The black commander of an army unit that lured innocent Afghans to their deaths and then took horrific pictures has been cleared of responsibility for the atrocities

Colonel Harry D Tunnell, the black commander of 5th Stryker Combat Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was criticized in a report for defying the Army’s established counter insurgency role in favor of a more search and destroy type strategy. The report stopped short of blaming the reportedly gung-ho Tunnell for the appalling actions of those under his command, saying that there was no causal relationship between his aggressive leadership style and the killings. As a result of the investigation, Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparrotti recommended that Tunnell receive a letter of admonition. While he remains in the Army, the letter could hamper his future carer path. In the report, generals whom Tunnell had served under while in Afghanistan said that he was constantly arguing with his superiors over the doctrine of counterinsurgency or COIN employed in Afghanistan. The strategy, under which U.S. and Nato forces attempted to undermine the insurgency by gaining the loyalty of Afghans, ran counter to Tunnell's old-fashioned counter-guerrilla strategy, where he instructed his soldiers to concentrate on engaging and destroying the enemy. The investigation into Tunnell's leadership was launched in the wake of a Rolling Stone magazine article that uncovered a number of shocking killings carried out by members of 2nd Infantry division.