Decorated Navy SEAL Is Accused of War Crimes in Iraq

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Edward Gallagher was something special, even by the punishing standards of the Navy SEALs. Both a lifesaving medic and a crack sniper, he was repeatedly decorated for valor and for coolheaded leadership during 19 years of combat deployments. After his latest tour, fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq, he was named the top platoon leader in SEAL Team 7 and nominated for the Silver Star, the military’s third-highest honor.

But now, less than a year later, Special Operations Chief Gallagher, 39, is locked in the brig, facing charges that during that same deployment — his eighth — he shot indiscriminately at civilians, killed a teenage Islamic State fighter with a handmade custom blade, and then performed his re-enlistment ceremony posing with the teenager’s bloody corpse in front of an American flag.

The Navy has charged Chief Gallagher with premeditated murder, attempted murder and nearly a dozen other offenses, including obstruction of justice and bringing “discredit upon the armed forces.” If he is convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Chief Gallagher denies all the charges.

The case has sent waves through the secretive world of the SEALs, who prefer to operate behind the headlines in an atmosphere of silent professionalism. And the case may widen as the investigation implicates other SEALs who did not report what they knew. A lieutenant has already been charged.

The chief’s arrest has also shaken his family, who cannot square the list of war crimes with the sailor they have long known.

“This is not who Eddie is,” his wife, Andrea Gallagher, said in an interview. “He is a lifesaver. He is that guy who runs into the burning building when other people are running out.”

In a two-day preliminary hearing at Naval Base San Diego that concluded Thursday, prosecutors presented accounts from several other SEALs in Chief Gallagher’s platoon describing his behavior as reckless and bloodthirsty. They said he fired into civilian crowds, gunned down a girl walking along a riverbank and an old man carrying a water jug, and threatened to kill fellow SEALs if they reported his actions.

Some platoon members were so distraught by the chief’s actions, investigators said, that they tampered with his sniper rifle to make it less accurate, and fired warning shots to scare away civilians before the chief had a chance to shoot them.

The purpose of the hearing, known as an Article 32 hearing, was to determine whether the case should proceed to a trial. Both sides said they believe it will, probably in 2019.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/15/us/n ... -isis.html