Military blackout fuels suspicions in Afghanistan

Atlanta (CNN) -- It began with scant details released by the military about a heinous allegation: A soldier slipped away from a remote outpost in southern Afghanistan and went on a shooting rampage at nearby villages that left 17 people dead.

The questions were immediate: What was his name? What was he doing at the outpost? Where did the military take him?

The answers from the American military were slower in coming, and the dearth of information fueled angry accusations by Afghans of a cover-up, with President Hamid Karzai at one point accusing the U.S. military of withholding details and refusing to cooperate with Afghan investigators.

"The U.S. military justice system is unfamiliar territory to most Americans. So we should be hardly surprised that Afghans view it with skepticism," said Eugene Fidell, a former judge advocate who teaches military justice at Yale Law School.

Part of the issue is differing cultural and social practices.

But the larger problem, Fidell and other legal experts say, is perceived missteps in a number of high-profile war crimes cases and the closed culture of the military itself have led to a lack of confidence -- whether justified or not -- in the military justice system. Read More