'Condoned murder': Military officers reportedly fear Hegseth will ignore war crimes

Military officers are reportedly worried that President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Defense, Fox News contributor Pete Hegseth, will be a green light for U.S. troops to commit war crimes, NBC News reported Monday.

It's been a common criticism of the nominee, who aside from facing mounting scrutiny about his track record of alleged sexual assault and problem drinking, has also fantasized about using the military to suppress "domestic enemies" — and actively lobbied Trump to pardon three servicemembers accused of heinous criminal acts.

A chorus of current and former officers "say Hegseth’s strident statements regarding war crimes prosecutions of U.S. troops — and his advocacy for service members who were convicted by fellow soldiers — risk undermining core principles that have shaped the American military for decades," reported Dan De Luce and Courtney Kube. "A current U.S. military officer who asked not to be named said Hegseth's stance 'should be disqualifying.' And Paul Eaton, a retired Army major general, said Hegseth’s past support for service members accused of — or convicted of — crimes on the battlefield could have ripple effects through the military."

“He condoned murder and execution,” Eaton told the outlet. “That will create a stunning problem for every senior noncommissioned officer out there, every leader down to the squad leader.”

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Hegseth personally urged Trump to issue pardons in a handful of infamous war crimes cases, including Lt. Clint Lorance, who was convicted of the murder of two Afghan civilians his fellow unit members testified were not a threat; Maj. Matthew Golsteyn, who was prosecuted for killing an unarmed Afghan civilian he said he believed was manufacturing bombs for the Taliban; and Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who escaped conviction for murder charges for fatally stabbing a teenage ISIS prisoner, but was convicted for posing for a photograph with the corpse.

For his part, Hegseth has sought to assure lawmakers he will not loosen the standards of law the military is expected to follow

"In recent meetings with Republican senators, Hegseth has told lawmakers he has no intention of discarding the Geneva Conventions or the U.S. military legal code, a source close to Hegseth and a Republican congressional aide said. Hegseth has told them that he believes service members should continue to abide by them," according to the report.

However, in Hegseth's book, “The War on Warriors,” he sang a different tune, dismissing the importance of the Geneva Conventions and saying troops “should not fight by rules written by dignified men in mahogany rooms eighty years ago.”