Mathew L. Golsteyn

From WikiAlpha
Revision as of 09:27, 19 December 2018 by Geo Swan (Talk | contribs) (add reference)

Jump to: navigation, search
Mathew L. Golsteyn
Mathew Golsteyn in Afghanistan in 2010
Mathew Golsteyn in Afghanistan in 2010
Nationality USA
Occupation soldier
Known for Charged with killing an Afghan outside the rules of engagement

Major Mathew L. Golsteyn was an American soldier whose killing of an Afghan became a trigger to a public debate.[1][2]

Golsteyn graduated from the US Army's officer college, West Point Military Academy, in 2006, and was discharged, following an inquiry, in 2015.[3]

Golsteyn served in Afghanistan, in 2010.[4] His superiors felt his bravery and leadership merited recognition, and he was awarded a Silver Star, the third highest medal awarded by the US military. The Secretary of the Army was considering upgrading his recognition to a Distinguished Service Cross, the second highest medal.

However, in 2011, an incident came to light, from 2010, when Golsteyn, then a Captain, killed an unarmed Afghan.[1][2] Golsteyn was working next to Marines during the battle of Marja, in Helmand, Afghanistan, on February 18, 2010. A party of Marines opened a booby-trapped door, which killed two marines, and seriously wounded three others.[3] Nearby US forces subsequently inspected nearby houses, and took a suspect into custody, because they thought his home contained bomb-making materials. A cooperative tribal elder, visiting the base, identified the captive as a member of the Taliban. The cooperative tribal elder became fearful when the suspect saw him on the base, and told Golsteyn he now feared the Taliban would target him and his family. Golsteyn, and a confederate, took the suspect off base, and killed him - a killing an inquiry later determined was in violation of the rules of engagement.

The killing first came to official notice in 2011, during Golsteyn's job interview, when he applied to work for the CIA.[5][6] This triggered the first Army investigation. The investigation took three years. His Board of Inquiry convened in June 2015.[7] During its first four days the Board heard witnesses from both sides. At 5pm, Friday, June 26, the Board's President, Colonel Stuart Goldsmith, ruled the Board needed to see the recording of Golsteyn's CIA polygraph session.

A board of inquiry determined he should be stripped of his Special Forces tab, have his Silver Star clawed back, that a letter of reprimand should be placed in his personnel record, and that he should be discharged - a general discharge under honorable circumstances.[6]

In 2016 Fox News broadcast an interview with Golsteyn, during which he described the killing, again.[5] Golsteyn's public description triggered a second inquiry, which lead to Golsteyn being charged with murder, on December 14, 2018. [5] During the interview Golsteyn justified the killing after describing the rules of engagement as being too restrictive. He asserted that, at the time, US forces were only allowed to retain prisoners who were suspected of playing a role in Afghanistan's drug trade. Suspected combatants would end up in Afghanistan's Justice system, and he had experience meeting former captives on the battlefield again, because they were often quickly released. He told his interviewer he couldn't live with the idea that a suspected militant he had transferred to the Afghan Justice system, would return to kill more of his comrades.

Golsteyn attracted the support of high profile supporters, including Congressional Representative Duncan Hunter.[4] According to the BBC News, Hunter called the charges a "'retaliatory and vindictive' inquiry into 'a distinguished and well regarded Green Beret'."

In December, following the formal laying of charges, United States President Donald Trump also spoke in support of Golsteyn.[4] He sent out a tweet, saying:

"At the request of many, I will be reviewing the case of a 'U.S. Military hero,' Major Matt Golsteyn, who is charged with murder. He could face the death penalty from our own government after he admitted to killing a Terrorist bomb maker while overseas. @PeteHegseth @FoxNews"

The BBC asserted that the exact meaning of Trump's tweet was unclear, but that it could be interpreted as an exercise in "illegal command influence", and could result in the charges being dismissed.

The Washington Times reported that after Golsteyn left an Amazon book review of the book The Wrong War, in which he called a fellow officer, Will Swenson a friend, Army investigators conducted an inquiry into Swenson, and Swenson started to experience administrative errors.[8] Prior to Golsteyn calling him a friend, in the review, Swenson had been scheduled to receive a Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama. But after Golsteyn's comment Swenson was told that key paperwork had been lost, and his award was delayed for almost one year.

References

  1. 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. Archived from the original on 2018-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217095040/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/14/us/politics/mathew-golsteyn-special-forces-murder-charges.html. "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. 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. Archived from the original on 2018-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217100611/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/16/us/politics/major-matt-golsteyn-trump.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage. "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. 3.0 3.1 Dan Lamother (2015-05-19). "Inside the stunning fall and war-crimes investigation of an Army Green Beret war hero". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/05/19/inside-the-stunning-fall-and-war-crimes-investigation-of-an-army-green-beret-war-hero/. Retrieved 2018-12-17. "The case underscores a stunning fall for a highly regarded officer who has been lauded for his leadership and graduated from the prestigious U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 2006." 
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Trump 'to review' Mathew Golsteyn Afghan murder case". BBC News. 2018-12-16. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46587185. Retrieved 2018-12-17. "It is unclear what the president meant when he posted the tweet. However, as Commander in Chief of the US armed forces, any intervention by Mr Trump could count as unlawful command influence, and might mean the case against Maj Golsteyn is thrown out." 
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Jennifer Griffin (2018-12-16). "Decorated US military hero charged with murder". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2018-12-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20181217163134/https://video.foxnews.com/v/5979740536001/?playlist_id=930909819001. "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." 
  6. 6.0 6.1 Dan Lamothe (2015-06-29). "Former Green Beret war hero, investigated in killing, survives Army hearing with his benefits". Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/06/29/former-green-beret-war-hero-investigated-in-killing-survives-army-hearing-with-his-benefits/?utm_term=.bf3340c4459e. Retrieved 2018-12-17. "The decision comes following a week of testimony in an administrative hearing known as a Board of Inquiry. The Army accused Maj. Mathew L. Golsteyn of violating the law of armed conflict, but the three-member panel found the allegation unsubstantiated. The panel did find that Golsteyn demonstrated conduct unbecoming an officer, a lesser allegation, and recommended a general discharge under honorable conditions." 
  7. Amanda Dolasinski (2015-06-26). "Inquiry of Fort Bragg Green Beret will go to fifth day". Fayetsville Observer. https://www.fayobserver.com/069c761d-fd63-57e9-bf75-30c6cc4763ab.html. Retrieved 2018-12-19. "He told the board it is critical for soldiers and special operators to follow the rules of engagement. 'Otherwise, we’re no better than a band of thugs or mercenaries,' he said." 
  8. Douglas Ernst (2015-02-26). "Army spied on Medal of Honor recipient over Amazon book review". Washington Times. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/26/army-spied-will-swenson-medal-honor-recipient-over/. Retrieved 2018-12-17. "The online comment that prompted the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division (CID) to observe Capt. Swenson’s neighborhood was made by Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn in 2011. He was reviewing the book 'The Wrong War,' by former Pentagon official Bing West. Maj. Golsteyn called Capt. Swenson a 'friend.'" 

External links

  1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/06/29/former-green-beret-war-hero-investigated-in-killing-survives-army-hearing-with-his-benefits/?utm_term=.fd566214158d
  2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/05/19/inside-the-stunning-fall-and-war-crimes-investigation-of-an-army-green-beret-war-hero/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7a0d7897a8d0