Officers to face action for base shooting

KABUL, Afghanistan, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A new report recommends action against some officers in connection with a Taliban attack that killed eight soldiers at a U.S. Army outpost in Afghanistan.

The attack at C.O.P. Keating in rugged Nouristan Province Oct. 3, 2009 was one of the worst single ground attacks in recent years, The New York Times reported Friday.

The long-awaited study of what went wrong at the base recommends action against some members of the chain of command.

"The investigation concluded that critical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets which had been supporting C.O.P. Keating had been diverted to assist ongoing intense combat operations in other areas," the report said.

It went on to say that intelligence assessments became desensitized to reports of massing enemy formations resulting in a failure to make needed force protection improvements.

"There were inadequate measures taken by the chain of command, resulting in an attractive target for enemy fighters," an executive summary of the report said.