US military debates release of Afghan air strike probe…
The release of a Pentagon investigation into deadly US air strikes in Afghanistan
has been delayed amid an internal debate about what details of the report should be revealed, US officials said on Thursday.
For days, Defense Department officials have promised to release an unclassified summary of the probe as well as video but have repeatedly postponed the move, saying the report is still being edited by top military officers and civilian officials.
Some military officers had reservations about releasing certain details in the report, saying it could compromise security by giving away too much information about how American forces operate in Afghanistan, defense officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
The probe, ordered by the head of US Central Command, General David Petraeus, examined bombing raids on May 4 in the western Farah province in which the Kabul government says 140 civilians were killed.
The report has illustrated the difficulties for the US military as it tries to improve its public relations efforts in Afghanistan, where insurgent propaganda has sought to sow distrust of NATO-led forces and exploit reports of civilian casualties.
Asked last week in Brussels if he was satisfied with the public presentation of the report into the air strikes, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said: “I think we could do better.”
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