Tag Archives: war crimes

Newt Gingrich: We Shouldn’t Let War Crimes Ruin The Career Of Somebody Dedicated To Defending America

“Here’s a guy who dedicated his entire life to defending his country, who represented one of the most elite units we have. Let’s say he made a mistake. “The question the president is saying is, is that a big enough mistake to take away his symbol — the trident — of being a SEAL, and in effect have him retire …

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Ousted Navy Sec Blasts Trump On Military Discipline

CBS News reports: Richard Spencer, the former secretary of the Navy, said he was fired before he could resign over the president’s decision to intervene in an internal review of a Navy SEAL convicted of posing with the corpse, and downplayed a supposed backchannel offer to the White House that served as the justification for his ouster. “I never threatened …

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Trump Wants To Campaign With His War Criminals

The Daily Beast reports: If Donald Trump gets his wish, he’ll soon take the three convicted or accused war criminals he spared from consequence on the road as special guests in his re-election campaign, according to two sources who have heard Trump discuss their potential roles for the 2020 effort. Despite military and international backlash to Trump’s Nov. 15 clemency—fallout …

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Trump Defends His Pardons For War Criminals: These Are Tough People And We’ll “Protect Our Warfighters”

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday defended his intervention in cases involving U.S. service members accused of war crimes, telling reporters he needed to “protect our warfighters.” “A lot of warfighters and people in the military have thanked us very much. It’s about time,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. “They wanted …

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Defense Sec: Trump Gave Direct Order On SEAL Case

The Associated Press reports: Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that President Donald Trump gave him a direct order to allow a Navy SEAL accused of war crimes to retire without losing his SEAL status. Esper told reporters at the Pentagon that Trump’s verbal order was the reason Esper announced Sunday that Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher would be allowed …

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Pentagon Says Case Of War Criminal SEAL Is Closed

ABC News reports: The top U.S. general said on Monday that as far as he was concerned the case of a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct in Iraq was now closed, a day after Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired the Navy’s top civilian over the saga. Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer on Sunday over his handling of the …

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Navy Secretary Fired Over War Criminal SEAL Case

Fox News reports: Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL who posed for a photo next to an Islamic State terrorist’s corpse in Iraq, and the SEAL will be able to keep his Trident pin, a Pentagon spokesman said Sunday. “Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper has …

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REPORT: Trump Backs Down In Navy SEAL Battle

Axios reports: The Navy has been informed that the White House will not intervene to halt the SEALs from removing Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher from their unit, AP reports. The backstory: Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer and the Navy SEALs’ leading admiral Collin Green have threatened to resign or be fired if President Trump stops plans to expel …

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Alleged War Criminal SEAL Accuses US Navy Brass Of Insubordination In Fox Appearance Promoted By Trump

Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post reports: Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher thanked President Trump for intervening in his war crimes case and said top brass in the elite commando unit are retaliating against him. “I’m overjoyed he stepped in again, being the leader he is,” Gallagher told “Fox & Friends” during an interview on Sunday. “It’s all about retaliation.” Trump tweeted …

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Navy Sec Threatens To Quit Over Trump’s Meddling

The New York Times reports: The secretary of the Navy and the admiral who leads the SEALs have threatened to resign or be fired if plans to expel a commando from the elite unit in a war crimes case are halted by President Trump, administration officials said Saturday. The Navy is proceeding with the disciplinary plans against the commando, Chief …

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Navy Sec Defies Trump On SEAL’s Expulsion Review

Reuters reports: U.S. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said on Friday a Navy SEAL convicted of battlefield misconduct should face a board of peers weighing whether to oust him from the elite force, despite President Donald Trump’s assertion that he not be expelled. “I believe the process matters for good order and discipline,” Spencer told Reuters, weighing in on a confrontation …

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Trump Reverses US Navy On Ousting Killer SEAL

The New York Times reports: President Trump on Thursday reversed a decision by the Navy seeking to oust Navy SEAL Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher from the elite commando force. Chief Gallagher has been at the center of a high-profile war crime case and was granted clemency by the president on Friday. He was notified on Wednesday that the Navy …

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Trump Issues Pardons In Three War Crimes Cases

The Washington Post reports: President Trump intervened in three military justice cases involving war-crimes accusations Friday, issuing at least two pardons that will prevent the Pentagon from pursuing future charges against the individuals involved, according to one of their lawyers and a U.S. official. The service members involved were notified by Trump over the phone, said the U.S. official, speaking …

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Turkey Accused Of War Crimes Against Kurdish Civilians

Newsweek reports: Turkey, a NATO member, has allegedly used chemical weapons against civilians in northern Syria. Multiple sources have reported that white phosphorus-loaded munitions are believed to have been dropped in the border town of Ras al-Ayn after images and video surfaced of civilians, including children, suffering gruesome burns associated with the chemical. Anthony Loyd, a journalist for The Times …

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Trump Congratulates SEAL For Beating War Crimes And Murder Charges: “Glad I Could Help!” [VIDEO]

CNN reports: Decorated Navy SEAL team leader Eddie Gallagher was acquitted of nearly all charges in the death of an ISIS prisoner in Iraq, including premeditated murder. But a jury of seven soldiers in his court-martial found him guilty of posing for a photo with the 12-year-old ISIS fighter, an offense carrying a maximum sentence of four months. Navy prosecutors …

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Indicted GOP Rep. Duncan Hunter Claims He “Probably Killed Hundreds Of Civilians” During Iraq Deployment

CNN reports: California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter said that as an artillery officer, his unit “killed probably hundreds of civilians” during his 2004 tour in Fallujah, Iraq. During a Barstool Sports interview for a podcast that was released on Monday, Hunter defended his support of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL facing a premeditated murder charge in the stabbing death of …

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Pompeo Revokes Visa For Top War Crimes Prosecutor

The New York Times reports: The United States has revoked the visa of the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor because of her attempts to investigate allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan, including any that may have been committed by American forces. The visa revocation — confirmed on Friday by the office of the chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the State …

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US Bars Entry For Hague’s War Crimes Investigators

The Associated Press reports: The United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel who try to investigate or prosecute alleged abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seeking action against Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday. The Hague-based court, the first global tribunal for …

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Former Bosnian Croat General Drinks Poison In Court And Dies After Losing War Crimes Appeal [VIDEO]

The Guardian reports: A former Bosnian Croat general has died after drinking a phial of poison at a UN tribunal in The Hague, where his war crimes sentence of 20 years was upheld on Wednesday, a court spokesman has confirmed. Seconds after his sentence was upheld at the international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Slobodan Praljak, shouted out …

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Kremlin: Our Support For Assad Isn’t Unconditional

The Associated Press reports: The spokesman for President Vladimir Putin tells The Associated Press that Russia’s support for Syrian President Bashar Assad is not unconditional. Thursday’s statement from Dmitry Peskov comes several days after a suspected chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held province in Syria. Moscow, Assad’s key backer, has supported the Syrian government militarily since 2015. Turkey said on …

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