Military Analyst Calls For More Accountability With Soldier Misconduct

18:33

April 27, 2012

Military analyst Andrew Bacevich at Here & Now studios at WBUR in Boston. (Jesse Costa/Here & Now)

On the show today, we have Sacha Pfeiffer's conversation with military analyst Andrew Bacevich, about military accountability. Bacevich, who teaches history and international relations at Boston University and served in Vietnam as an Army officer, believes when soldiers break the ethical rules of battle, such as posing for photos with the enemy dead, generals should be punished just like sergeants.

"I'm not upset that the people at the bottom [of the chain of command] get leaned on," he said. "What I am upset about is that more senior officers seem never to be held accountable for these sorts of events. And if we are going to get this problem under control, we are going to have to concentrate the minds of the generals and there are times when the best way to concentrate their minds is to fire a couple of them."

With the war in Afghanistan now well past the 10-year mark, Bacevich says the best way to end misconduct by American forces on foreign soil is to bring them home.

"The longer these post 9/11 wars go on, the more they cost, the more difficult it becomes to explain exactly what we are trying to do, the more I am persuaded that our first obligation to the men and women who we profess to admire so much is to get them out harms way as expeditiously as possible," he said.

We also asked Andrew Bacevich about comments from NATO officials this week. Danish General Knud Bartels expressed "cautious optimisim" about the progress of the war in Afghanistan during meetings in Brussels.

"The optimism is expressed with regard to a definition of success that becomes ever lower as time passes along," Bacevich said. "The definition of success I think now both in Washington and for NATO as a whole, is if we can get out around 2014, without having Afghanistan collapse instantly into chaos with the Taliban taking over that we'll declare that a victory."

A summit of NATO leaders is scheduled for May 20-21 in Chicago to discuss the war in Afghanistan.

Washington Post: Accountability In Afghanistan

Guest:

Andrew J. Bacevich, professor of history and international relations at Boston University and editor of the book, "The Short American Century"
Quentin Sommerville reports on the challenges for NATO in Afghanistan

This segment aired on April 27, 2012.