Guess what? Even in the most professional institutions in the world, SNAFU's occur.
Still, if there was malfeasance or dereliction of duty, then those responsible should pay according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice (USMJ).
If these families can prove such malfeasance or dereliction, I stand with them. I didn't see it in the parts of the video. I think that people now want their spot light. Once again, crap happens in the fog of war, even with the best commanders. Not to say he was...just making a point.
Of course stuff happens in the fog of war. But compare this, for instance, to Black Hawk Down, which was a situation gone bad and people having to improvise their response as they were able. The middle of a fire-fight, the middle of the night, you know there are a lot of armed people. Mogadishu is awake and made as a hornet’s nest already.
And THEN you decide you have to go get a “high value target” and send them into the city aflame with armed enemies who have been shooting at your people for 3.5 hours already.... with no radar to watch what is happening to them and with no fire-power. You send your whole frickin’ team in that condition, to make a supposed capture or kill of one terrorist amongst a whole city full of them.
At this press conference it was said that the report the families received gave no information on who this supposed “high value target” was or what evidence they had that he was even there. If they did an investigation into whether the operation itself was justifiable that’s pretty critical information they didn’t have any interest in documenting.
I agree with you that whoever made that decision should be sitting in the hot seat. Part of the families’ fury is that none of that stuff was sorted out. No reasons were given. It was like the investigation itself echoed Hillary Clinton: What difference at this point does it make?
It does make a difference. It makes a huge difference, whether leadership will do the Biblical David-and-Uriah routine where inconvenient soldiers are sent into situations where it is intended for them to be “accidentally” killed. Just like it makes a huge difference if the military and the entire system decides to abandon the principle of “Never leave a man behind.” Lotta guys depending on that promise of faithfulness, and if you take that away it is - as Joe Biden would say - a “big f-ing deal”.