News I missed
 

I read three or four newspapers a day, watch TV news and follow several blogs on various topics.

This weekend I stumbled across a video called "The Cursed Platoon."
Watching it led me to an hour or two researching the story of US Army First Lieutenant Clint Lorance.
In 2012, Lorance, on his third day in command of a platoon in Afghanistan, ordered his men to fire on three men from a village near his base riding a motorcycle several hundred yards away.
Two of the men were killed and one escaped and the circumstances led to Lonance's being charged and convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years at Fort Leavenworth.
Donald Trump pardoned Lorance last November after a campaign by Sean Hannity and others.

Having been an Army Infantry Platoon Leader myself, the story catches my interest and I have many feelings about it.

What bothers me most is that, until this weekend, I never heard or saw one story, one article or even one word about the matter.

To start, or perhaps to finish, a discussion, who here was familiar with it?

I heard about it when Trump got involved.

The military regularly limits dissemination of information that may adversely reflect on the military. Gag orders are issued to those involved and records are designated FOUO.* I was even subjected to a gag order following an an aircraft crash that killed a SF A-Team. In the case of 1LT Lorance, publicity would have propaganda value to adversaries and a detrimental effect on allies.

* For Official Use Only (FOUO) is a document designation, not a classification. This designation is used by Department of Defense and a number of other federal agencies to identify information or material which, although unclassified, may not be appropriate for public release.

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