US Navy leaders oppose Trump, threaten to resign
Iran Press TV
Saturday, 23 November 2019 11:45 PM
American Navy leaders have threatened to resign if plans to review Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher's conduct are halted over a tweet by President Donald Trump, a report says.
Navy secretary, Richard Spencer and the commander, Rear Adm. Collin Green both threatened to quit if plans to hold a review to decide if Gallagher should be expelled in a war crimes case would be halted, The New York Times reported Saturday.
"The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher's Trident Pin," Trump tweeted this week. "This case was handled very badly from the beginning. Get back to business!"
Gallagher, 40, was convicted in July of posing for pictures with a corpse of a Daesh militant during a 2017 deployment in Iraq.
He was, however, acquitted on several other charges, including murder of the militant and firing on unarmed civilians.
The fellow SEALs testified that while they did not witness the actual killing of the two Iraqi civilians, they did hear the shots coming from Gallagher's position, insisting that the child and man he is accused of shooting were both spotted falling to the ground, with the snipers witnessing it through their scopes.
Trump had vowed to pardon Gallagher and other US troops convicted or accused of war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan during their deployments there as military "advisers" and combat forces.
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