Was the massacre in Afghanistan yet another solitary act?

It is a bit difficult to believe the oficial versión that  a U.S. Army sergeant, acting on his own and unnoticed by his military superiors,  got up early in the morning to walk more than a mile from his military base in Panjwai, Afghanistan, to pass through three villages, trying door after door and breaking in to shoot down 16 non-beligerants, mostly children, then setting fire to them.

The apologies of U.S. military authorities and U.S. President and Nobel Prize winner Barack Obama also seem a bit twisted in view of the fact that this is but the lattest in a long series of abuses that have taken the lives of thousands of Afghans since Washington invaded the country a decade ago.

The alleged justification for the war was the desire to eliminate terrorism, a tactic employed by the Taliban, yet as the struggle drags on the invading forces have been accused of blatant abuses that likewise have been questioned by those concerned with human rights.

Is it reasonable to believe that a U.S. soldier could commit such an act of terror without the knowledge of his superiors? Can a soldier—with long experience in the country and also in the U.S. war against Iraq--just get up before dawn and leave his barracks armed to the teeth and carry out such an inhuman massacre, without being detected by his companions or militar superiors?

It is likewise difficult to believe that acts such as the burning of copies of the Koran were “mistakes” or that other massacres or the pilotless bombings of villages taking the lives of numerous civilians have taken place without the knowledge and consent of military authorities.

Has not history shown the devastating consequences of tooth for tooth conflicts?

Is it not time for foreign troops to leave the country?

Aside from the expressed desire to supress the Taliban, it is clear that Washington and its NATO allies see the country as a strategic geopolitical piece in the area’s chess like power struggles. However, in a game of chess when the queen is put under check there are two possibilities: either to give up or to change tactics.