Will the Army look at the command climate in the Kandahar massacre?

Jennifer Hlad and Chris Carroll report for Stars and Stripes that the Army is at least claiming it will look at "the command climate and other potential contributing factors" in the Kandahar massacre Allen: Investigation of Afghan killings to look at leadership climate 03/26/2012):

Marine Gen. John Allen stressed that though a handful of recent high-profile incidents — including Quran burnings and apparent desecration of Afghan corpses — were all "the result of a leadership failure of some form," he believes the majority of noncommissioned officers, staff NCOs and young officers are "extraordinarily well-trained."

"Repeated tours in Afghanistan, and prior to that, in Iraq, don't inherently reduce the effectiveness of the force or reduce the effectiveness of small-unit leadership," Allen said. "I’m confident the institution is solid."

While declining to offer specifics, Allen said investigators in the Bales case will look at factors that may have contributed to the massacre.

"We’re investigating this very thoroughly," he said.

Congress and the President should insist they do a serious job of it. And Congress should investigate on its own.

Tags: kandahar massacre

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