March 12, 2014, - 4:04 pm
Jeffrey Sinclair: General Charged w “Rape” Also Charged w Offending Muslims – The Real Story
You’ve probably heard about the sexual assault case against Army Brigadier General Jeffrey A. Sinclair. But what you probably didn’t know is that among the charges he faces at trial is the crime of offending Muslims because Sinclair allegedly possessed porn in Afghanistan. And you probably didn’t know that Brig. Gen. Sinclair had a three-year relationship with the alleged “victim” whom he supposedly assaulted.
The politically-charged case of Sinclair has been all over the news as the Kardashian Senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, was trying to cram through a disastrous bill removing authority of commanders in sexual harassment cases. (I’ve written about this before, and thankfully Gillibrand didn’t get her way, though a dangerous bill taking some of the authority away from commanders was passed.)
General Sinclair did violate military rules forbidding adultery and sexual relationships with subordinates (he had relationships with more than one). But the case is being made into a bigger deal than it normally would have been because the media is pushing to remove sexual harassment cases from the chain of command in the U.S. Armed Forces, and Sinclair is the highest ranking U.S. military officer ever accused of sexual assault. They want to get this “big fish” to prove a point. Although much has been made by the media that Sinclair allegedly forced the “victim” to give him oral sex, the fact is that she was, apparently, giving him that of her own volition for three years, in order to advance her military career. And she was apparently upset that Sinclair wouldn’t leave his wife for her. So, she simply doesn’t have the credibility that is automatically given her in media reports. The woman, now a captain in rank, has been granted immunity to testify against Sinclair. Why? And here’s some of her testimony:
One night, she went to his quarters to drop off a DVD and they ended up watching the sexy vampire soap True Blood. He asked her to put down her hair and they kissed. Soon, their secret liaisons involved sex. She describes a hot-and-cold relationship over three years that eventually degenerated into constant arguing before Sinclair forced her into performing oral sex on him.
There were times when it could be remarkably caring, she says. They had pet names for one another, which included him calling her “Panda,” and she calling him “Mr. Sexy Pants.” In one birthday card, she likened him to George Washington.
Sorry, but I find it hard to believe that Mr. Sexy Pants forced Panda to perform oral sex on him when they’d been having a consensual affair for three years.
Moreover, Sinclair wanted a plea deal. But today’s Wall Street Journal reports that the plea deal was rejected because politicians pressured the Pentagon and the Army not to allow the deal and to force a public trial. The judge in the matter had the good sense to order the generals considering the deal to reconsider and ignore the politics. Good luck with that.
A military judge on Tuesday dismissed the jury in an Army general’s court-martial on sexual-assault charges to give prosecutors and defense lawyers time to hammer out a plea deal in the closely watched case. Judge Col. James Pohl made the unusual move after new evidence indicated political concerns may have improperly influenced military officials’ rejection of a previous plea offer by Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair.
“There are other issues that have come up in this trial,” Col. Pohl told the jury of five two-star generals who assembled at Fort Bragg, N.C., last week to decide the case. Col. Pohl reviewed newly disclosed emails in Brig. Gen. Sinclair’s case Monday and said he found the appearance of “unlawful command influence” in officials’ decision to reject a plea bargain with the general in January. . . .
The latest upheaval in the case comes as the Defense Department is under pressure from Congress to combat rape and other sex crimes in the military. . . . Under the military code of justice, the decision on whether to accept Brig. Gen. Sinclair’s plea offer is supposed to be decided solely on the evidence, not on its broader implications for the Army’s fight against sexual assault. But Col. Pohl said the emails showed military officials had discussed a letter from the accuser’s lawyer which warned that allowing the general to avoid trial would “send the wrong signal.”
Brig. Gen. Sinclair, the 51-year-old former deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, is accused of twice forcing a female captain to perform oral sex on him in Afghanistan in 2011 during a three-year extramarital affair. He has admitted the affair but denied assaulting the woman. Lead defense attorney Richard Scheff said Brig. Gen. Sinclair wouldn’t agree to plead guilty to any charges involving sexual assault or any charges that would result in his being required to register as a sex offender.
But then, there’s the most disgusting part of this. And that’s the charges regarding porn that offends Muslims. While it’s true that Sinclair violated his commanders’ orders when he possessed porn, are we really charging soldiers who’ve given their careers to the Army because they made Muslims who want to kill us uncomfortable? Really?
Sinclair, 51, this past week pleaded guilty to charges he had improper relationships with two other female Army officers and to committing adultery with the captain, a crime in the military. He also admitted to possessing pornography in Afghanistan, a violation of orders for soldiers in the socially conservative Muslim country.
Hmmmm . . . during World War II, did we prosecute Brigadier Generals for possessing pro-Jewish material that might offend Nazis?
How do you think that would have gone over?
Army Strong.
Tags: Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair, Jeffrey A. Sinclair, Jeffrey Sinclair
Actually Sinclair is not the highest military officer charged with sexual assault or sexual crimes. Our Commander in Chief was charged with such crimes in the 90s.
Little Al on March 12, 2014 at 4:30 pm