A US Marine Lieutenant Colonel, Stuart Scheller has been discharged from his seventeen years of duty after he sought “accountability” from the Biden administration over Afghanistan’s failures, which led the Taliban to recapture the war-torn country after almost 20 years of fighting the USA. The Marine Corps battalion commander himself took to his Facebook page to inform the same.
He wrote on August 27, Friday: “To all my friends across the social networks. I have been relieved for cause based on a lack of trust and confidence as of 14:30 today.”
“My chain of command is doing exactly what I would do… if I were in their shoes. I appreciate the opportunities AITB command provided. To all the news agencies asking for interviews… I will not be making any statements other than what’s on my social platforms until I exit the Marine Corps.”
“America has many issues… but it’s my home… it’s where my three sons will become men. America is still the light shining in a fog of chaos. When my Marine Corps career comes to an end, I look forward to a new beginning. 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 a new light on the horizon.”
US Marine officer sacked for posing harsh questions at the US Government
According to reports, the US Marine officer was sacked after his Facebook post, castigating and questioning the Biden government over the Kabul crises because of the drawdown of the US forces in the country, went viral on social media.
Stuart Scheller posted his video on Facebook and LinkedIn on Thursday, the day the dastardly suicide bomb attack at the airport in Kabul killed 13 US service members, 11 of them Marines, and reportedly as many as 170 Afghans.
In his 4.45 seconds video, captioned: “To the American leadership. Very Respectfully, US”, the marine officer is heard saying: “The reason people are so upset on social media right now is not because the Marine on the battlefield let someone down. That service member always rose to the occasion and has done extraordinary things. People are upset because their top leaders have let them down, and none of them are raising their hands and accepting responsibility or saying, ‘We messed this up,’” he said.
‘Did anybody put their hands up and say we totally messed this up?”: US Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller questions Biden administration
“I’m not saying we have to be in Afghanistan forever,” Scheller added, “but I’m saying, did either of you throw your rank on the table and say, hey, that is a bad idea to evacuate Bagram aerodrome, a strategic air base, before evacuating everyone? Did anyone do this? And when you didn’t think about doing it, did somebody put their hand up and say, we totally messed this up?” asked the marine officer.
Scheller stated that he was prepared to compromise his present battalion commander’s seat, his retirement, and family’s stability in order to express some of the things he wanted to say. He claimed that doing so would allow him “moral high ground” to demand the same level of honesty, integrity, and accountability from his senior officials.
In his video on Thursday, Scheller said he personally knew one of the service members who died in Thursday’s attack.
“Potentially all those people did die in vain if we don’t have senior leaders that own up and raise their hand and say, ‘We did not do this well, in the end,’” he said. “Without that, we just keep repeating the same mistakes.”
“I have been fighting for 17 years,” Scheller concluded. “I am willing to throw it all away to say to my senior leaders: I demand accountability.”
According to his profile on his command’s website, Stuart Scheller, who heads the Advanced Infantry Training Battalion at Camp Lejeune, NC, is a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. According to the website, he began his military career in 2005 with the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, which is one of the forces stationed at Kabul’s airport to support the US airlift.
Calls for US President Joe Biden’s resignation mounts in the aftermath of Kabul bombing incident
It is pertinent to note here that the call for the resignation of US President Joe Biden, who has been already confronting criticism for the drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan leading to the crisis in the country, has been mounting in the aftermath of the Kabul bombing on the 26th of August. Senator Josh Hawley, while expressing grief over the lives that were lost, said that it is time for Joe Biden to tender his resignation.
Moreover, Senator Marsha Blackburn said that it is not only Joe Biden who should resign but Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Stat Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and General Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should resign as well.
Calls are being made by other Republican representatives as well for his resignation.
