Mathew Golsteyn
Mathew L. Golsteyn is an American soldier whose killing of an Afghan became a trigger to a public debate.[1][2]
Contents
How Golsteyn came to be charged
The killing occurred in Afghanistan, in 2010, and first came to official notice in 2011, during Golsteyn's job interview, when applied to work for the CIA.[3] This triggered the first Army investigation, which did not lead to charges, but did result in an official letter of reprimand. Golsteyn subsequently described the incident a second time, during an interview on FOX News, in 2016, which triggered a second inquiry, which lead to Golsteyn being charged with murder, on December 14, 2018.
The killing
Two Marines Golsteyn was working with were killed by a roadside bomb in 2010.[1][2] American forces subsequently took some Afghan men prisoner. The man Golsteyn would later admit killing was subsequently released. In an interview on FOX News, in 2016, Golsteyn asserted that overly strict rules of engagement, in 2010, only allowed them to retain prisoners suspected of playing a role in the drug trade.[3] Golsteyn told the interviewer he sought out the Afghan, after his release, and killed him, to make sure he didn't make any bombs in future.
President Trump weighs in
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Thomas Gibbons-Neff (2018-12-14). "Army Charges Special Forces Soldier in 2010 Killing of Afghan". The New York Times (Washington, DC): p. A9. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/us/politics/mathew-golsteyn-special-forces-murder-charges.html. Retrieved 2018-12-16. "The accusations against the soldier, Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn, are the latest chapter in a winding story that began after he told the Central Intelligence Agency — during a job interview in 2011 — that he had killed a suspected Afghan bomb maker a year earlier, during the battle for the city of Marja in Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand Province."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Helene Cooper, Michael Tackett and Taimoor Shah (2018-12-16). "Twist in Green Beret’s Extraordinary Story: Trump’s Intervention After Murder Charges". The New York Times (Washington, DC): p. A1. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/us/politics/major-matt-golsteyn-trump.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage. Retrieved 2018-12-16. "With that tweet, Mr. Trump made another extraordinary intervention into the American judicial system. A president who just last week threatened to stop a Justice Department effort to extradite a Chinese tech executive and who spends most days vilifying the special counsel had now stepped into a complicated legal and ethical case that goes to the heart of the fraught politics of the military’s rules of engagement."
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jennifer Griffin (2018-12-16). "Decorated US military hero charged with murder". Fox News. https://video.foxnews.com/v/5979740536001/?playlist_id=930909819001#sp=show-clips. Retrieved 2018-12-16. "While applying for a job at the CIA, former Major Mathew Golsteyn acknowledged that he had killed an alleged Taliban member suspected of planting a bomb that killed two Marines; national security correspondent Jennifer Griffin reports from the Pentagon."
