Charlie DunlapVisiting professor of law at Duke University Law School and director of Duke's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security.http://www.law.duke.edu/fac/dunlap
Specializes in warfare policy and strategy, cyber-warfare, military commissions, counterinsurgency, nuclear issues and air power; former deputy judge advocate general of the U.S. Air Force; retired from military in June 2010 as a major general.
Quote:"This is a horrifying and almost unimaginable heartbreak not just for the Afghans, but also for the U.S. and NATO troops who have sacrificed so much in the past decade. While the investigation and justice process must be allowed to proceed, it is difficult to conceive how the strategic damage can be overcome. It is one thing when civilians are killed incidental to a drone attack or other military operation, but quite another when it appears they were deliberately gunned down in cold blood. A major revamping of the U.S.'s Afghan policy may very well be required.
"It is ironic that the greatest setbacks U.S. forces have suffered since 9/11 have not been battlefield defeats but incidents of indiscipline, such as Abu Ghraib and, more recently, the desecration of corpses, the Koran burning and now this. In many respects, this is illustrative of how different 21st century, information-age conflicts can be from those of previous eras. A single individual can upend a decade of effort by tens of thousands of troops.
"Moreover, given that it is virtually impossible to root out every potential rogue from the millions who serve in uniform, military planners may want to rethink the manpower-intensive strategies that have come to dominate American military policy, and especially counterinsurgency doctrine in which winning hearts and minds is said to be essential.
"What is also especially saddening and frustrating is that the Taliban and al-Qaida will be able to leverage this tragedy to their advantage. Even though they have killed vastly more innocent civilians than have U.S. or NATO forces, the Afghan people simply do not react in the same way as when U.S. forces or other foreign forces are responsible. However unfair or illogical this may seem, it is a reality that U.S. policymakers must accept and take into account as they look ahead."