During the United States’ longest war in Afghanistan, elite special operators, including the Green Berets, bore a significant portion of the combat burden. Publicly, they were celebrated as heroes for their daring missions. However, behind this heroic facade lay a hidden, darker reality: a pervasive culture of impunity and rule-breaking that often escalated into serious offenses, even war crimes. This vigilantism, born on the battlefield, has alarmingly been embraced by prominent leaders at home.
This unsettling narrative has largely been concealed by the Army’s stringent secrecy surrounding its special operations. Over the past four years, I’ve conducted interviews with two dozen current and former members of Army Special Operations, some of whom bravely came forward to accuse the organization of serious misconduct. Through persistent lawsuits, The Times successfully obtained thousands of previously confidential documents, including investigation reports and detainee files. Furthermore, I made multiple trips to Afghanistan, where I’ve been reporting since 2008, to personally interview scores of local witnesses.
Lieutenant Colonel Allie Scott, a spokesperson for Army Special Operations, defended the institution, stating, “We have fully investigated and adjudicated the cases you cover. We are confident our actions stand up to the strictest scrutiny.”
Until now, understanding these deeply troubling events has been impossible due to the veil of secrecy. Acknowledging this history is crucial not only for grasping the immense toll the war took on America’s elite forces but also for contextualizing our current political climate. The Trump administration has actively sought to relax military restraints, ordered lethal strikes against alleged Venezuelan “narco-terrorists” in the Caribbean, and deployed troops to American cities, actions that carry significant implications.
Here are five critical insights drawn from this extensive four-part magazine investigation.
The Special Forces’ Culture of Rule-Breaking: A Consequence of Unconventional Warfare
Operating from isolated firebases deep within volatile enemy territory in Afghanistan, some Green Berets adopted practices that circumvented or outright violated Army regulations. These infractions were often overlooked by commanders, prioritized over mission success. Yet, such rule-breaking frequently escalated into grave crimes. Operators I spoke with recounted instances of using Afghan guards and translators for unauthorized offensive actions and employing local forces to manage detainees. Disturbingly, some soldiers even carried “drop guns” to plant on bodies, fabricating justifications for killings.
Numerous Green Berets faced convictions in corruption-related cases, while others were accused of extrajudicial killings. A significant number of these incidents involved members of the Third Special Forces Group, a unit central to the Afghanistan mission.
Commanders Ignored Evidence of Potential War Crimes in Nerkh
In 2012, a team of Green Berets and their clandestine Afghan proxy force were implicated in the killing of nine detainees in Nerkh, an agricultural district in Wardak Province. Despite these grave accusations, Special Operations commanders conducted three separate investigations and subsequently cleared the unit of any wrongdoing.
However, widespread local protests eventually led to the withdrawal of Special Forces from Nerkh. Following their departure, human remains, identified as the missing nine detainees, were discovered outside the former U.S. base. The Army then launched a criminal investigation that spanned almost a decade, the findings of which have remained undisclosed until now.
To uncover the truth of what transpired in Nerkh, I traveled to the district, interviewing numerous local witnesses and former detainees. I also spoke with two Afghans, Zikria and Kazem, who had worked for the Green Berets and confessed to abusing and killing detainees, asserting American involvement in these acts.
A lawsuit allowed me to access files from the military’s initial three investigations, clearly demonstrating that commanders disregarded substantial evidence of misconduct by the unit. A retired Green Beret brigadier general I interviewed corroborated this assessment.
Major Mathew Golsteyn’s Prosecution: A Glimpse into the Army’s Discretionary Justice
During a job interview with the C.I.A., Major Mathew Golsteyn admitted to killing a suspected Taliban bombmaker in Afghanistan in 2010. Golsteyn, who maintained he acted appropriately for his men and mission, was subsequently discharged from the Special Forces. When he publicly disclosed his actions, the Army initiated court-martial proceedings against him for murder.
Previously unreleased files from the Golsteyn investigation, which I obtained, illustrate how Army commanders exerted pressure on former team members to admit their role in dismembering and burning the suspect’s body. The Army’s aggressive pursuit of Golsteyn stands in stark contrast to the Nerkh case, where, despite the discovery of nine bodies outside a former U.S. base and substantial evidence of misconduct, the case was quietly closed in 2022 without charges. Members of the Nerkh team were even decorated and promoted.
Golsteyn confided that he believed his true transgression was violating the Green Berets’ unspoken code of silence.
Wartime Lawlessness Echoes in Domestic Crimes by Special Operations Soldiers
In recent years, Army Special Operations has faced a troubling surge in domestic crimes committed by its soldiers, including murders, drug-trafficking, fraud, and sex offenses. Many of these crimes occurred in and around Fort Bragg, N.C., the home base for both Army Special Operations and the Third Special Forces Group.
To gauge the extent of this issue, I compiled news and police reports of incidents near Special Forces bases and secured personnel records, vital statistics, and court documents pertaining to the implicated soldiers. The resulting picture revealed widespread serious crime across all ranks, from junior operators to senior leaders.
This alarming rise in crime has prompted scrutiny from Congress, where military leaders pledged accountability. Yet, Special Forces commanders whose units were involved in misconduct have often continued to receive promotions.
The Vigilante Ethos: Embraced by Leaders like Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News host, gained prominence largely through his fervent defense of Golsteyn and other service members accused of war crimes. In 2019, he famously declared, “They’re not war criminals; they’re warriors,” shortly before Golsteyn and others received pardons from President Trump.
Under the current administration, Trump and Hegseth have actively worked to dismantle legal constraints on the armed forces, both domestically and internationally, and to expand the military’s role at home. They have removed top military lawyers, deployed active-duty troops to patrol American cities, and authorized lethal strikes against individuals they label “narco-terrorists”—summary killings that legal experts contend violate international law.
This article ultimately reveals that the Trump administration’s vision of unrestrained power finds its dangerous origins in the unchecked lawlessness that characterized the United States’ wars overseas.