"There was a mistake on the part of commanders in the field," he said.
He said the deletions the censors insisted on were minor: a scene of Japanese soldiers beheading Chinese, one of a woman strapped to a chair to be raped, a conversation between a Japanese commander and a Chinese prisoner that revealed compassion on the part of the commander.
By removing the power of the "convening authority" from commanding generals any appearance of impropriety on the part of a commander is eliminated.
In effect, Henderson's potential patronage — an important part of a commander's job — was diminished, and a protégé, if he had had one, would have had to wait longer for a battalion commander's spot.
In theory, it insures that commanders can return vital soldiers to the battlefield in an emergency; in practice, the Pentagon regards it as part of a commander's total responsibility for a unit's success and failure.
There is also responsibility on the part of a commander, of course, to discuss what risks are associated with various courses of action.
"There is leeway for commanders to make judgment calls, which is part of what commanders do," said Col. Steve Boylan, the public affairs officer for Gen. David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq.
In hindsight, this could be seen as a crucial oversight on the part of police commanders.
Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis, the commander of the Marine Corps Forces Central Command, determined that the three officers' "actions, or inactions, demonstrated lack of due diligence on the part of senior commanders and staff".
On a visit to Siberia, Mr. Putin described the ambush as a tragedy, but insisted that laxity on the part of Russian commanders, and not Kremlin policies, was to blame.
"There was some concern on the part of our commanders," Mr. Gates said, "that contractors who did things wrong were just sent home and further action wasn't taken against them".
