The only people who can make these calls are the ones who were there. We knew wed been called in to give them the result they wanted that everyone was clean, the former Navy officer said. And so, what happens? War is an adrenaline rush. The team guys will go and not because we want to kill people, it's because we want to do our job and willing to risk our lives to accomplish it. It was really good therapy for everybody that was there. your Border Gestapo heroes with the help of U.S. military just murdered a 7 year old girl, does that make you feel safe or proud, Albert PARASITE? And he opened it up, and someone said to him, This is our greatest hits. And he looked down, and they were a collection of canoed heads since 9/11. He was unrecognizable. We have a set of myths. This was more like a persistent virus. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Required fields are marked *, January 13, 2017 9 comments. I think I doI do knowand it wasnt in this piece, but there is more toyou know, he had some subsequent positions in the Navy SEALs that werehad somethere were some ethical flags raised in those positions, as well, towards the end of his career. By awarding both Chapman and Slabinski the Medal of Honor, the Pentagon presents an impossible version of what happened on Roberts Ridge. In 2015, after he retired, Slabinski gave an on-the-record interview to the New York Times in which he denied giving the illegal order to shoot any man. They do important things. And as SEAL Team 6 was putting the mission together, the British government kept giving her location with a very precisewith total precision. Imperialism on the hoof. And, B, that this young man, this young SEALand, by the way, he wasnt young. Its a work of fiction billed as the Bible, as the truth. They had encountered an enormous amount of resistance and violence from the Taliban. The original content of this program is licensed under a. Securities offered through Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments, MemberFINRA/SIPC, Headquartered at 80 State Street Albany, NY 12207. But no one else is told, going forward, in any other assignment that you get, that thats what happened to you. AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report, as we turn to another of Donald Trumps picks for his Cabinet. /u/SCUBA_STEVE34 What do you make of this? It looks like a blatant conflict of interest to me. He was standing with two female relatives to the sideon each side of him. Again their helicopter took fire as it landed near the top. And again, just theres not a casethere is not a single case of punishment or legal action against any member of SEAL Team 6 in 15 years for accusations of unjustified killings, in particular, or any atrocity or what would be deemed a war crime, mutilating a body. on about your day, ask yourself: How likely is it that the story you just read would have been produced by a different news outlet if The Intercept hadnt done it? The team split and Chapman was hit two minutes after engaging the militants. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. If I were doing those kinds of ops, would I roll with a stinger and depleted uranium exploding subsonic rounds and every other advantage I could give myself? And that was a bona fides that SEAL Team 6 needed to feel comfortable with sending their men out to find her at this location. Air Force Tech. AMY GOODMAN: So you say bin Laden was killed unarmed and in the dark. Interesting. And so, Admiral McRaven stepped in and conducted whats called an admirals mast, which was unprecedented. Slabinski also admitted he had given an illegal order for his men to shoot all males on an operation regardless of whether or not they were armed, according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation. Sometimes these emotions are hard to contain. There are bad eggs in every bunch, and unfortunately this is true with the teams. But the argument over how Slabinski determined Chapman was dead, and when Chapman may have died, is really a distraction from the true significance of what came down from Takur Ghar after the battle for Roberts Ridge. For two hours, SEAL Team 6 and officers from the Joint Special Operations Command scrambled a rescue force to recover Roberts. Shortly after the beheading incident, Slabinskis team was accused of killing unarmed men in an operation. It happens in war. Copy may not be in its final form. Sub humans that take young girls and women as sex slaves and torture and murder without a single thought. And the initial story that the SEALs presented to their superiors and to the British government was that she had been killed by one of her captors, who had detonated a suicide vest that he was wearing, and it blew up, and she was nearby, and it killed her. MATTHEW COLE: Well, I think the first thingthe first place to start is that, despite what the Obama administration was at pains to try to say in the hours and days after the raid, was that, from the beginning, the order to the SEALs werewas to go in and kill Osama bin Laden. Don't get caught, and don't do it just to do it, and if you do get caught you should be punished, because the system matters more than you. They arethey have no bullets in them. It's a war crime to use certain kinds of bullets, but if you're going to drill a man's brains out onto the ground, who gives a fuck if it's an FMJ round doing it. We continue our conversation with reporter Matthew Cole about his stunning new expos published this week in The Intercept about the elite military unit SEAL Team 6 that reveals a darker side of the group best known for killing Osama bin Laden. And Slabinski tries to protect him, but also protect himself. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. "There is and was no military reason whatsoever to split someone's skull open with a single round," said a former SEAL Team 6 leader. And that was another case where the punishment, you know, the way the command tried to hold itself accountable, was considered insufficient. And it was considered this total insult that the admiral had to come to the command and conduct a proceeding that normally would be done by a captain. We do not accept funding from advertising, underwriting or government agencies. He didnthe portrayed it as asomething that was justifiable, but that the Navy ultimately decided they wouldnt pay for. It was just too gruesome to show. We didnt hit women or kids. Zinkes team never responded. Slabinski later told author Malcolm MacPherson, in a taped interview obtained by The Intercept, that a few days after the battle, his team ambushed and killed nearly two dozen Al Qaeda fighters headed toward the Pakistan border. No one pushed for the upgrade more than Szymanski, according to both current and former Navy officers. In the memo, the commander claimed the article was full of grievous, accusatory claims and allegations that had been previously investigated and determined to be not substantiated., The article alleges involvement of ST-6 personnel in law of armed conflict violations, including accusations of cover up by senior officials, the memo continued. One of their teammates killed the other two targets in another room. Uncompromising integrity is my standard. However, it is important to note that SEAL Team 6 (also known as DEVGRU or Development . Talk about the story of this man, who was a Navy Cross winner, telling his men he wanted a head on a platter. It was good therapy. What good is our version of civilization if we behave like barbarians when the rubber meets the road. The awards have exposed a rift in the special operations community, a long-running argument pitting the Air Force against the Navy SEALs. Three years later, in 2010, Slabinski was up for a promotion when SEAL Team 6 decided to re-examine his tour with Blue Squadron. He was up for going back home anyway. According to sources, senior command staff were aware of the misconduct but did little to stop itand often helped to cover it up. The trauma from Roberts Ridge was clear and Slabinski has saidthat he still sees fighters moving in slow motion from that day. Now go do your nightly Sieg Heils to a painting of Trump. The former unit leader who served several years with Szymanski said he had no doubt that his former teammate pushed for the upgrade to assuage his own guilt about putting Slabinski and his team in what became a disastrous position. In your experience did you find it to be common for Team members to practice some kind of prayer or mediation? Your email address will not be published. AMY GOODMAN: And your allegations of what Vasely did? And the officer of the unit, who was Slabinskis superior, happens to be on the mission, and he walks by a window of a compound and peers in and sees this young operator standing over this dead fighter and what he believes is the sawing action over this mans neck. Muckraking Awards, Books, Films, and Organizations, joint special operations commander general stanley mccrystal, naval criminal investigative service (ncis), naval special warfare development group (seal team 6), the wedding party massacre (in afghanistan on 6 march 2002), Trump administration/Republican House and Senate/Supreme Court. Did you know that you can get Democracy Now! Itll hurt the administration. They wear patches. In fact, he was much further back down the line, comes in later. Our Daily Digest brings Democracy Now! The seals are glorified bandits who serve no one, much less the American people. The cover-up wins. You are never dismissed. AMY GOODMAN: So, that is, at the time, SEAL Team 6 member Britt Slabinskiactually, not at the time, because this is recounted afterwards. The 41-page online article goes into great detail on various operations naming specific people and operations dating back to 2002 up to 2011., While this article appears damning on many members of our team and most likely evokes strong emotions, the commander wrote, we must be mindful about what a journalist can do who latches on to unfounded claims and is willing to print based on limited evidence.. He believes hes following an order. After Robertss body was recovered, the military determined that he had been mutilated, a horrific act that led SEAL Team 6 operators to engage in a cycle of vengeance against enemy fighters in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Beyond body mutilation, the report also details disturbing accounts of war profiteering and theft, including on high-profile missions. All you need to do is sign up with your email and boom: credit for your preorder on a new Samsung device. Normally, the presentation of the Medal of Honor is a solemn and meaningful recognition of bravery and heroism. SEAL Team Glossary includes Canoeing, Winkler Hatchets & Bleed Out Videos. AMY GOODMAN: You write about a celebration, a reunion, really, of Navy SEALs back in Virginia at the headquarters. And one of my sources, who was a former senior member of the command, said to me somethingIm paraphrasing roughly, but he said, You know, to this day, Slabinski thinks that the guys turned on him. And they deployed to Afghanistan late in the year into Kandahar and Helmand, which at the time was, and still is, an incredibly violent, incredibly destabilized section of the country where the Taliban effectively rule. As it attempted to land, the helicopter took fire from Al Qaeda fighters, and SEAL Neil Roberts fell from the back of the helicopter. And they slowly get to the door. So if a seal wants to canoe a dead piece of garbage all we need to say is thank you. Access the best of Getty Images and iStock with our simple subscription plan. And thats one of the thingsyou know, their training istheir brilliance is at the tactical level. He was not officially forced to leave the Navy. 66 Navy Seal Team Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock Pricing Boards Video Back Videos home Curated sets Signature collection Essentials collection Diversity and inclusion sets Trending searches Video Water Background pattern Washington dc Nature Abstract backgrounds Winter background Thanksgiving Christmas Winter Veterans day Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. Youve closed this ugly part of our commands history, and everyone gets away with it. But it gets at the issue of integrity and leadership in SEAL Team 6, the officer corps. He died in the dark in his pajamas, listening to the sounds of people moving through the house. AMY GOODMAN: And the names of the officers you feel should be challenged? And the only unit that was capable, both at the time and in general, to operate in Afghanistan for a high-risk rescue mission was SEAL Team 6. They were inquiries. AMY GOODMAN: But he is awarded a Navy Cross. And he is the one who, effectively, is the only one who could come out and say, Heres what really happened, because he was the first in the room, the first up and the one who fired the shots. And the senior leaders who knew about it, who failed to hold their men to account, are now senior people inside JSOC and special operations who end up being who President Trump will have at his beck and call to conduct operations. Joining is simple and doesnt need to cost a lot: You can become a sustaining member for as little as $3 or $5 a month. And so, youre never fired. I shot him about 20 times in the legs. They certainlyIve spoken to some officers from JSOC who said, We feared it. Millions of high-quality images, video, and music options are waiting for you. And they had gotten out of control. And that was the only case and it was the only time there was someone who had whistleblown on SEAL Team 6, where there was some threat, and they were worried about being exposed for what they were doing on the battlefield. MATTHEW COLE: Yeah, so, in 2007, Britt Slabinski was the Blue Squadron master chief, which is one of the assault teams within SEAL Team 6.

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