Fellow Navy SEALs call Edward Gallagher "toxic" and "freaking evil" in never-before-seen interviews
CBS News
December 27, 2019
Never-before-seen confidential video reveals shocking details from the war crimes investigation of a decorated Navy SEAL. In interviews obtained by "The Weekly," The New York Times' TV series, members of SEAL Team 7 told investigators they witnessed Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher stabbing a young ISIS fighter for no reason.
The SEALs call Gallagher "toxic," "evil" and a man who was "perfectly OK with killing anybody that was moving," reports CBS News correspondent David Martin.
"I think he just wants to kill anybody he can," one said.
The testimony paints a chilling pattern of violence executed by their platoon chief.
"Did Eddie say anything when he did this or did he just literally pull out a knife and just start stabbing him?" one SEAL was asked.
"He just pulled out a knife and started stabbing him," he replied.
The evidence includes bodycam footage in which Gallagher is seen over the limp ISIS fighter's body before the camera is switched off.
Asked in the interviews if he interpreted the fighter as a threat when Gallagher stabbed him, one of the SEALs said, "I did not, no."
One of the SEALs confirmed that he views what happened that day, as well as other incidents, as war crimes.
In July, Gallagher was found not guilty by a military jury for the stabbing. He was, however, demoted after the jury convicted him of posing for a photo with the ISIS fighter's corpse.
Corey Scott, whose testimony in court was crucial to Gallagher's acquittal, was also interviewed in the videos. Asked if the fighter did anything to Gallagher that would justify the chief's actions, Scott said, "No."
But on the stand and after being given full immunity, Scott took the fall for the stabbing.
"They tried to frame me as a criminal from the get-go," he said.
The Navy Board also considered stripping Gallagher of his status as a Navy SEAL. But last month, President Trump intervened and restored Gallagher's rank.
"They wanted to take his pin away and I said, 'No, you're not going to take it away,'" he said at the time. "These are tough people, and we're going to protect our warfighters."
That move angered many in the Navy, including former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer, who was ousted after requesting the president not get involved in Gallagher's case.
"I don't think he really understands the full definition of a warfighter. A warfighter is a profession of arms, and a profession of arms has standards that they have to be held to and they hold themselves to," Spencer said.
Gallagher, who just this week met with Mr. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort, called the SEALs' testimony "blatant lies" in a statement.
"My first reaction to seeing the videos was surprise and disgust that they would make up blatant lies about me, but I quickly realized that they were scared that the truth would come out of how cowardly they acted on deployment," he said. "I felt sorry for them that they thought it necessary to smear my name, but they never realized what the consequences of their lies would be."
An attorney for Gallagher said he is preparing a lawsuit against The New York Times and correspondent Dave Philipps.
"There were sections where the video inexplicably cut off, sections where you could hear the investigator coaching the witness in the hall, and probably the most unprofessional witness interview technique that any of us have ever seen," Tim Parlatore said in a statement. "Philipps' persistent desire to ignore the facts of this case, to continue to publish false and misleading articles months after the acquittal demonstrates clear bias and actual malice, which is why my client has instructed me to prepare a lawsuit against him and the New York Times."
Another attorney for Gallagher told CBS News, "The jury heard all the evidence — the prosecution's and the defense's — and acquitted Eddie of every single serious charge. Enough said."
EDITOR’S NOTE: I hate yo pass judgement on a courageous combat hero, but it also took a lot of courage for his accusers to speak out knowing that they would be shunned forever for ratting out a fellow SEAL. And if they are telling the truth, did President Trump act in Gallagher’s behalf before he knew what his accusers said.
Gallagher accuses his accusers of having been cowards during their missions. Could he be calling them cowards because they would not shoot at innocent civilians? Just a thought.
As for the planned lawsuit, it would be very nice to see The New York Times hit with a multimillion-dollar judgement.
10 comments:
Let's remember, Chief Petty Officer Gallagher outranked his accusers. By giving them a order he could place them in harms way. Tier One Special Forces people are trained to be killing machines. If you are not prepared to inflict death and destruction on the enemy and to see collateral damage then don't join up. Fuck those cry babies! Do your job!
It's possible that everybody involved honestly believes they are being truthful.
Every soldier is trained to be a killing machine, but only the Nazis, the Japanese, the Turks and the Arabs intentionally killed innocent civilians and celebrated doing so.
I would hardly call any Seal a cry baby. Do your job, yes, but do it without the deliberate intent of inflicting collateral damage.
Howie,
Chief Gallagher was found not guilty. Every soldier is trained to kill but they do not get the specialized training that Seals and other Tier One Special Forces receive. The training is brutal and yes they do cry. I know what I'm talking about. 8 people out of my son's original unit of 21 have committed suicide. Now he goes to therapy and has to use a dog to get around due to physical and mental limitations. If you don't know what you are talking about, then don't go there!
Do you remember General Curtis Lemay? He firebombed Tokyo killing an estimated 130,000 civilians on purpose. People called him a war criminal but America celebrated the event and Lemay was decorated. He mission killed more people than the Atom Bomb in less than 3 hours.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/firebombing-of-tokyo
Killing Japanese didn't bother me very much at that time... I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal.... Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects of what he is doing. But all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you're not a good soldier.
General Curtis LeMay
Howie,
So far, you have backtracked on just about everything you originally wrote.
I've drank beer with SF guys at my kitchen table. I know what training they go through. The part that is a real shame is that the majority of their missions are classified and the ones that talk about it are wrong to do so. They are the ones that should be prosecuted.
Sorry Howie, You can't have it both ways.
It is true that we intentionally killed innocent civilians when we carpet bombed German cities, firebombed Tokyo, and nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but that was done to demoralize the civilian populations of our enemies so that they would surrender and bring an end to the war. But our troops on the ground did not attack civilians.
When I was in the army I was trained to be a killing machine but not as intense as special units like the Seals. However we were not trained to shoot or stab innocent civilians and neither are the SEALS.
The only reason Gallagher was acquitted of murder was because one of the prosecution's witnesses turned sideways after being granted immunity.
If Gallagher's accusers are truthful, he belongs in prison rather than becoming a special guest at the White House.
__________
Trey, when I first made the above comment, I was responding to your misguided comment. I was not backtracking and if that's what you believe, you must have had a little too much of that beer.
As for Gallagher's accusers, they were being interrogated by naval investigators and thus did not violate any conditions of keeping secret the details of their missions. It is ridiculous to say they should be prosecuted for telling the investigators that Gallagher was toxic and freaking evil.
Earlier you talked about the unfortunate situation with your brave and heroic son, and that 8 members of his original unit of 21 have committed suicide. There is a high rate of suicides among veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and not just among members of special op units like the SEALS. There is also a high rate of suicides by cops, both active and retired.
You said " If you don't know what you are talking about, then don't go there!" Well, I do know what I'm talking about, but you appear to have been blinded by what has happened to your son. My prayers are for the complete recovery of your son's health so he may enjoy a normal life in the coming years. God bless you and your family!
Howie,
Sorry you misunderstood. I was talking about the SF trained personnel coming back from missions and writing a book or discussing missions with the press. That has always been a violation. The rules were never relaxed and they should have been prosecuted as treason. As far as knowing anything about Special Forces, you don't know your ass from a sewer cover. As far as my son goes, I learned a lot about SF from him and that's from the source. Maybe you get your info from CNN or a story from the New York Times. Your responses were lacking in substance and are simply your ill-informed opinion. I stand by my original comment.
I did not misunderstand you. Now you say "I was talking about the SF trained personnel coming back from missions and writing a book or discussing missions with the press." But that's not what you said originally. You said, "The part that is a real shame is that the majority of their missions are classified and the ones that talk about it are wrong to do so. They are the ones that should be prosecuted." That clearly sounds like Gallagher's accusers should be prosecuted.
And you don't know your ass from a sewer cover about where I get my information.
I stand by every thing I've said on this subject. End of discussion.
Both of you are right. Shut up!
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