On another thread I said that the only reason I could think of for the officials to remain anonymous was it may be the only way for the command to speak and not be accused of undue command influence.
That may be so. But in their wish to be anonymous, they still made statements that could have tremendous influence on the public's opinion toward this case, these soldiers, and our standing. In so doing, they have weakened our troops. They should have weighed the consequences a bit more thoroughly before speaking.