Retired Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher—who was acquitted of murdering a 17-year-old ISIS prisoner in 2017—has admitted to deliberately killing the unarmed soldier, Task & Purpose reports. In 2019, Gallagher was charged for stabbing the ISIS fighter to death in Iraq, and was ultimately found not guilty of murder in a case that attracted the attention of President Trump. But during a recent interview with “The Line” podcast, Gallagher conceded, “We killed that guy...Our intention was to kill him. Everybody was on board.”
Gallagher’s defense had always claimed that the ex-special operations chief and his team had given the captured ISIS fighter medical help, but were unable to save him. Several members of his platoon testified against him at trial, accusing him of murder. In the podcast interview, Gallagher said he and his team planned to render “medical treatment on him until he’s gone.” “I mean, he was going to die, regardless,” he said. “We weren’t taking any prisoners.” He also claimed that all of the SEALs involved agreed to torture the soldier until he was dead. “I didn’t stab that dude. That dude died from all the medical treatments that were done—and there was plenty of medical treatments that were done to him,” he said. Gallagher added that he cut an “airway” in the teen’s throat “just for practice. I was practicing to see how fast I could do one in.”
Daily Beast
Flashback:
The commander in chief has repeatedly intervened on behalf of the Navy SEAL recently convicted of misconduct. And Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Trump did it again over the weekend, directly ordering him to allow Chief Petty Officer Eddie Gallagher to retire as a SEAL.
"I spoke with the president on Sunday. He gave me the order that Eddie Gallagher will retain his Trident pin," Esper told reporters on Monday at the Defense Department, referring to the insignia designating Gallagher as a member of the elite commando force.
The order from the commander in chief effectively put an end to proceedings by a Trident review board that were called by the commander of Navy special warfare
[...]
Trump pushed back for granting clemency to Gallagher and pardoning two Army officers earlier this month.
He said it was an unfair to try put away "warriors" like Gallagher, Army Captain Clint Lorance and Maj. Matthew Golsteyn. Lorance was convicted of murder six years ago while Golsteyn was about to face trial for the alleged murder of a Taliban bombmaker.
"We're not going to do that to our people," Trump said.
The move went against the advice of military leaders.
[...]
The standoff between Trump and the Navy's top brass began even before Gallagher's court-martial trial over the summer. Gallagher, who served multiple tours in Iraq, was accused of a slew of crimes, including the murder of a wounded Islamic State prisoner. In the end, he was acquitted of all but one charge — posing with a dead detainee. Part of his sentence included a demotion to the lower rank of petty officer first class.
Trump subsequently overturned that decision, commanding the Navy to promote Gallagher back to chief petty officer.
NPR
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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