“Golsteyn was compelled to release him, however, due in part to deficiencies within the fledgling Afghan detention system. “The terrorist bombmaker, as identified by an Afghan informant, who had killed our troops, was detained and questioned,” the White House said Friday in recounting his case.

The Army later revoked that award after he acknowledged the killing during a CIA job interview, prompting the first investigation into his actions. Golsteyn was set to stand trial for allegedly killing a suspected terrorist bomb-maker in Afghanistan in 2010.Ī Green Beret team leader at the time of the extrajudicial killing, he was awarded the Silver Star for separate actions during the deployment. They knew how wrong it was, and they knew that he had given an illegal order.” Privates came back from that mission in tears because they were shocked. “That company had taken a number of casualties, and Clint’s attitude was, ‘I’m just going to go out there guns blazing and make a statement.’ He was scared to go out and do missions, and this was one of his very first missions. “It was a nasty deployment,” Duggins added when told of the pardon on Friday. “It’s clear cut, and it shouldn’t be a partisan issue for Clint to be in jail for his full sentence.

“The guy’s a war criminal,” Andrew Duggins, a former Army captain who served with Lorance in the same unit of the 82nd Airborne Division at the time and who read sworn statements of Lorance’s platoonmates made immediately after the mission. “Many Americans have sought executive clemency for Lorance, including 124,000 people who have signed a petition to the White House, as well as several members of Congress.” “He has served more than six years of a 19-year sentence he received,” the White House said Friday. He was convicted in part on the strength of the testimony of members of the infantry platoon he was commanding.

Lorance was found guilty by a military court on two counts of second-degree murder for ordering his soldiers to fire on three men in Afghanistan in 2008.

Navy seal war crimes