Opinion: Trump’s war-crime pardons could be his most Nixonian moment yet
By Charles Lane Charles Lane Editorial writer and columnist specializing in economic and fiscal policy Email Bio Follow Opinion writer May 20 at 6:49 PM If indeed President Trump pardons one or more U.S. military men accused or convicted of war crimes in Afghanistan or Iraq, it could be his most Nixonian moment yet.
Rather, Nixon decided to exploit a groundswell of sympathy for Calley. In 1971, millions of Americans vilified Calley as typical of a corrupt and violent policy; yet millions more saw him as a dedicated soldier being scapegoated for the failed policies of others. Trump is in touch with the same distrust of elite authority that Nixon was, and taps the same vein of sympathy for men sent to fight a dirty guerrilla war in which, as “Battle Hymn of Lt. Calley” put it, “It’s hard to judge the enemy and hard to tell the good.”
Gallagher denies the charges and, with the support of more than three dozen Republican members of Congress, began demanding less restrictive pretrial confinement almost as soon as he was arrested last September. Trump granted that demand in March. Gallagher’s lawyers argue that his accusers — fellow Navy SEALs — are motivated by resentment at his demanding leadership style.
Perhaps, though, the SEALs’ willingness to blow the whistle reflected the U.S. military’s embrace, since My Lai, of the standard set by Hugh Thompson, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot who was at the village on March 16, 1968, saw what was happening and intervened to save a group of civilian Vietnamese, ordering his crew to fire on U.S. troops if necessary to stop the slaughter.
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