Navy SEAL trial exposes divide in a normally secretive force
SAN DIEG O » It was called the “The Sewing Circle,” an unlikely name for a secret subsect of Navy SEALs. Its purpose was even more improbable: A chat forum to discuss alleged war crimes they said their chief, a decorated sniper and medic, committed on a recent tour of duty in Iraq.
The WhatsApp group would eventually lead to formal allegations that Special Operations Chief Edward Gallagher fatally stabbed a wounded Islamic State captive in his care and shot civilians in Iraq in 2017.
Gallagher, 40, has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
A jury of mostly combat Marines will ultimately decide the fate of the 19-yearveteran and Bronze Star recipient charged with murder, attempted murder and conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline for posing with the corpse for photographs.
No matter the outcome, the court-martial at Naval Base San Diego has provided a rare view into the insular Navy SEAL community and likely will have a long-term impact on one of the military’s most secretive and revered forces. It has pitted veterans against each other both inside the courtroom and out in a fierce debate over brotherhood, morality and loyalty.
“SEALs, it seems to me, have been seeing themselves as God-like on the battlefield, and there is a real danger in taking that view of one’s unit or one’s self,” said Gary Solis, a former military judge and Marine Corps prosecutor who teaches law at Georgetown University. “I think this will alert the SEAL community that the rules apply to them.”
The case has laid bare challenges among U.S. special forces as the United States increasingly relies on such troops, which make up only 2 percent of the military yet carry out most of its battles around the globe.
A number of special forces members are on trial this year. A U.S. Navy SEAL last month pleaded guilty to hazing and assault charges for his role in the 2017 strangulation of a U.S. Army Green Beret in Africa.
The scandals have prompted a review by the Navy’s top commanders into the behavior of the special warfare teams. During Gallagher’s trial, it was revealed that nearly all his platoon members readily posed for photos with the dead militant and watched as Gallagher read his reenlistment oath near the body in an impromptu ceremony.
Lt. Jacob Portier, the officer in charge, has been charged separately for overseeing the ceremony and not reporting the alleged stabbing.
The trial also has shown the struggles of military courts in prosecuting alleged war crimes. The lead prosecutor was removed after allegedly tracking the defense team’s emails to find a news leak, and the lead investigator acknowledged on the stand making mistakes.
Closing arguments are expected Monday. A jury of five Marines and two sailors, one a SEAL, will weigh whether Gallagher, on his eighth deployment, went off the rails and fatally stabbed the war prisoner as a kind of trophy kill, or if the boy died from wounds sustained in an airstrike and Gallagher is being falsely accused by junior SEALs trying to permanently oust a platoon chief they hate.