U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., want a Green Beret reinstated in the Army after he was forced out of service when he reported an Afghan ally abusing a child.
Buchanan and Hunter noted that Sgt. First Class Charles Martland turned in an Afghan ally for his sex crimes to his superiors and is now being retired on Nov. 1. In recent weeks, Buchanan has called for an investigation of why the Pentagon covered up the sex crimes of American allies in Afghanistan.
Buchanan and Hunter brought out a proposal Wednesday reinstating Martland to the service. While their proposal is non-binding, they insisted it “would send a strong message to the Pentagon that its actions in the Martland matter are unacceptable.”
“Driving Sgt. Martland out of the Army for standing up for American values is a national disgrace,” Buchanan said. “Now is the time for the U.S. House to demand Sgt. Martland be reinstated for his honorable actions in defense of innocent children.”
“The fact that Sgt. Martland was reprimanded by the Army for confronting a corrupt Afghan commander and child rapist shows a complete lack of morality among the Army’s risk-averse leadership,” Hunter said.
Earlier in the month, Buchanan sent a letter to Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , on the matter. Buchanan called for the Pentagon to stop averting its eyes from the sexual abuse and stop pushing back against American service members who reported it.
“This is one of the most disgraceful policies I have ever heard of,” Buchanan wrote. “It is bad enough if we were ignoring this type of barbaric and savage behavior, it’s even worse if we are punishing American heroes who try to stop it.
“The only people who should be punished are the ones who created and condoned this immoral and savage code,” Buchanan continued. “Fighting in a foreign theater should not require our service members to turn a blind eye towards criminal perversion. Those who wear the uniform of the U.S. military should be commended, not punished, for upholding American values.”
Buchanan returned to the matter last week, writing U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the respective chairmen of their chamber’s Armed Services Committee demanding an investigation over who had initiated efforts to discipline service members who reported on Afghan allies’ sexual crimes
“Somebody needs to be fired,” Buchanan said last week.
The Florida congressman returned to that theme Wednesday.
“The only people who should be punished are the ones who condoned a policy of ignoring child rape on a U.S. military base,” Buchanan said. “It’s bad enough if we were ignoring this type of barbaric and savage behavior, it’s even worse if we are punishing American heroes who try to stop it.”
“Sgt. Martland’s experience has not only renewed attention on the issue of child rape in Afghanistan, but it has revealed severe flaws in the integrity of the investigations process and the methods for retaining the highest caliber soldiers,” Hunter said on Wednesday. “There is new evidence that the Afghan commander exaggerated his injuries to retaliate against the Green Berets in the area at the time, and other information not previously considered—because it was either overlooked or ignored—further substantiates the moral and legal obligation to intervene. In this one instance, Sgt. Martland was able to do what Army leaders and the Afghan legal system could not. He sent a message to a corrupt Afghan commander in terms that were sure to translate. For that, Sgt. Martland should be commended and reinstated.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
