, they don’t have any bodies, and they can’t determine a cause of death,” said Patrick Korody, a former Navy prosecutor who has been tracking the case. “This case is going to come down to witnesses, and witness cases in this day and age are some of the weakest.”

Complicating matters further, the lead prosecutor was removed from the case two weeks ago after complaints from the defense about attempts to improperly track their communications, leaving the new lead prosecutor little time to prepare for trial.”


“According to an interview summary, Petty Officer Second Class Ivan Villanueva, the most junior SEAL in the platoon, told investigators he had been right next to Chief Gallagher when the chief stabbed the wounded fighter without provocation, and had been “shocked and surprised when the incident occurred.”

But Petty Officer Villanueva will not testify to that in court, according to Chris Ramirez, a lawyer representing him. In a written statement, Mr. Ramirez said, “Our client does not have any evidence supporting the allegations against Chief Gallagher and will testify accordingly.””


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/17/us/edward-gallagher-seal-war-crimes-trial.html

"But Petty Officer Villanueva will not testify to that in court, according to Chris Ramirez, a lawyer representing him. In a written statement, Mr. Ramirez said, “Our client does not have any evidence supporting the allegations against Chief Gallagher and will testify accordingly.””

Why was I not informed about this?

You can read, correct?

“Evidence at hearings last month showed an intelligence specialist from Naval Criminal Investigative Service conducted criminal background checks on three of Gallagher’s civilian lawyers and a Navy Times journalist who has broken several stories based on documents that are only to be shared among lawyers in the case.

Prosecutors downplayed the effort to find the source of news leaks, saying it only gathered data, such as internet protocol addresses, and did not snoop on the content of emails. The government said the investigation did not find who leaked the documents.

Gallagher’s family maintains he cannot get a fair trial. “The court’s ruling, recognizing a direct violation of Chief Gallagher’s constitutional rights but not dismissing the case, sends a chilling message to every man and woman in uniform,” his family said in a statement.

The prosecution also tracked emails of the lawyers of Gallagher’s commanding officer, Lt. Jacob Portier, who faces charges of conduct unbecoming an officer after being accused of conducting Gallagher’s re-enlistment ceremony next to the Islamic State militant’s corpse.”

https://www.apnews.com/0bf3dc4fc6854025be154d0dc08a6c96

I don't care what he did, they have declared war on the west and that dude got his war in spades. Boohoo for him, yay for us. Play stupid games win stupid prizes.

I learned raising kids that some kids respond to talk and kindness, some don't and require a larger hammer. Some never get "it" no matter what. Each requires their own brand of upbringing. Same situation here. These clowns want to chant death to America then bring it on. We can't have a universal set of "rules" when it comes to war.

If we wanted to overthrow Canada we'd call them names until they surrendered. If you want to defeat ISIS you kill every one of them stinking camel humpers for the next ten generations until there's not one left.

I say give the man a medal.

I wasn't there, nor do I know what happened, but I have been following this trial a little. I do think a year of waiting before reporting the crime is BS, and I do think maybe someone has an axe to grind against Chief Gallagher. I just know I served as a bailiff for a Court Martial three years ago, and I lost a crap ton of respect for JAGs. The court martial was for a guy that had molested his step-daughter. Before the trial even started, the guy plead out. When I got there and the hearing started, the judge said a plea deal had taken place, but the victim and her friend still had to testify. It was heart breaking watching those two 12 year old girls testify, and during recess I had to report to the judge's chambers. We talked a little bit, and I told him I would like to have knocked the crap out of the JAG for insisting the girls testify after a plea had already been done. The judge told me the reason behind it, but I still didn't agree nor did my opinion matter.

I don't know, shooting little girls just doesn't seem SEAL like to me or shooting an old man walking down the street they say was not a threat doesn't seem SEAL like either. And why kill an enemy combatant if he's been put out of commision and isn't a threat to anyone? Taking pictures with the dead and bragging about it seems a bit over the top IMO as well. That said, without any proof I don't know how they are going to find the guy guilty of any of those charges but there seems to be plenty of proof that he was playing the game by his own rules and that is troublesome.

I believe Jorge's take is pretty much spot on.

I do not know what really happened.Nobody here does.I am tired of our Military's hands being tied behind their back because of bullchit Rules of Engagement.Most of these rules are from some asswhole who has never seen combat.These men are fighting an enemy that cannot be identified by age,sex or wearing of a uniform.We are sending men to war and hobbling them.I really could give FF how the enemy gets killed.Its war and people die.In WWII and Korea it was not uncommon for no prisoners to be taken on both sides.Ones that were not killed were taken for intelligence reasons.War with rules is outright foolish.People die in wars.If you want to stop that ,make the POLITICIANS fight our wars instead of making the ordinary man put his life on the line.They need to let this guy go and fogetaboutit!!!JMHO,Huntz

The Japanese in WWII and the Nazis would have loved you!

This killing does not implicate the rules of engagement. The prisoner was captured and wounded. The combat was over.

Don't care.

Hope he gets a fair trial

Winner, winner,.....

I wasn't there and I am sure the facts are very limited to regular folk so I am in no rush to judge Eddie. I will offer some insight from my experience.
1. We have no ideas what his orders were or who he was working for. Catch and kill is exactly that. Not catch and take, not catch and smack around a little bit. There is to be no taking of prisoners. Some people have a hard time swallowing that fact and it isn't always just punching someones ticket who is trying to kill you. Most times when it gets to that, the target is often remorseful and pleading for his/her life. The mission doesn't change. Sometimes you can't take prisoners. They slow down a unit, and reduce unit effectiveness. You can't leave them behind you so they can tell the world you are coming. Nobody wants to fight a fair fight and if I am coming for you, I want it to be the surprise of your very short life.

2.Shooting an unarmed civilians is certainly no crime that I am aware of. Did he kill and civilians? What were the circumstances? Was he is a LP/OP (listening/observation post) or "Hide" and was about to be blown if he didn't take action? Perfectly acceptable to take anyone's life in that case. You might not like it, but if you were in the shooters shoes, getting your LP blown and having to fight a whole village versus taking a n innocent life is an easy decision. Historic reference - An Army SF shooter and spotter in the first Gulf War was about to be blown by a very young girl. They popped her and pulled her into their hide to continue on their mission. Why the public was ever made aware of this I will never know.

3.Heard he was shooting at them? Sounds like he was firing directing shots. Maybe they were walking up on his team and he just wanted to turn them around and shot a wall or the ground in front of them? If you are a sniper, you are paid to hit your target. In fact, your ability to consistently hit your target in atrocious conditions is how you become a sniper and missing civilians would be unheard of.

4. The SEAL teams have become plagued with guys who are just there to prove themselves and get a check in the box for when they get out. Oh they are very fit but have no intention of getting in the muck.They want the training and the notoriety and then want to do their 6 years and go make the real money. Honest to God Operators are becoming far and few between and the older ones are beat the hell up.


5.I used to work with a guy named Ted, he made a name for himself sniping looters in Panama. In his mind he was a hard sonofabitch. He wasn't well received and liked even less. Karma caught up with Ted. He jumped a newly made C-17 flight to Lakehurst, NJ and on the descent, the plane didn't depressurize. The aircrew couldn't get the hatch to release and Ted being the bad MF'er he was, reefed on the handled and the rapid depression blew Ted and a 500 pound hatch 100 feet across the tarmac resulting in the release of Teds mortal coil. People had made songs about Teds death in absolute glee.Moral of the story is Ted was legally entitled in shooting unarmed civilians looting but God must have taken offense and evened up.

Just some of my musings and why I am never quick to judge. I think if their was a problem it should have been handled in house and if a Team mate reported him to NCIS and ever goes as far as to testify against him, that person would be a sorry excuse and most likely spend the rest of his life regretting he ever got that box checked.