Marine who called for those responsible for Afghan fiasco to be held accountable gets light sentence

 Washington Examiner:

A military judge gave a slap on the wrist to the Marine who spoke out against military leaders' handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal , saying he did not condone what Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr. did but citing his "outstanding record."

Scheller drew a one-month forfeiture of $5,000 and a letter of reprimand, much less than what prosecutors were seeking, after he pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor-level charges at his court-martial. The charges included willfully disobeying a superior commissioned officer, dereliction in the performance of duties, and conduct unbecoming of an officer and gentleman.

...

Scheller, a 17-year infantry officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, gained notoriety for criticizing military leaders for the execution of the Afghan withdrawal , posting the first of his viral videos the day after an ISIS-K terrorist detonated a suicide vest outside the Kabul airport and killed 13 U.S. service members and roughly 170 Afghan allies.

“The reason people are so upset on social media right now is not because the Marine on the battlefield let someone down,” Scheller said in the first of his videos in August. “People are upset because their senior leaders let them down. And none of them are raising their hands and accepting accountability or saying, ‘We messed this up.’”

The prosecution recommended that Scheller forfeit $5,000 of pay for six months and a letter of reprimand, while the maximum penalty was a forfeiture of two-thirds of pay for up to a year and a letter of reprimand.

...

I suspect a significant majority of Americans agreed with Scheller's sentiments about the handling of the Afghan debacle.  Even after it was clear that it was a debacle some in the command were patting themselves on the back for the botched extraction effort.  Criticizing the command is always fraught with difficulty, even when the substance of your gripe is right.  I suspect that one of the big worries of those pushing this prosecution was that many of the troops agreed with Scheller's take.

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