Military Murderer - Military duty provides an opportunity to engage in violence, which is legalized when carried out within the legal and political framework adopted by our nation.

Thanks to a tweet from President Donald Trump, the war crimes trial of Major Matthew Golsteyn is already underway in the public square. Decorated Army Special Forces veteran faces murder charges for allegedly planting bomb on suspected Taliban; but he is also the subject of the President's sympathy. Should we be surprised? Probably not. The perception that Golsteyn is a victim is exactly what his lawyer and other supporters hope to generate by pleading their case through the media. To create such an illusion, they have offered versions of events that seem fundamentally incompatible with any reasonable charge of murder.

Military Murderer

Military Murderer

So the audience is left to wonder: Was this march just what we expect any soldier to do when fighting an enemy? Or summarily executed a suspected enemy in violation of international law and the US military penal code? The answer to both depends on the facts, and there is a system for determining those facts while protecting the rights of the procession. It is the military justice system and should be left alone to do its job of resolving these conflicting stories.

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The public record began several years ago with his own polygraph statements. The story suggested by Golsteyn's lawyers is not credible. While there are still many things we don't know, we do know this: If Golsteyn had killed this person in a fire after the suspect was released, as his attorney suggested, there would have been no manslaughter charges or convictions . This is why the Army is unlikely to move to a general court-martial unless it has substantial evidence that Golsteyn did exactly what he said he did in his CIA job interview: executed him on this alleged bomb maker after taking the suspect to his home, knowing full well that he was breaking the law.

We also know something else: If the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Golsteyn killed this person by arresting him and "eliminating" him based on his own assessment that the man was a threat to the future, the great man should be convicted. The term war crime will be used, but let's be clear: this is an old war crime. Even in war not all killing is justified. If they are not justified, they remain illegal, because the default against killing is not removed during war except in legally defined circumstances.

Summary execution, in or out of war, is such a clear example of unlawful killing. And since such a crime also violates the laws of war, the military and its commander-in-chief have a legal duty to investigate and, if sufficient evidence supports it, to prosecute.

So when can soldiers legally kill an alleged Taliban bomb maker? Golsteyn himself recently suggested that if he was guilty of murder for killing someone he believed would engage in future violence against the United States and coalition partners, then American drone operators should also be prosecuted criminal for killing those labeled as "unknown terrorists". This statement deliberately confuses when and under what circumstances individuals become legal aggressors in war. At the most basic level, a soldier is permitted to attack—kill—every member of the enemy force at any time, unless that enemy member is "out of combat" as a result of injury, disease, or capture.

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This attack authority presupposes that the subject was initially determined to be such a member of the enemy's armed forces. In complex operational environments such as Afghanistan, where enemy combatants do not wear uniforms, the authority to determine enemy affiliation (hence targeting) is exercised at high levels (unless soldiers are under attack or at high risk of attack, which what makes such a membership under attack). useless decision). Such high-level decisions gave the operators the authority they needed to carry out their strikes.

If, as Golsteyn said, he believed his victim was on such a target list, he knew the process. But even under the most favorable reading of the facts he offered, he impermissibly undertook to make that call.

Furthermore, contrary to the march's supporting narrative, one of the strongest indicators of guilty intent is an attempt to destroy or hide evidence. According to public reports and his own admission, Golsteyn not only buried the body after the kill (an odd act to do if you believe you have legally killed an enemy combatant), but also returned to the burial site to retrieve it and burn it . a burnt hole. Such alleged actions provide a powerful insight into the criminal mindset of the majority at the time of the crime.

Military Murderer

Director Golsteyn may have been frustrated by the legal limits on his authority to terminate someone he believed deserved this fate. And if he is guilty of murder, he may actually be a likable person, a good soldier who made a terribly bad decision. But individual soldiers cannot make their own rules of war, deciding based on their sense of right and wrong who lives and who dies.

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Military duty provides an opportunity to engage in violence that is legalized when carried out within the clear legal and political framework adopted by our nation.

Otherwise, killing is just murder. Fortunately, most of those who have walked in the same shoes have made the right choices and it will be their honor to validate them by letting this process take its course.

Geoffrey S. Corn, a retired lieutenant colonel and former chief counsel for the law of war in the Army, is the Vinson & Elkins Professor of Law at Texas South College of Law, Houston.

. Rachel E. VanLandingham, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and trial attorney, is a professor of law at Southwestern Law School and served as a law of war advisor to U.S. Central Command from 2006-2010. Follow Rachel on Twitter: @rachelv12

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You can read a variety of opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the front page of Opinion, on Twitter @opinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To reply to a column, send a comment to letters@.Robert Bales (born June 30, 1973) is a former United States Army sniper who shot or stabbed 16 Afghan civilians in a mass killing in Panjwayi District, Kandahar province, Afghanistan, on March 11, 2012 – an incident known as the Kandahar massacre.

To avoid the death penalty, he pleaded guilty to 16 counts of murder, six counts of attempted murder, and seven counts as part of a plea deal.

Although Bales has exhausted all military appeals, his lawyer announced in 2019 that he would seek a new trial in civilian court because of possible side effects from mefloquine, an anti-malaria drug that Bales claims he was taking at the time of the shooting.

Military Murderer

And grew up in Norwood, Ohio, near the city of Cincinnati, the youngest of five siblings. He attended Norwood High School where he played football and was named class president.

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After high school, Bales briefly enrolled at Mount St. Joseph, transferred to Ohio State University, where he studied economics for three years, but left without graduating in 1996.

Businesses, some employees and corporate offices were involved. During that time, while employed by Michael Patterson, Inc., Bales and the firm engaged in fraudulent securities activity.

In 2003, an arbitration panel found both Bales and his employer liable for financial fraud related to the management of the retirement accounts and ordered them to pay $1.2 million in civil damages. Gary Liebschner, the victim, said he didn't get a "pny pny" from the award.

According to Liebschner's attorney, they did not take legal action against Bales to collect the judgment because they were unable to locate Bales, who joined the U.S. Army at the age of 28, just 18 months after filing a pending arbitration.

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In May 1999, while still employed at an Ohio securities firm, Bales, his brother Mark and Marc Edwards founded a financial services firm called Spartina Investmts in Doral, Florida. Spartina State was dissolved in September 2000 after the company timely filed its annual report.

Bales' brother-in-law said Bales joined the Army after the 9/11 attacks because he "felt he had to, because he felt he had to do something right" and that his joining the Army was his way of protecting himself.

Also in 2002, after a night at a Tacoma casino, Bales was arrested for assaulting a security guard.

Military Murderer

In 2003, Bales met his future wife, Kari Primeau, while at a bar supporting his band. Kari says Bales was a man "full of enthusiasm, eager to tell her every thing he was learning about the war and how to pay for it" until he was deployed to Iraq. Their relationship became serious while he was abroad.

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He was originally assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry of the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis.

He served three tours in Iraq

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