“I think it’s a terrible idea to pardon someone who is
legitimately convicted of committing war crimes. It’s unthinkable,” Sen. Mitt
Romney (R-Utah) told HuffPost when asked about the New York Times report.
According to the Times, the White House over the weekend
requested the necessary paperwork to issue a pardon for a Navy SEAL accused of
war crimes who was turned in by the men who served with him.
Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward “Eddie” Gallagher is
charged with firing on civilians in Iraq in 2017 and fatally stabbing a wounded
teenage ISIS fighter. He allegedly bragged about racking up civilian kills and
threatened members of his SEAL team if they reported him. He has pleaded not
guilty.
Others who are reportedly up for a pardon include a former Blackwater security contractor who was found
guilty of shooting dozens of unarmed Iraqis and an Army Green Beret accused
of killing an unarmed Afghan in 2010.
The Trump administration asked for pardon paperwork on the
men by the Memorial Day weekend, according to the Times.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said she “would have some issues”
about the potential pardons when asked about the Times report.
“I just want to make sure we’re doing the right thing for
servicemembers as well,” added Ernst, an Army National Guard combat veteran who
served in Iraq.
Earlier this month, Trump issued a pardon for former Army
1st Lt. Michael Behenna, who drove an Iraqi prisoner into the desert in 2008, stripped him and fatally shot him. Behenna was convicted of
unpremeditated murder and was already serving a reduced sentence when the
president pardoned him.
Critics say that presidential pardons of accused war
criminals can undermine the military’s ethical code against atrocities and
threaten current U.S. servicemembers abroad who could face retaliation.
“Absent evidence of innocence or injustice the wholesale
pardon of US servicemembers accused of war crimes signals our troops and allies
that we don’t take the Law of Armed Conflict seriously. Bad message. Bad
precedent. Abdication of moral responsibility. Risk to us,” retired U.S.
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey tweeted. Dempsey served as chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff under President Barack Obama.
Senate Democrats, meanwhile, accused Trump of abusing his
pardon power.
“I don’t think presidential pardon powers and especially
something as egregious as war crimes should be something done as a political
ploy, and that seems like what he’s doing,” said Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.),
who also served in the Army during the Iraq War.
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