Former GOP lawmaker Allen West, who himself faced Army prosecutors in 2003 over his interrogation tactics, Tuesday stood up for ex-Green Beret Major Matthew Golsteyn, facing criminal charges in connection with the 2010 killing of a suspected Taliban bomb maker.
"What I find disingenuous and disconcerting, he has already gone through one investigation," West told Fox News' "Fox and Friends." "There was nothing that found it to take this toward a court martial hearing. What he has already suffered through is his Special Forces tab was stripped from him and Silver Star was revoked."
Golsteyn admitted during a Fox News interview in 2016 to shooting the man, and was earlier this month charged with murder. If convicted, the decorated veteran could face the death penalty. President Donald Trump on Sunday tweeted he will be reviewing the case.
"You have Bowe Bergdahl walking around free," said West. "Bowe Bergdahl deserted his post during combat operations. By the uniform code of military justice, that is punishable by death but is he walking free. Bradley Manning divulged hundreds of thousands of information that is classified is he walking away free. But, yet, somebody who stands up to the Taliban, a bomb maker...something is going wrong in the Army and that's what we need to be concerned about."
West said Tuesday he had faced a hearing after a 2003 incident when he shot his service weapon over the head of a detainee who was refusing to give information. He was fined but not court martialed, and retired from the Army with a full honorable discharge.
"As I said during that article 32 hearing, if it's about the safety and lives of my men, I will go through hell with a gasoline can and I will continue to live by that statement," said West.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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