Give Us Liberty: CPT O'BEIRNE...Quite the actor...and quite the traitor too!...Disgusting...How does this guy sleep at night?...

Lakin court-martial finale

CPT O’Beirne’s sentencing argument for the government was masterful. The argument lasted 20 minutes and was delivered in a low-key, earnest manner. My hasty notes won’t do it full justice. Perhaps we’ll be able to post the whole thing when the trial transcript becomes available.

He began with words to the effect of: “The accused refused to deploy as a tool to score political points for a political cause. . . . He made a spectacle of those crimes. And he’s not sorry. . . . The accused in his unsworn statement showed no remorse. He said the Army and chain of command didn’t properly answer his questions. That’s not what happened. He wasn’t given unlawful orders. He wasn’t told to execute prisoners. He was told to do his job. . . . The accused asked what else he could do. He said he didn’t get an answer. ‘No’ is an answer. He just didn’t like the answer.”

CPT O’Beirne told the members they would receive LTC Lakin’s Article 138 complain. He then read parts of it and summarized its concluding paragraph–which alleged that the Army breached its contract with LTC Lakin–as saying, “If General Casey didn’t tell him what he wanted, he would sue the Army.”
CPT O’Beirne argued, “He could have resigned. He could have gone to his command quietly in February and said, ‘Please don’t make me do this.’ That wouldn’t create a spectacle. He said twice that he wanted to draw more attention to the issue.”

He continued, “You heard COL Roberts testify. He did everything he could to avoid these crimes. . . . COL Roberts practically begged him not to do this. The accused heard all of it. And he ignored it and did it anyway.”
CPT O’Beirne then recited a lengthy excerpt from General MacArthur’s “duty, honor, country” speech:

It is to win our wars. Everything else in your professional career is but corollary to this vital dedication. All other public purpose, all other public projects, all other public needs, great or small, will find others for their accomplishments; but you are the ones who are trained to fight.
Yours is the profession of arms, the will to win, the sure knowledge that in war there is no substitute for victory, that if you lose, the Nation will be destroyed, that the very obsession of your public service must be Duty, Honor, Country.
Others will debate the controversial issues, national and international, which divide men’s minds. But serene, calm, aloof, you stand as the Nation’s war guardians, as its lifeguards from the raging tides of international conflict, as its gladiators in the arena of battle. For a century and a half you have defended, guarded and protected its hallowed traditions of liberty and freedom, of right and justice.
Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government. Whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as firm and complete as they should be.
These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a tenfold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.

CPT O’Beirne continued, “Because the accused would not fight where he was told, someone else had to go in his place.” He contrasted MAJ Dobson’s willingness to deploy without question with LTC Lakin’s actions. And he argued to the members, “Because the accused would not do his duty, 1-32 suffered.” CPT O’Beirne also observed that in LTC Lakin’s hour-long unsworn statement, he never mentioned the Dobsons.
CPT O’Beirne said of LTC Lakin: “He’s supposed to be a doctor helping soldiers, not trying to get the President’s birth certificate.” He continued, “He has shown no real remorse. When asked why the panel should not dismiss you, he said, ‘I don’t want it to end this way.’ He said, ‘I was cheated out of a deployment.’ I, I, I, I. Until it came time for the blame, then it was Aberdeen Proving Ground’s legal office, General Casey for not bringing him in and advising him, and Mr. Jensen.” CPT O’Beirne then discussed Mr. Jensen at length, reading from the providence inquiry where LTC Lakin said that before he disobeyed LTC Judd’s order to report to COL Roberts’ office, Mr. Jensen and MAJ Kemkes had both advised him that the order was lawful and he had a duty to obey it and that he made his own decision to disobey it. CPT O’Beirne gestured toward MAJ Kemkes at the defense table as he said, “The accused was receiving sound legal advice from a field grade Army trial defense counsel.”

CPT O’Beirne then discussed the offenses’ notoriety, observing that LTC Lakin “went to great lengths so everyone would know what he’s doing.” He referred to safeguardourconstitution.com, noting that LTC Lakin’s video had been viewed more than 200,000 times. CPT O’Beirne urged the panel to send a message that this behavior wouldn’t be tolerated. He asked the members what “headline” they wanted to write — disobedient LTC receives no punishment and retires with lifetime benefits or that he was dismissed from the service and sent to jail.

CPT O’Beirne then contrasted LTC Lakin’s unsworn statement with his 3 September interview on the Barry Farber radio show. On that show, when asked if he would do it again, he replied: “without a doubt.”
CPT O’Beirne than offered the government’s sentence suggestion: “He should serve 24 months in jail — two days for every day his unit spent in Afghanistan on the Pakistan border without him.” CPT O’Beirne proposed “no less than 24 months of confinement and dismissal from the service.”