(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) The parents of Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller Jr., who was jailed last month for publicly calling out the egregious failings of the disastrous and deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, said their son has been locked in solitary confinement, bullied and intimidated, for seeking accountability and answers from military leaders and the Biden Administration.
“What’s shameful, it’s no coincidence they locked him up on Monday before the Tuesday and Wednesday Senate and House committee hearings (on the Afghanistan withdrawal),” Stuart Scheller Sr. told NewsMax. “They wanted to silence and shackle him.”
That effort began shortly after Scheller Jr. posted a video on social media in late August that criticized top-ranking military leaders for failing in their responsibilities as part of the Afghan withdrawal and questioned command decisions that were made. Scheller was jailed for violating a military gag order.
“The reason people are so upset on social media right now is not because the Marine on the battlefield let someone down,” he said in the video. “People are upset because their senior leaders let them down. And none of them are raising their hands and accepting accountability or saying, ‘We messed up.’”
The Afghan withdrawal has been widely criticized for leading to the suicide bombing that took the lives of 13 U.S. service members, and also leaving stranded hundreds of U.S. citizens in dire jeopardy.
The day after he published the video, Scheller Jr. said he had been “relieved of duty” and would “probably do some jail time.”
“It’s a double standard, it’s hypocritical,” Scheller Sr. told NewsMax. “Stuart is calling for change, and obviously they don’t like it. They’re going to try to squash him. They’ve done everything they can to pressure him for the last 30 days, to silence him.
“They have bullied and intimidated him,” Scheller Sr. said. “It’s sad. And as Americans we’re asking Americans to find your voice, stand up and demand accountability, call your congressman, write your congressman.”
