US marine relieved of command after calling out military leaders for Afghanistan chaos
乔希·马库斯
独立报2021年8月29日，周日，12：10.m。
美国海军陆战队的一名上校因发布一段情绪激动的视频，要求对阿富汗战争的失败”负责”而被解除指挥权。
海军陆战队营长斯图亚特·谢勒上校知道周四在喀布尔遇袭身亡的13名美国军人之一，他在Facebook上发布了一段视频，抨击高级军事和政治领导人。
“如果我们没有高级领导人承认并举手说，’我们最终没有做好这件事’，那么这些人可能都白死了，”他在视频中说，他坐在办公室前，戴着头盔和防弹衣。”没有这些，我们只是不断重复同样的错误。正是这种经济/公司/政治/高级军事队伍的合并，没有阻碍他们达成交易。https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F100029569003221%2Fposts%2F595567114772250&width=500&show_text=true&appId=292899837391009&height=274
这段视频在Facebook上被分享了47，000次，对美国政府如何处理从阿富汗撤军的问题尤其值得关注，该视频将于8月31日完成。
“我不是说我们必须永远在阿富汗，”舍勒在视频中补充道。”但我说的是：你们中有人把你的军衔扔在桌子上说，’嘿，在我们撤离所有人之前撤离战略空军基地巴格拉姆机场是个坏主意吗？
不到一天后，上校被解除了指挥权，他17年的服役意味着他可能没有资格领取20年后发给现役军人的终身美国海军陆战队终身养老金。
海军陆战队发言人吉姆·斯滕格少校告诉《华盛顿报》，由于”对他的指挥能力失去了信任和信心“，海军陆战队决定解除上校的职务。
斯滕格表示：”对于许多海军陆战队员来说，这显然是一个充满感情的时刻，我们鼓励任何现在挣扎的人寻求咨询或与海军陆战队同行交谈。”有一个论坛，海军陆战队领导人可以解决他们与指挥链的分歧，但它不是社交媒体。
舍勒在后来的一篇文章中写道，他并没有责怪服务部门将他撤职，他说海军陆战队”正在做我该做的事……如果我处于他们的位置上。
“美国有很多问题…但那是我的家…当我的海军陆战队生涯结束的时候，我期待着一个新的开始，”他补充说。”我一生的目的是使美国成为最具杀伤力和效力的外交工具。虽然我短兵相接的日子可能即将结束…我看到地平线上有新的光。
看过视频的评论者也表示支持。
“你把它扔在线上，如果大政府把它拿走。许多军人/退伍军人愿意给予，”一位Facebook用户写道。”我们在财务上和任何其他方式都支持你。
退伍军人们对美国结束阿富汗战争表示失望。阿富汗是阿富汗最长的现代冲突，以混乱告终，但收效甚少。
曾六次部署在美国的退役陆军特种部队士兵哈维尔·麦基对《纽约时报》说：”这是痛苦——我以为我已经习惯了。“我牺牲了很多，我每年都看到死亡。和我共服务过的人，我们知道它可能会这样结束。但是看到它以混乱告终，它让我们很生气。在我们付出了一切之后，我只是希望有办法带着荣誉离开。
其他人则指责美国未能撤离所有协助驻阿美军的阿富汗人，现在可能面临塔利班的暴力报复。
“这已经够可怕的了，我每天给这两个人发短信，有时他们花了一点时间来回应，我想，’哦，我的上帝，他们还在那里吗？他们还活着吗？美国陆军老兵埃德·麦考密克（EdMcCormick）周四告诉《商业内幕》，他正试图帮助两名阿富汗翻译。”最终他们做出了回应，但很有可能在某个时候他们不会做出回应，而你只能假设最坏的情况已经发生了。
A colonel in the US Marine Corps has been removed from command after going viral for posting an emotional video demanding “accountability” over the failures of the war in Afghanistan.
Colonel Stuart Scheller, a Marine battalion commander who knew one of the 13 US service members killed in an attack in Kabul on Thursday, posted a video on Facebook blasting senior military and political leadership.
“Potentially all those people did die in vain if we don’t have senior leaders who own up and raise their hand and say, ‘We did not do this well in the end,’” he says in the video, seated in an office in front of a helmet and flak jacket. “Without that, we just keep repeating the same mistakes. It’s this amalgamation of an economic/corporate/political/higher military ranks not holding up their end of the bargain.”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F100029569003221%2Fposts%2F595567114772250&width=500&show_text=true&appId=292899837391009&height=274
The video, which has been shared 47,000 times on Facebook, took particular issue with how the US government has handled its exit from Afghanistan, set to be complete on 31 August.
“I’m not saying we’ve got to be in Afghanistan forever,” Mr Scheller adds in the video. “But I am saying: Did any of you throw your rank on the table and say, ‘Hey, it’s a bad idea to evacuate Bagram Airfield, a strategic air base, before we evacuate everyone?’”
Less than a day later, the colonel was relieved of command, and his 17 years of service mean he may not qualify for the full, lifelong US Marines pension awarded to servicemembers after 20 years.
The Corps decided to relieve the colonel, Marine Corps spokesman Maj. Jim Stenger told The Washington Post, because of a “loss of trust and confidence in his ability to command.”
“This is obviously an emotional time for a lot of Marines, and we encourage anyone struggling right now to seek counseling or talk to a fellow Marine,” Mr Stenger said. “There is a forum in which Marine leaders can address their disagreements with the chain of command, but it’s not social media.”
Mr Scheller wrote in a later post he didn’t fault the service branch for removing him, saying the Marines were “doing exactly what I would do … if I were in their shoes.”
“America has many issues … but it’s my home. … When my Marine Corps career comes to an end, I look forward to a new beginning,” he added. “My life’s purpose is to make America the most lethal and effective foreign diplomacy instrument. While my days of hand-to-hand violence may be ending … I see new light on the horizon.”
Commenters who saw the video also expressed their support.
“You threw it on the line and if big government takes it away. Many service members / veterans are willing to give,” one Facebook user wrote. “We have your back financially and any other way.”
Veterans have expressed their dismay about the end to the US war in Afghanistan, the country’s longest modern conflict, which has ended chaotically, with few gains to show.
“It’s pain — pain I thought I had gotten used to,” Javier Mackey, a retired Army special forces soldier who deployed six times in the country, told the New York times. “I sacrificed a lot, I saw death every year. And the guys I served with, we knew it would probably come to an end like this. But to see it end in chaos, it makes us angry. After everything we gave, I just wish there had been a way to leave with honor.”
Others faulted the US for failing to evacuate all of the numerous Afghans who assisted American military forces in the country, and now could face violent retribution from the Taliban.
“It’s already scary enough where daily I’m messaging both of these individuals and sometimes they take a little long to respond and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, are they still there? Are they still alive?’” Ed McCormick, a US army veteran, told Business Insider on Thursday of two Afghan interpreters he’s trying to help. “Eventually they respond, but there’s a good chance that at some point they’re not going to, and you can only assume the worst has happened.”
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