Law & order

Pentagon's Esper says military justice ready to hold troops to account

U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper expressed confidence on Sunday in the U.S. military justice system’s ability to hold troops to account, two days after President Donald Trump pardoned two Army officers accused of war crimes in Afghanistan.

Trump also restored the rank of a Navy SEAL platoon commander who was demoted for actions in Iraq.

Asked how he would reassure countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq in the wake of the pardons, Esper said: “We have a very effective military justice system.”

“I have great faith in the military justice system,” Esper told reporters during a trip to Bangkok, in his first remarks about the issue since Trump issued the pardons.

Critics have said Trump’s pardons would undermine military justice and send a message that battlefield atrocities would be tolerated.