Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland, a Green Beret who has been discharged from the Army for confronting a child rapist in Afghanistan, came out swinging in his first public statements saying, “Kicking me out of the Army is morally wrong and the entire country knows it.”
Martland’s statement was given to Republican California Rep. Duncan Hunter, who then shared the statement with Fox News. Martland was discharged after body slamming a local Afghani police chief Abdul Rahman who had been allegedly raping young boys, and the soldier described as a “brutal child rapist.” (RELATED: Army Rejects Appeal Of Green Beret Discharged For Confronting Afghan Boy Lover)
According to Martland, the confrontation did indeed take place, but the Green Beret intervened because the boy’s safety and the safety of American soldiers were at risk because of Rahman. Martland added, “While I understand that a military lawyer can say that I was legally wrong, we felt a moral obligation to act.”
Martland’s account of the events was closely corroborated by Capt. Daniel Quinn who was also present during the altercation. According to Quinn, an interpreter tipped them off that Rahman had tied a young boy to a bed post and then repeatedly raped him for ten days, and had the boy’s mother beaten when she tried to intervene.
The encounter between Rahman, Martland and Quin turned physical when “the child rapist laughed it off and referenced that it was only a boy,” according to the Green Beret. Quinn and Martland then got into a physical confrontation with Rahman that included kicking him and body slamming to the ground until the Afghan commander fled the scene. (RELATED: 14 Years Later: Al-Qaida Is Once Again Running Ops Out Of Afghanistan)
Martland and Quin have both been critical of their commanders with Quin saying one commander recommended that they “have our tabs removed, sent home, and kicked out of the regiment (and potentially the Army).”
There had been reports that soldiers were specifically told not to intervene to stop child rapes, but the United States’ military command has refuted these claims. Commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan Gen. John F. Campbell said that he is “absolutely confident that no such theater policy has ever existed here, and certainly, no such policy has existed throughout my tenure as commander.”