By Florida Bill The curtain has gone up and there is sunshine for U.S. Army Lt. Clint Lorance who has been pardoned from a murder sentence for a make-believe war crime committed in Afghanistan. He had served six years of a 19-year sentence.
President Trump issued a full pardon for the 34-year-old officer, a career soldier in command of a nine man platoon in the rugged Afghanistan mountains for only three days when the so-called war crime took place. His men opened fire on a trio of Afghans on an approaching motorcycle, whom he had reason to believe were terrorists hell bent on a suicide bomb mission against Americans. His order to his men to "engage the enemy" was a split second decision.
Lorance was pressed into the command position following injuries to the former squad leader from a bomb hidden by cyclists. Senior officers who had recruited Lorance for the platoon leadership had warned him to be on guard against Afghans pretending to be allied with American interests, but in actuality were working with the Taliban. They were more than willing to kill themselves as long as they could take Americans down with them--all in the name of Allah.
Lorance had to make a split second decision when he ordered his men to fire upon the cyclists, who refused to halt when ordered and ignored a warning shot. If he acted too soon, it was an error in judgment during war, and making him into a murderer and sending him to prison was simply the wrong thing to do. Freeing Lt. Lorance was the right and moral thing to do, and the President did it.
Taliban terrorists cannot be identified by uniform and generally are indistinguishable from Afghans who reside peacefully in villages. They simply look the same and dress the same. To army officers leading a platoon, danger and death are always imminent, and mulling over a decision or seeking a diplomatic solution to a threat can never be an option.
Lorance was convicted of two counts of second degree murder 13 months after the incident in 2012 and sentenced to 19 years at Fort Leavenworth prison. For the past six years he has occupied a cell alongside terrorists, army deserters and enemies of the country. Among his compound cellmates was Major Nidal Hasan who, in 2009, in an explosion of Islamic violence, shot and killed 13 fellow soldiers and injured some 30 others during an assembly at Fort Hood, Texas. It took four years to bring Hasan to trial, although he admitted and even bragged about his killings in the name of Allah. He was convicted of premeditated murders and sentenced to death. He awaits execution while his mandatory appeals move through the appellate courts.
Thousands of Americans saw the injustice of Lt. Lorance's conviction, and signed petitions for clemency that were given to President Obama, and later to President Trump.
Obama, whose disdain for the military is well known and a matter of record, threw the Lorance plea for clemency into the wastebasket, yet he looked favorably on many others as he exited his office as President and as Commander-in- Chief in 2017. Obama granted clemency to nearly 2,000 drug pushers and users,(231 in a single day) and he freed and commuted the sentence of the traitorous Pvt. Bradley (now Chelsea) Manning who served just 3 years of his 35-year penalty for his betrayal of America by publicizing highly classified data.
Army prosecutors were too quick to find fault with Lt. Lorance, after it was determined that the men on the motorcycle were not in possession of any weapons, although attorneys for Lorance have said that the men on the motorcycle had terrorist connections. The actual soldier or soldiers who shot the Afghans (it wasn't Lorance) could have declined an improper order from their lieutenant, but they did not, and weapons were fired in response to the lieutenant's order. Other soldiers in the Lorance platoon were granted immunity from prosecution so long as they testified and laid the blame entirely on Lt. Lorance for acting recklessly and with malice for Middle Easterners.
Clint Lorance was 28 years old and had been a soldier for 10 years. A native of Oklahoma, he had enlisted after high school and was making the military his career. He loved the army, and his country and he sought to make his family proud, his mother has said. His family and his friends praise his character and devotion to duty. As a soldier, he studied and eventually obtained a commission as a second lieutenant and later was promoted to first lieutenant. No matter how you wish to examine this case, Clint Lorance is no murderer and does not belong in a military prison.
Lt. Lorance has been supported by many members of Congress and combat veterans as well as the more that one hundred thousand people who signed the petitions to the President seeking clemency.
On November 15, Lt. Lorance packed up whatever gear he had and left Leavenworth in full uniform with his silver bars on his shoulder after receiving a telephone call from Vice President Pence. He was greeted at the gate by friends and family members, including his mother who worked diligently for his release. Asked about his future plans, Lorance said that he intended to remain an officer in the army of the United States, and that despite his travail had no bitterness for the military.
Upon signing the pardon papers, President Trump said that when "our soldiers have to fight for our country, I want them to have the confidence to fight," and know that we are behind them. Welcome home, Lieutenant.
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