Donald Trump back US SEAL questioned over treatment of Afghan prisoners

Allegations of misconduct did not stop Donald Trump fixing the Medal of Honour around the neck of an American hero.

Britt Slabinski receives the Medal of Honour from Donald Trump. Picture: Reuters

As debate rages about the heroics versus the alleged misconduct of Victoria Cross winner Ben Roberts-Smith, a similar debate in the US did not stop President Donald Trump giving his country’s highest military medal to a retired navy SEAL.

In May, Trump held an official ceremony at the White House to place the Medal of Honour around the neck of former US Navy SEAL Britt Slabinski.

“A special man,” said Trump, “a truly brave person.”

Like Roberts-Smith, some had questioned elements of Slabinski’s time in Afghanistan, asking whether he had gone too far in his treatment of the enemy as a member of SEAL Team 6, the same elite unit that later would kill Osama bin Laden.

The Trump administration faced questions after upgrading Slabinski to the Medal of Honour. He was recommended for a Navy Cross under the Obama administration.

The claims are part of growing scrutiny in the US of the actions of US special forces in Afghanistan given the secrecy of their missions.

Slabinski served in Team 6 from 1993 to 2008 and won respect for numerous acts of courage and leadership.

On March 4, 2002, he was leading an expedition in Afghanistan when his team’s helicopter was riddled with rocket fire, causing a teammate to fall out and the chopper to crash-land.

Slabinski, “without regard for his own safety”, charged enemy positions to rescue their lost colleague and “repeatedly exposed himself to deadly fire” to secure the hill they had aimed to capture. In awarding him the Medal of Honour, Trump said: “Britt, we salute you, we thank you, we thank God for making you a United States SEAL.”

But during his career he was accused of joining in his team’s alleged mutilation of the bodies of enemy fighters and ordering the executions of Afghans who were not insurgents, an accusation he strongly denied. Investigators found no substance to the claim that Slabinski had ordered every male found in a village to be killed.

However, an audio recording of Slabinski speaking about the battle of Takur Ghar in 2002 includes a description of him shooting into the body of an enemy who was killed in the fighting.

Slabinski is heard speaking of how he pumped 20 bullets into the body of the insurgent.

“I mean, he was dead, but people have got nerves,” Slabinski said.

“I shot him about 20 times in the legs, and every time you’d kick him, er, shoot him, he would kick up, you could see his body twitching and all that.

“It was really good therapy for everybody who was there.”

A spokesperson for Jim Mattis said the US Defence Secretary “was well aware of the news reporting around Slabinski” and recommended him for the Medal of Honour anyway. “(Slabinski) certainly has been accused of some very bad things,” retired SEAL officer Dick Couch told Politico Magazine.

But he said the award had always been based on “one specific action” rather than a broader career or an assessment of character.