Families want accountability for Afghan battles

[unhappycamper]

First Lt. Jonathan Brostrom, was one of nine soldiers killed during a deadly battle July 13, 2008, in Wanat, Afghanistan.


Families want accountability for Afghan battles
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 19, 2010 12:00:16 EDT

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Such are some of the pleas of the parents of 22 soldiers, Marines and a Navy corpsman killed in three separate — but eerily similar — battles in Afghanistan when their units were put in indefensible positions or left without sufficient support when attacked by overwhelming forces.

In each case, commanders have been found responsible for the battlefield mistakes that contributed to the dangers faced by the troops. Each of the unnamed officers has been officially reprimanded, according to Army releases.

But these reprimands display a familiar pattern of Army accountability: field commanders were disciplined, but their high-ranking superiors were spared.

That’s true following separate investigations into the three battles in Afghanistan.

To parents of the dead soldiers, the accountability seems too little, too late — and too low on the chain of command.