Army Human Resources Command has come out in support of the Army’s decision to remove Green Beret Charles Martland for pushing an Afghan boy rapist to the ground.
Sgt. 1st Class Martland’s fate has been a matter of serious contention between the Army and members of Congress, who have derided the service for prioritizing barbaric local cultural practices over the protection and safety of an underage victim, The Free Beacon reports. Major veterans’ organizations have also come out in support of Martland to no avail.
This time around, the reaction to Martland’s treatment was little different. GOP Rep. [crscore]Duncan Hunter[/crscore] wrote a letter to Sen. [crscore]Pat Roberts[/crscore] in an effort to bring to his attention Martland’s plight and urged him to keep Martland in mind while holding up the confirmation of proposed Army Secretary Eric Fanning.
“I am not offended by, nor do I take issue with, Martland’s confrontation of the child rapist. Martland was part of a small team of Green Berets, entrusted to keep America safe in ways that often go unreported or unnoticed, whose mission was being put at risk due to the illegal action of a corrupt ALP commander,” Hunter wrote in his letter. “The Afghan justice system continually failed to uphold individual human rights, and we would expect any of our elite warriors to protect a child from a known and admitted rapist.”
While serving in Afghanistan in 2011, Martland came across a local police commander who kidnapped and raped a small boy repeatedly. Martland confronted that commander, who then decided not only to admit that he raped the boy but laughed in Martland’s face. That was too much for Martland to handle. He shoved the commander to the ground and dragged him out of the outpost and told him never to come back.
Almost immediately, Martland was removed, and the Army has since argued that what Martland did constitutes a black mark on his record and should result in expulsion, even though Martland has total support from his local command.
Although Martland submitted an appeal after GOP Rep. [crscore]Mac Thornberry[/crscore] intervened and persuaded former Army Secretary John McHugh to allow it, that appeal was denied, and Army Human Resources Command has now backed the original decision of the Army to remove him. A final decision has not yet been issued.
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