Maj. Mathew Golsteyn
The wife of a former U.S. Army Green Beret charged with the premeditated murder of an Afghan while serving overseas in 2010 issued a staunch defense of her husband on Wednesday as his case garners national attention, warning the U.S. that “our enemy” is watching the situation unfold.
Julie Golsteyn defended her husband, U.S. Army Major Matt Golsteyn, on CNN’s Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin alongside her husband’s attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, saying her husband did “nothing wrong” and did not break any rules or laws of combat.
The case surrounds Matt Golsteyn, who is facing murder charges for killing a suspected Taliban bomb-maker after he was forced to release him from captivity under the rules of engagement when the suspect wouldn’t cooperate with interrogators in Afghanistan in 2010.
“I know that there are concerns depending on how this goes, how this might look, what message this may send to the 14,000 American forces still in Afghanistan,” host Brooke Baldwin said. “I want to hear what you want from this president, what you think justice will look like.”
“I would like for my husband to have the first Christmas in the last eight without the Army, this cloud hanging over his head, when he did nothing wrong,” Golsteyn responded. “I would like for us to be able to enjoy the holidays with our newborn.”
“And by the way, it’s not only how it looks to our men and women over there. Our enemy is also seeing this,” she said.
A 2016 interview with Fox News in which Golsteyn re-upped the details of the murder triggered a new investigation and is the reason he’s currently facing murder charges.
The former U.S. Army Major and his men believed the suspected bomber was responsible for the deaths of multiple U.S. Marines killed the day prior in 2010 and that a local tribal elder had identified him as a known militant. Golsteyn admitted in a 2011 interview with the CIA that he and his men conspired to kill the man.
Golsteyn’s conduct and subsequent investigation resulted in administrative action recommending his discharge, but no criminal charges.
President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that he’d be reviewing the case of the “U.S. Military hero.”
Baldwin asked Stackhouse whether Golsteyn knew he was breaking killing the suspected Taliban bomb-maker was against the rules of engagement.
“He was aware of the rules of engagement. He exercised his discretion as a ground commander in Afghanistan,” the attorney responded, warning Baldwin against assuming that what the Green Beret did was illegal.
Golsteyn’s wife did not respond as kindly.
“[…] you are mischaracterizing the situation by saying that he did break the rules of engagement,” she said. “The Army’s own panel found in 2015 that he, in fact, did not break the rules of engagement.”
” I’m worried for [Matt] in some sense because [the charges] wrong. But I’m not worried, because he didn’t do anything wrong,” Julie added.
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