Commandos under the gun

Everywhere but here in the U.S.!

Commandos under the gun in Afghan investigations

Sep. 15 2010 - OTTAWA — A series of top-secret investigations into the conduct of Canada's elite commandos in Afghanistan is looking at not only the actions of soldiers in the field, but also of Ottawa-based commanders -- a fact that has alarmed military experts.

A spokesman for the Canadian Forces says an ongoing criminal investigation by military police and a separate, technical inquiry are examining how the chain of command responded to serious allegations levelled by a member of Joint Task Force 2 -- known as JTF-2.

Capt. Dave Scanlon said claims by the soldier were directed against another member of the highly trained special operations forces unit and there were "allegations against related actions (taken) by the SOFCOM chain of command."

He refused to get into details of the accusations and defended the blanket of secrecy that has covered the two criminal investigations, one of which is ongoing, and a board of inquiry. {read rest}