The newspaper said a soldier came forward with the images to draw attention to the safety risk associated with a decline in leadership and discipline. In the Times story, editor Davan Maharaj said publishing the photos "would fulfill our obligation to readers to report vigorously and impartially on all aspects of the American mission in Afghanistan, including the allegation that the images reflect a breakdown in unit discipline that was endangering U.S. troops."
Knowing that the military is a top down organization, I'm caught wondering if this is a Panetta issue or an Obama issue. Its seems there are more breakdowns than we saw in the past and that should trouble all of us....we can't afford to squander our standing in the world because of a breakdown in leadership with the Defense Secretary and the President.
Its no secret that service members have doubts about Obama and Panetta. However, in the past this would never show through like it has in recent times....Cheney would have ordered a code red.The images are just the latest in a string of scandals that some say could damage U.S. efforts in the war, which is in its 11th year.
In January, video footage emerged of U.S. soldiers apparently urinating on Afghan corpses. In February, Afghans rioted after it was discovered that Qurans had been burned in violation of Islamic custom at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Last month, an Army staff sergeant allegedly went on a rampage and shot to death 17 Afghan civilians, including numerous children.
This really puts our mission and our country in danger. We could use at least average leadership to make sure all our efforts aren't pissed away. I'm not holding my breathe that the people at the top have any clue about how to handle the situation.
There are some scathing interviews in this article. Some fairly important dudes see this as a huge breakdown. I wonder why the NY Times doesn't have these scandals on the front page for 28 days in a row, its almost like that rag has an agenda, which wouldn't include bringing the truth to american citizens.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/18/world/afghanistan-voices/index.html
