US officer jailed for murder over Afghanistan shooting has support from politicians, public – but not troops

US conservative commentators and politicians are leading a push to free an American Army officer jailed for murder over an incident in Afghanistan - but his former platoon members say he deserves to stay behind bars.

First Lieutenant Clint Lorance was convicted of second degree murder by a court martial over a 2012 incident while deployed to Afghanistan, where he ordered his men to fire on two unarmed Afghan men riding a motorcycle.

He is serving a 19-year sentence, but there is an ongoing push in the US to free him with several Republican congressman asking the army to review his case, the New York Times has reported

A petition asking the White House to pardon him has garnered more than 124,000 signatures.

However, a number of Lorance's own soldiers - nine of whom testified against him at the trial - have asked his supporters to stop treating the disgraced officer like a hero.

Several have given interviews alleging Lorance, during his first few days in Afghanistan, ordered his men to repeatedly fire on unarmed Afghanis, including children.

Lorance admitted he had made seemingly harsh statements after being deployed to Afghanistan, but insisted it was just an attempt to bond with the "battle-hardened troopers" of his new command.

The incident that landed Lorance in a court martial took place in July 2012.

The newly-arrived first lieutenant and his platoon were conducting a morning patrol in southern Afghanistan, when they encountered a motorbike.

Lorance claimed the motorbike was "speeding" towards them, but other soldiers testified it was some distance away and would have been unable to reach the patrol.

However, Lorance ordered his men to open fire.

After an initial hesitation, one private fired two shots which missed, on which Lorance radioed a nearby machine-gunner and ordered him to engage.

Two men on the bike were killed, to the shock of other US Army observers who maintained there had been no threat from either of them.

A former specialist in the platoon, Todd Fitzgerald, said Lorance's actions had torn the unit apart and tainted their service.

"Every time a new story calling him a hero happens, I don’t sleep," he said.

"I lay down in my bed and close my eyes and lay there all night until the sun comes up."