[Peace-discuss] RT: US Marine who criticized Afghanistan withdrawal in viral video sent to the brig & awaiting trial

[J.B. Nicholson]

Article: https://on.rt.com/bhlm
Video: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=x0LAwSMbrss

A US serviceman who asked for “accountability” for the chaotic 
withdrawal from Afghanistan on social media has been locked up in a 
pre-trial detention center, the Marine Corps has confirmed.

“Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr. is currently in pre-trial confinement in 
the Regional Brig for Marine Corps Installations East aboard Marine 
Corps Base Camp Lejeune pending an Article 32 preliminary hearing,” the 
Marine Corps Training and Education Command spokesperson Captain Sam 
Stephenson said in a statement to news website Task & Purpose.

Stephenson added that the date and location of the trial have not yet 
been determined, and Scheller will have all his legal rights respected.

The marine’s father, Stu Scheller Sr., told the website his son wanted 
accountability for the chaotic situation in Afghanistan, which unfolded 
during the late stages of the withdrawal of US troops.

“All our son did is ask the questions that everybody was asking 
themselves, but they were too scared to speak out loud,” the senior 
Scheller said.

The lieutenant colonel became famous last month after a video was posted 
on social media of him speaking about his “growing discontent and 
contempt” for the US' handling of the withdrawal. “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 marine said.

The video was posted shortly after 13 US service members and more than 
160 Afghan civilians were killed in a suicide bombing outside the Hamid 
Karzai International Airport in Kabul amid the frantic, last-minute 
evacuation of Western nationals and local helpers. The Taliban seized 
the capital with little to no resistance on August 15 as US soldiers 
were leaving the country.

In his rant, Scheller questioned the decision to remove American troops 
from the Bagram Airfield, formerly the largest US military base in 
Afghanistan, before organizing the evacuation of civilians from Kabul 
and elsewhere. The next day after making his criticism public, Scheller 
said he had been relieved as battalion commander.

Scheller’s remarks drew praise from conservative figures, including 
former President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Jr. Republican Party 
Congressman Matt Gaetz tweeted at the time that the outspoken marine 
would do a better job than current Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.