[ April 23, 2024 ]
The secretary of the Navy, Richard Spencer, tried to have it both ways with the Eddie Gallagher Trident case and ended up getting fired for trying to run a “double game” on President Trump. (more here)
Esper Did the Right Thing by Chief Gallagher
Congratulations are in order for Secretary of Defense Mark Esper — and the authors of the United States Constitution — over the firing of Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer. It just can’t be acceptable under the American parchment for a member of the chain of command that controls our military to be seen, as Mr. Spencer was, undercutting publicly, or privately, the constitutional commander in chief. Which is what happened in the case of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher.Chief Gallagher was accused of murdering a war prisoner on the battlefield, and a raft of other crimes. He was acquitted of murder after another Navy special operator shocked the very prosecutors who’d called him to the stand by confessing to the deed. Gallagher was also acquitted of all the other charges laid against him except posing for a photograph with a corpse. For that, he was imprisoned for four months and demoted a rank.
President Trump reversed that demotion, as it is entirely within his constitutionally granted powers to do. He is the final authority we have in these matters. When he learned that the Navy might nonetheless try to strip Chief Gallagher of his Navy Seal trident, he issued, via Twitter, an instruction that the “Navy will NOT” be taking away “Gallagher’s Trident Pin.” He added that the case was handled badly from the beginning, which, given the acquittals, seems self-evident.
Story continues below advertisementOne would think that Mr. Spencer would have gotten the message. Instead, he groused about the decision. It later came out that Mr. Spencer privately proposed — without consulting his higher ups — a compromise with the White House. Mr. Esper also reckoned Mr. Spencer’s own public remarks were at odds with his private mutterings. No president or defense chief could accept that kind of behavior, and Mr. Esper demanded and promptly got Mr. Spencer’s resignation. Chief Gallagher keeps his SEALS Trident.
Meantime, the United Nations piped up, via a human rights spokesman in Geneva. Reuters quoted the spokesman as complaining about the restoration of Chief Gallagher’s rank and the pardoning of two Army officers for war crimes. In the pardons, he suggested, “no circumstances have been advanced” to suggest “anything other than simply voiding an otherwise proper process…” Reuters added that “most pardons are granted for those already convicted who have served time for a federal offence.”
Just for the record, the opposite is true. Most pardons have been issued to persons who haven’t been arrested or even charged. President Lincoln and President Andrew Johnson pardoned, in total, thousands of Confederate soldiers and President Carter used the pardon power to clear thousands of Americans who either failed to register for the draft or who’d fled to Canada and other countries in violation of the draft laws. Those pardons alone dwarf the count of pardons issued to federal convicts. They offended many officers more than Mr. Trump offended Secretary Spencer.
It’s not our purpose here to ignore the troubling evidence that was adduced against Gallagher or the importance of acting against war crimes when they occur. A long newspaper life has taught us, though, that combat clothes all sorts of facts in the fog of war. Keen judgment is often required to sort them out. This is why the Constitution lays the final decision to a civilian commander-in-chief who has been vetted by a national election and grants him powers of clemency beyond review.
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32 Comments
4 years ago
Why is the UN interfering in the internal workings of the USA? By what right does it feel it is its place to even comment, especially when one reviews who its esteemed members include?
Why are some of the world’s worse dictators, murders, anti-human rights, anti-women countries on committees dedicated, supposedly, to human rights? But its open season to decry the US and its president?
Why not figure out the UN budget without funding from the US. Why not move to Abu Dhabi? Didn’t Abu Dhabi once offer to host the UN headquarters?
I’m certain that the existing UN headquarters in New York could be converted into condos, complete with movie theatres, theatres, party rooms, and security features already built in. Made into condos once fumigated, of course.
4 years ago
Reply to
stephen5970
Why is the UN interfering in the internal workings of the USA?
The UN long has taken an interest in war crimes, and the US is no exception. In fact, we’d likely be scrutinized for extra attention.
4 years ago
Reply to
Liatris Spicata
“The UN has long taken an interest in war crimes” bwahahahahahahahahahahaha, what about E. Timor, Bangladesh and Cyprus white, gormless worm?
4 years ago
Reply to
stephen5970
UN is run by Left/Liberal / Jihadi supporters
UN Supports Jihadi Invasion and Islamic Takeover of Non-Muslim Lands
And rejects Trump’s choice For daring to speak the Truth About it to head UN’s International Organization for Migration https://tinyurl.com/yc88lljq
why fund them ?
4 years ago
Reply to
stephen5970
Because U.N. is the acronym for Umma Nazis, as, the 57 member OIC (muslim nations) controls this useless, western civilization hating organization`s agenda. All western nations should quit the U.N. (and kick it out of the USA), then, set up a new org strictly composed of democracies.
4 years ago
Reply to
stephen5970
Your comment fits alongside my longtime arguments in favor of America forming an international group of nations that honor the basic rights of humans, such as are written in our Bill of Rights. No dictatiorships, muslims, or communists would be allowed anywhere near the group’s business.
The thing that amazes me is the fact that the U.N. allows all the enemies of mankind, such as communist, muslim, and any others to partner with nations which try to bring order and peace to the planet.
How stupid is it to entrust our most important goals to the heartless villains such as are harbored in the U.N.?
4 years ago
Reply to
stephen5970
Amen! How are our soldiers supposed to do their jobs as national warriors when they have to worry about the UN judging them? The answer is they won’t be able to which is the purpose since the UN is now controlled by the Organization of the Islamic Conference/Cooperation in alliance with the George Soros-ian globalist banking clique! Basically, the Muslims are seeking through the UN to stop any effort by the USA or western powers to make war on them then come after the soldiers of the offending country individually to punish them! This is what makes Pres. Trump different and the globalists aren’t liking it! Happy Thanksgiving and Holidays!
4 years ago
I gather Spencer was fired for going behind his boss’s back in contacts with the White House, and that probably is a fireable offense.
However, the writer is entirely disingenuous here:
Just for the record, the opposite is true. Most pardons have been issued to persons who haven’t been arrested or even charged. President Lincoln and President Andrew Johnson pardoned, in total, thousands of Confederate soldiers and President Carter used the pardon power to clear thousands of Americans who either failed to register for the draft or who’d fled to Canada> …
None of these blanket pardons refer to those accused of crimes while serving in the US military, and as such it is an entirely specious comparison. The situations surrounding Confederate soldiers or Vietnam era draft dodgers are so different to those of Gallagher as to make any comparisons absurd. Neither the Sun nor Pamela should resort to absurd analogies when making a case.
“We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!,” Mr. Trump put it in an October 12 tweet.
This is wrong. The military doesn’t train our soldiers to be killing machines. The services train them to have judgment and to kill when needed but within the laws of war. Mr. Trump has loosened the rules of military engagement in some theaters, which has made sense. But that doesn’t mean killing unarmed combatants and civilians or abusing captives. This is a key difference between American soldiers and the unlawful enemy combatants in Islamic State
4 years ago
Reply to
Liatris Spicata
What about ‘the fog of war’ making facts or complicating factors difficult if not impossible to absolutely determine? A lot of us can vouch for this. Sometimes, back at HQ. a lame–maybe even peacenik or enemy sympathizing– superior just wants to conduct a political show: score one for Islam. Nothing’s impossible in this present leftarded environment. Further: In your anxiety to make a point, you missed the point in your 1st paragraph.
4 years ago
Reply to
Nabi Rasch
What makes you think I missed the point of the first paragraph? I didn’t think it needed elaborating. Spencer needed to go …. but nonetheless, Trump projects a false image of the US military.
4 years ago
Reply to
Liatris Spicata
You mean it’s still the place to head when you want a free sex change?
4 years ago
would like to know who recommended spencer to trump….that person should be gone today as well
4 years ago
Reply to
tituspullo
Either Kelly, McMasters or Mattis.
Good riddance to bad rubbish…all of them.
4 years ago
Quote of the NY Sun editorial … “Meantime, the United Nations piped up, via a human rights spokesman in
Geneva. Reuters quoted the spokesman as complaining about the restoration of Chief Gallagher’s rank and the pardoning of two Army officers for war crimes.”
Correction: “Meantime, the United Nations piped up, via a human rights opponent spokesman in Geneva. Reuters quoted the enemy spokesman as complaining about the restoration of
Chief Gallagher’s rank and the pardoning of two Army officers accused of for war
crimes.”
There … that’s a little better.
4 years ago
So he posed with a picture of a dead POS feral animal parasitic muslim and they want him hung??? STFU!!! And the moronic POS at the UN have NO say so!!! Time to get the US out of the UN and the UN out of the US!!!! The POS muslims cut up many American, foreign and local people and took videos and the muslims in the UN are going to say now that a photo is a WAR crime?
4 years ago
Reply to
patd
The most that should have happened to the Chief for the photo is an Article 15 non-Judicial punishment.
4 years ago
Reply to
patd
There were 11 people in that photo…and the guy who took it adds one more.
Chief Gallagher was targeted and severely persecuted.
All directed by Admiral Green?
4 years ago
Reply to
patd
Brings to mind that ugly little actress who was showing off her imitaion severed head of President Donald Trump a while back.
She didn’t even get arrested for anything for enticing sickos to violence against our President. Comparing her behavior to Gallagher’s is enough to make me puke.
4 years ago
When does Admiral Green go?
4 years ago
WTF with these modern-day military stiffs. When I served in Vietnam, the daily philosophy was “sh*t runs downhill”, meaning RHIP, or rank has its privilege.
Remember Truman, a Democrat, went to Korea to fire McArthur for insubordination.
One of the hallmarks of a free society is civilian control of the military, else we would be like those tinhorn dictators in banana republics that overpopulate the world.
4 years ago
i like it!
4 years ago
Thank you President Donald Trump for standing against the tremendous injustice perpetrated against
Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher and, for the sake of real Americans, against seditious and insubordinate Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer. We are so tired of these blowhard tyrants. And thank you very much Secretary of Defense Mark Esper for demanding and receiving Richard Spencer’s resignation. This was very good news for all of us.
I don’t understand why the majority of the American people have not demanded that our politicians de-fund and remove all United Nations ties to this country. The UN is a construct of Satan’s Kingdom. Why tie our hands with evil, spend a lot of taxpayer money to promote evil, and let bad people overrule our nation’s Constitutional Republic?
4 years ago
Reply to
movingwaters
There seem to be more people in favor of dumping the U.N. for a better organization dedicated to spreading the concepts of our Republic. Please use this url https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
to let President Trump know of your belief in this action.
4 years ago
This is the best stated coverage of this story that I have seen or heard.
When truth falls into the hands of Pamela Geller, it rests with honor.
4 years ago
Spencer is a whiny crybaby soyboy.
He was crying like a little baby on the steps of the Pentagon in that interview after he was fired.
Best part…his wife had to pick him up because his lost his limo service.
