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by Axios | 11.15.19

President Trump issued full pardons to two Army officials and restored the rank of a Navy SEAL — each of whom had been accused or convicted of war crimes — the White House announced on Friday.

Why it matters: The intervention came despite opposition raised by military justice experts and Pentagon officials. \"The moves signaled that as commander in chief, Mr. Trump intends to use his power as the ultimate arbiter of military justice,\" the New York Times writes.

The state of play:

Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance served more than six years of his 19-year sentence for the murder of two civilians.
Special Forces officer Major Matthew Golsteyn will have a murder charge dropped for killing an Afghan citizen he thought was a Taliban bomb-maker.
Chief Petty Officer Edward Ghallagher, a Navy SEAL, was found guilty of bringing discredit on the armed forces, by posing in a photo with the corpse of a captive he was accused of killing. He will have his rank restored after being demoted to petty officer first class.

Between the lines: The three people had been promulgated as \"war heroes unfairly prosecuted for actions taken in the heat and confusion of battle,\" the Times writes.

But military brass pushed back against the action, saying it would undermine the military's code of justice, according to Business Insider.

Go deeper: Where U.S. troops and military assets are deployed in the Middle East

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Mom and Dad disagreed often, however I never once heard them fight or argue.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"bradford","issue_count":13,"is_following":null,"influence_score":1380,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":49,"following_count":89,"position_count":41,"id":"jZB7ybYm","partner_id":null},{"name":"Dicr","vote_count":221,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/e9XBdlXZ/large_e9xbdlxz-1538070422.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/e9XBdlXZ/small_e9xbdlxz-1538070422.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/e9XBdlXZ/tiny_e9xbdlxz-1538070422.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/e9XBdlXZ/following","followers":"/api/users/e9XBdlXZ/followers"},"about_me":"Concerned American who wants to leave a better America for our children and a better world for all.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"dicr","issue_count":25,"is_following":null,"influence_score":6120,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":222,"following_count":2,"position_count":159,"id":"e9XBdlXZ","partner_id":null},{"name":"Joanne ","vote_count":361,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/zm8wROXZ/large_zm8wroxz-1583291005.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/zm8wROXZ/small_zm8wroxz-1583291005.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/zm8wROXZ/tiny_zm8wroxz-1583291005.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/zm8wROXZ/following","followers":"/api/users/zm8wROXZ/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":2670,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":105,"following_count":15,"position_count":273,"id":"zm8wROXZ","partner_id":"efa417af-11b4-4a08-9b10-fff245626400"},{"name":"Bhuvanesh","vote_count":318,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/default-with-flags.png"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/8mrnJ2Om/following","followers":"/api/users/8mrnJ2Om/followers"},"about_me":"I believe in being an active citizen through volunteering, writing to my representatives, registering new voters, and voting. 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I hear politicians eloquently argue for one side of an issue and later, when it’s to their benefit, just as eloquently argue for the opposite side. OK, so they are good at arguing- but what is that they actually believe? What is it that they actually stand for? An honorable person has values that persist even when it is not convenient or expedient. An honorable person has a moral compass that stops them from doing something wrong even if it is not illegal. A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":4,"is_following":null,"influence_score":45000,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":1536,"following_count":81,"position_count":539,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":1111297,"body":"Since the American government is derelict in upholding international humanitarian law, if any of these pardoned war criminals go to a foreign country, they should be arrested by said countries and be taken to The Hague to stand trial for their crimes.","parent_type":"Article","parent_id":38106,"created_at":"2019-11-16T21:07:29.413Z","liked":false,"like_count":7,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/comments/1111297","likers":"https://www.causes.com/api/v1/likers?likeable_id=1111297&likeable_type=Comment"},"article_id":38106,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/comments/1111297.png","note":{"text":"No","color":"#4ac6ec","stance":"no"},"note_text":"No","note_color":"#4ac6ec","user_id":"emQLy5yZ","liker_ids":["49VrwED9","AmpOaKGZ","jZB7ybYm","e9XBdlXZ","zm8wROXZ","8mrnJ2Om","9odrQBnb"]}}

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