Ahoy to the Navy’s top brass – What went wrong?

There’s been such an unusually heavy and compelling response to our recent piece “Another Shameful Navy Cover-Up” – concerning a fine Seabee unit that took mass casualties in Iraq last May – that the folks at Soldiers for the Truth, DefenseWatch and I have concluded that there’s more than enough hard evidence to justify a full-scale U.S. Navy inquiry.

The column has created a firestorm: The salty noncoms who were eyewitnesses are calling for heads to roll, while Navy officers present for the slaughter continue to duck and weave when it comes to what really happened during the critical moments leading up to the first enemy rounds dropping on their hastily called assembly. Meanwhile, predictably, those perfumed princes back in the rear staunchly defend the establishment line and the commanders on the scene whose poor judgment led to the tragedy. Clearly, the Navy’s chain of command has circled the ships.