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The Bret Baier interview that became a NIGHTmare

What were the circumstances behind the killing of a Taliban bomb maker in 2010? A former Army Green Beret has been charged with murder and conspiracy for killing an alleged Taliban bomb-making suspect. The bomber had allegedly planted an IED that killed two U.S. Marines that were fighting with the Green Berets in the Afghan town of Marjah. Reportedly Major Mark Golsteyn and another soldier shot and killed the suspected bomber and then destroyed his remains.

Golsteyn, a captain at the time, was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 with 3rd Special Forces Group. During the intense Battle of Marja, an IED planted on a booby-trapped door killed two Marines and wounded three others who were working with the 3rd SFG ODA-3121.

For his actions during the deployment, Golsteyn earned a Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest award for valor. Later, an upgrade for his medal was approved but never given for a Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second highest award for valor just beneath the Medal of Honor.

However, due to his CIA polygraph where he admitted killing the Taliban bomber, CIA officials turned the results over to Army CID (Criminal Investigation Command). Although the resultant Board of Inquiry resulted in no charges filed against Golsteyn, it was ordered that he be stripped of his Silver Star and his Special Forces tab, given to Green Berets at the end of their training. It further ordered that he be given a General Discharge under Honorable Conditions.

The Board of Inquiry found no evidence that Golsteyn committed no Law of Armed Conflict violation, they found him culpable of Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer.

While investigating the bombing in the Marjah marketplace, Golsteyn and his men found bomb-making materials nearby. Local tribal leaders brought in a tied up suspect that they identified as the Taliban IED bomber. Without enough evidence to hold the suspect much longer, Golsteyn told the polygraph examiners that he feared that the Taliban would take retribution against the tribal leaders and their families who were seen to be working with the Americans.

They made the decision to eliminate the Taliban. They took him off base, shot and killed him and then burned his body in a pit where the U.S. destroyed classified documents. His remains have never been found.

Green Beret Maj. Mathew Golsteyn described his mission to Bret Baier, who is the host of Special Report with Bret Baier on the Fox News Channel. Golsteyn again admitted that he had killed the Taliban bomber, who had been captured by American troops, found with bomb-making material and then released.

“There are limits on how long you can hold guys,” he told Fox News for a news special that they produced on the war and our troops.

“You realize quickly that you make things worse. It is an inevitable outcome that people who are cooperating with coalition forces, when identified, will suffer some terrible torture or be killed.”

Asked if he killed the man, Golsteyn said, “Yes.”

That prompted the Army to open its second CID investigation into Golsteyn.

CID offered immunity to two SF soldiers to testify against Golsteyn but they refused to talk.

The two Marines Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary and Lance Cpl. Larry M. Johnson, who had been working with Golsteyn’s A-Team are the forgotten ones in this case.

But the parents of one of the slain Marines believe the charges ludicrous.

“I think that’s crazy,” said David Kleinschmidt, stepfather of victim Sgt. Jeremy R. McQueary.

“I don’t understand why they are bringing this up again,” Kleinschmidt told the New York Post on Friday.

“We were in a war — and things happen in war,” he added, “personally, I think they should just drop [the charges] … I’m glad the guy is dead.” McQueary’s mom said her heart goes out to the family of the former Green Beret. “I’m sure his family has to be stressed out beyond belief,” the mom said of Golsteyn.

“And my heart goes out to them.”

Ashley Johnson, the sister of killed Marine Larry Johnson was also, not surprisingly on the side of Golsteyn. “He, from what I read, is a hero and did what he had to do. I believe at a time like that, you wear your heart on your sleeve and I think it’s what anyone with a heart would do,” she said.

While soldiers who worked with Golsteyn told Army Investigators that they doubted that the Captain would kill an unarmed insurgent, it seems he wasn’t popular with senior officers in his chain of command.

“I have a hard time believing that such an incident ever occurred,” a senior medic in his unit told CID in December 2011. “I further find it hard to believe that Matt Golsteyn would do that. The only reason I could possibly conceive him doing something like that is if he felt his men’s lives were at direct risk.”

But a Lieutenant Colonel in Golsteyn’s chain of command differed and told CID that often Golsteyn was insubordinate and would act with a sense of impunity. According to CID, this LTC stated when asked by investigators if he believed Golsteyn capable of murder, he essentially threw him under the bus. “I would hope not, the colonel stated but “would not doubt it either because of the captain’s attitude,” the investigator wrote.

When the Marines returned from the mission that their comrades were killed and wounded, Golsteyn was there as they reentered the compound. He produced a bottle of whiskey (which is forbidden in a combat zone) and toasted the fallen Marines. That small act went a long way with bringing the SF men and Marines closer but infuriated Army brass for drinking alcohol in a war zone. The fact that the Army was more concerned with a toast to killed Marines rather than removing a Taliban bomber speaks volumes to several Special Forces veterans.

Pres. Trump has made things right, but after long years of investigations. President Donald Trump on Friday, Nov. 15, 2019 pardoned former Green Beret Maj. Mathew Golsteyn — who was accused of murdering a suspected bomb-maker while deployed in Afghanistan — circumvents a court martial that had been scheduled for February at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Golsteyn has argued that the Afghan was a legal target because of his behavior at the time of the shooting.

In addition, Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance was serving a 19-year sentence for his conviction on murder charges related to orders he gave soldiers to fire on three Afghan men on a motorcycle near his patrol in 2012. Full pardon was given for Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, who’d been found guilty of second-degree murder after nine members of his platoon testified he ordered soldiers to open fire on three men, also in Afghanistan.

To refresh our memories, the U.S. went to war with Afghanistan in 2001, after the September 11 attacks with the intention of going after al-Qaeda and removing the Taliban from power. Read about the collapse of the Taliban.

When did we exit Afghanistan? The shift in mind-set, made possible by President Obama’s decision to cancel withdrawal plans, reflects the Afghan government’s vulnerability to continued militant assault and concern that terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda continue to build training camps whose effect could be felt far beyond the region, said senior military officials.

Senior U.S. commanders have also been surprised by al-Qaeda’s resilience and ability to find a haven in the Afghan countryside, as well as the Taliban’s repeated seizure of large tracts of contested territory.

At this time, 2019, The United States has approximately 14,000 troops in Afghanistan engaged in two missions: 1) a bilateral counter-terrorism mission in cooperation with Afghan forces; and 2) participation in RSM. U.S. troops in Afghanistan serve alongside almost 8,000 troops from NATO allies and partners. U.S. forces continue to disrupt and degrade the Taliban’s combat operations, ISIS-K, and al-Qaeda activities in Afghanistan, through partnered operations with Afghan forces, as well as unilateral operations. The United States is committed to maintaining military pressure on the Taliban to reverse their battlefield gains and provide leverage at the negotiating table. Additionally, combating ISIS-K and the remnants of al-Qaeda continues to be a priority for the United.

Afghanistan signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the United States in 2004. The TIFA is the primary forum for bilateral trade and investment discussions between the two countries. Exports from the United States to Afghanistan increased 525% from $150 million in 2004 to $937 million in 2017. Efforts are underway to improve the business climate, including strengthening Afghanistan’s commercial regulatory and legal framework to attract foreign trade and investment, as well as to stimulate additional trade with the United States through trade capacity development. Implementation of new, WTO-compliant legislation and policies will improve Afghanistan’s business environment and trade regime, and provide an international legal framework.

What happened in Syria? What we need to do is anticipate a great trade deal with China!