Donald Trump has used his pardon power on a US soldier who was convicted of murdering an Iraqi man in 2009 while he was in US custody.

First Lt Michael Behenna was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of Ali Mansur, a suspected Al Qaeda terrorist shot during questioning.

Mr Trump signed a full pardon of Mr Behenna, who has served five years for unpremeditated murder in a combat zone.

Mr Behenna, released on parole in 2014, has said he acted in self-defence.

Couple this with the refusal of the US government to investigate its war crimes and this will just add to the sense of immunity from consequences that US troops feel when they are dealing with the people in the many countries where the US is currently at war or has bases.

It would not surprise me in the least if the four members of the white supremacist groups who just pleaded guilty for their role in the Charlottesville riot also receive pardons from Trump. These are the kinds of people Trump considers to be good people.

Trump has also given golfer Tiger Woods the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Woods is a perfectly awful person who has shown in the way that treats those around him, especially women, little indication that he cares about anyone or anything other than himself. But he, like Trump, enjoys hitting a small, stationary ball and is good at it and the two are reportedly friends, so what the hell, why not give him the highest award the president can give to a civilian?

But never forget, the US is the most moral country in the history of the world based on its Christian values and that sets the standard for the rule of law and for upholding human rights and thus can preach to the rest of the world about how they should behave.