During America’s longest war in Afghanistan, elite special operators, including the Green Berets, carried an immense burden in the fighting. While publicly lauded as heroes for their remarkable achievements, a darker, hidden reality existed: a deep-seated culture of disregard for rules. This environment often spiraled into serious war crimes and eventually fostered a vigilante mindset, which disturbingly gained acceptance from leaders back home.
This disturbing chapter in history has been heavily guarded by the Army’s strict secrecy surrounding its special operators. Over the past four years, I conducted interviews with two dozen active and former members of Army Special Operations, some of whom bravely came forward to publicly expose systemic misconduct. Our journalistic efforts, including lawsuits, led to the release of thousands of previously hidden investigations, detainee records, and other military documents. To gather a comprehensive account, I undertook multiple journeys to Afghanistan, where I have been reporting since 2008, to interview numerous local witnesses.
In response, Lt. Col. Allie Scott, a spokeswoman for Army Special Operations, issued a defense of the organization. She stated, “We have fully investigated and adjudicated the cases you cover. We are confident our actions stand up to the strictest scrutiny.”
Many of these incidents have remained unexamined until now, cloaked in secrecy. Bringing them to light is crucial not only for understanding the profound impact of the war on America’s elite forces but also for grasping our current political landscape, where the Trump administration has progressively relaxed military constraints, authorized lethal strikes against supposed Venezuelan ‘narco-terrorists’ in the Caribbean, and even deployed troops to American urban centers.
This multi-part magazine investigation uncovers five critical revelations:
An Unconventional War Brewed a Culture of Rule-Breaking within Special Forces.
Operating from remote firebases deep within hostile Afghan territory, some Green Berets began to adopt methods that skirted, or outright violated, established Army regulations. These infractions were often overlooked by commanding officers, justified by the perceived demands of the mission. However, this bending of rules frequently escalated into grave offenses. Interviews with operators revealed practices such as using Afghan guards and translators for direct combat roles, and employing local forces to manage detainees. Some even admitted to carrying ‘drop guns,’ which could be placed on bodies to fabricate justifications for killings.
Consequently, several Green Berets faced convictions for corruption-related charges, while others were implicated in extrajudicial killings. A significant portion of these incidents originated from the Third Special Forces Group, a unit central to the Afghanistan mission.
Commanders Ignored Evidence of a Potential Major U.S. War Crime in Afghanistan.
In 2012, accusations arose that a Green Beret team and their covert Afghan proxy unit had murdered nine detainees in Nerkh, a farming region in Wardak Province. Despite these grave allegations, three subsequent investigations by Special Operations commanders ultimately exonerated the unit.
Yet, following intense local protests, the Special Forces were compelled to withdraw from Nerkh. Soon after, human remains, identified as the nine missing detainees, were discovered near their former base. The Army initiated a criminal investigation that spanned almost a decade, the findings of which have remained secret until this report.
To truly piece together the events in Nerkh, I journeyed to the region, interviewing dozens of local witnesses and former detainees. Furthermore, I spoke with two Afghans, Zikria and Kazem, who had served with the Green Berets. They confessed to the abuse and killing of detainees, and implicated American personnel in these actions.
Legal action allowed me to access documents from the military’s initial investigations. These files strikingly reveal that commanders deliberately overlooked compelling evidence of the unit’s misconduct, a conclusion echoed by a retired Green Beret brigadier general I interviewed.
The Golsteyn Case: A Glimpse into the Army’s Discretionary Prosecution of Green Berets.
During a job interview with the C.I.A. in 2010, Maj. Mathew Golsteyn confessed to killing a suspected bombmaker in Afghanistan. Golsteyn, maintaining he acted in the best interest of his troops and mission, was subsequently discharged from the Special Forces. His public statements later prompted the Army to pursue murder charges against him.
Through my investigation, I uncovered previously undisclosed files from the Golsteyn case, detailing how Army commanders coerced former team members into confessing their involvement in dismembering and burning the suspect’s body. This aggressive pursuit stands in stark contrast to the Nerkh incident, where nine bodies were found near a former U.S. base. Despite investigators gathering substantial evidence of misconduct, that case was quietly closed by the Army in 2022 without any charges. Shockingly, members of the Nerkh team were even decorated and promoted.
Golsteyn himself confided that he believed his only true offense was violating the Green Berets’ deeply ingrained code of silence.
Wartime Lawlessness Echoes in a Surge of Domestic Crimes by Special Operations Soldiers.
In recent years, Army Special Operations has been marred by a wave of serious domestic crimes, including murders, drug-trafficking, fraud, and sex offenses, all perpetrated by its own soldiers. A disproportionate number of these crimes occurred in and around Fort Bragg, North Carolina, the central command for both Army Special Operations and the Third Special Forces Group.
To fully grasp the extent of this issue, I meticulously gathered news reports, police records of incidents near Special Forces bases, and acquired personnel files, vital records, and court documents related to the involved soldiers. The evidence painted a stark picture of serious criminal activity permeating all ranks, from junior operators to high-ranking leaders.
This pervasive criminal problem has prompted inquiries from Congress, where military officials pledged accountability. However, a troubling pattern emerged: Special Forces commanders whose units were involved in misconduct have frequently received promotions.
The Vigilante Ethos: Endorsed by Figures Like Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, gained significant public attention largely due to his ardent defense of Mathew Golsteyn and other service members facing war crime accusations. In 2019, shortly before President Trump granted pardons to Golsteyn and others, Hegseth famously declared, “They’re not war criminals; they’re warriors.”
Under the current administration, both Trump and Hegseth have actively championed the relaxation of legal restrictions on the armed forces, impacting operations both overseas and within the United States. This push has also expanded the military’s domestic role. Their tenure has seen the removal of top military lawyers, the deployment of active-duty troops onto American streets, and the authorization of lethal strikes against individuals labeled ‘narco-terrorists’—summary killings widely considered by experts to be violations of international law.
This investigation ultimately reveals that the Trump administration’s embrace of unchecked military power finds its disturbing origins in the culture of lawlessness that permeated America’s protracted wars abroad.