Marine who criticized U.S. handling of Afghanistan withdrawal will plead guilty, seek favorable discharge
By Dan Lamothe
Yesterday at 6:46 p.m. EDT
A Marine officer whose viral videos criticizing senior officials for how they withdrew from Afghanistan created a political uproar will plead guilty to several charges and seek a discharge that allows him to keep some military benefits, one of his lawyers said Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller is scheduled for court-martial at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina on Thursday, and faces charges that include disrespect toward superior commissioned officers, willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, and dereliction in the performance of duties. He burst into public view in August when, in the immediate aftermath of a suicide bombing that killed 13 U.S. troops and about 170 Afghans, he posted a video while in uniform questioning why no senior leader had admitted making mistakes in how the withdrawal was carried out.
One of Scheller's attorneys, Tim Parlatore, said in a phone interview that he could not yet get into the specifics of a pretrial agreement because some of the details are “still up in the air.” But he said the case began with Scheller demanding accountability from others, and it would “make him a hypocrite” if the Marine did not accept responsibility for his own actions.
The Marine hopes to avoid jail time and secure either an honorable discharge or a general discharge under honorable conditions.
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Scheller has also criticized Republicans, including former president Donald Trump. In a Facebook post on Sept. 25, he wrote that “everyone” had told Scheller to “kiss the ring” and seek Trump’s help, but he said that he didn’t want to and that “I hate” how Trump “divided the country.”
“Tell your son to stop tweeting about me,” Scheller wrote, a reference to Donald Trump Jr. “Your whole family knows nothing about US or our sacrifices. I could never work with you.”
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/marine-scheller-to-plead-guilty/2021/10/12/ccf1be18-2b74-11ec-92bd-d2ffe8570c7d_story.html
Do something positive.
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