U.S. commanders in Afghanistan face tougher discipline for battlefield failures

[bruno]

Interesting article and a tough call- balancing the need to keep the commander on the ground in charge and feeling that he has the freedom to make the decisions that he needs to make without being afraid of being second guessed after the fact with reasonable command oversite and accountability. I guess my concern is that the best laid plans go astray, and virtually perfectly executed operations still incur casualties and yet parents, friends, politicians looking at things after the fact tend to have a vision that sees the situation minus the confusion and clouds of war. The enemy and situation are dynamic but post mortems often make things seem pretty simple. On the other hand, there clearly are really bad decisions that many recognize at the time. Really poor judgement should be punished. Tough calls here.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...0404752.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2010020404923