I note with extreme distaste that the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General James F. Amos, is alleged to have interfered with the judicial process in the court-martial of several of his Marines for allegedly urinating on Taliban corpses in Afghanistan. The Washington Times reports:
John Dowd, Capt. Clement’s principal defense counsel, accused the commandant of engineering the largest case of unlawful command influence in the Corps’ history.
“The withdrawal of the charges was another act of cowardice by the commandant, his counsel and the Judge Advocate Division of [Marine Corps headquarters] to cover up the worst case of unlawful command influence in the history of the Marine Corps, which was beginning next Wednesday to be uncovered in a hearing before the chief judge … on several motions to compel discovery,” Mr. Dowd said Saturday.
The defense attorney said he wanted to see email traffic among the commandant, his counsel and his legal division.
“That email traffic would have revealed that [the commandant] and his lawyers had engaged in a secret, corrupt effort to rig and control the investigations and dispositions of the so-called desecration cases until Capt. Clement refused to submit to a corrupt process [of being] charged with crimes he did not commit,” Mr. Dowd said.
Capt. Clement’s defense counsel obtained a sworn statement from Lt. Gen. Thomas D. Waldhauser who, as convening authority, was overseeing all cases in the urination incident. The general told of a one-on-one meeting in 2012 with Gen. Amos in which the commandant said he wanted Marine defendants “crushed” via courts-martial.
There's more at the link. Important, informative, and infuriating reading.
If this iniquitous interference in the judicial process can be proved (and I hope it will be either proved or disproved, definitively - it's far too important to be allowed to remain as an unproved allegation), then General Amos will have done his Corps a grave disservice, and irretrievably tarnished his own reputation. I note, too, that certain enlisted Marines have already been punished for their part in this alleged affair - punishments which must now be suspect in the light of General Amos' alleged interference. If the interference is proved and those punishments are allowed to stand, it'll be a travesty of justice.
If true, this report looks set fair to seriously damage the Marine Corps. Certainly, if I were a Marine on active service, I'd be looking over my shoulder, wondering if the Corps to which I was loyal was equally loyal to me . . . or prepared to throw me under a political bus at the drop of a hat. I hope the matter will be fully investigated and resolved as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, like so many scandals under the Obama administration, I suspect the guilty parties (if any) may simply ignore law, ethics and moral conduct, and hope they can get away with it - at least until they're safely retired and drawing a pension.
Peter
This is nothing new. The military has always found ways to railroad those for expediency and political reasons.
ReplyDeleteNo combat; no good.
ReplyDeleteFrom my perspective, he's another of those that reached their position by burrowing their nose in the backside of the current administration.
I could be wrong, but somebody will have to point me to something that says otherwise.
Remorse fully, I agree with Jess. I've known Jim Amos since he was a Colonel and always thought him to be thoughtful and well-meaning. But--like all the current chiefs of staff and wannabe successors, the Commandant is ardently PC. Is this a purposeful mandate of the political reprobates squatting in the Whitehouse and Capitol? Or is it simply ambitious men who.have seen fit to forsake the ethics and leadership they were taught and at one time embraced? I don't know, but I suspect it's some of both.
ReplyDeleteTC
You only mar the public face of the Marine Corps at great peril. They've always been like this--Embarrass the Corps, and you're going to be treated like crap. They're very sensitive to their public image, and rightfully so--The Marine Corps would not exist were it not for that image. Full stop.
ReplyDeleteThe Marines are vindictive about things affecting their public image, the Air Force is vindictive about anyone questioning how great they are, and the Army and Navy both have their moments, but with them, it's more about who's in command at the time. You might get a letter of reprimand and a hearty laugh behind closed doors with one flag rank officer, and a court martial with another. 'Tis the natures of the beasts...