A New Perspective on the Akhtar Case

During a recent meeting with the down-range JAGs, (Paul and Dusty) they expressed the fact that the Akhtar case was not quite the success that I had thought. My feeling was that the ANA could tell their command and soldiers about the fact that a Brigadier General had been successfully prosecuted and convicted. They said that the exact opposite effect had taken place.

They said that the commands in both their Corps had heard of the conviction but the fact that he didn’t get any more jail time and was never fired only served to enforce the belief that the system did not work.

What was weird is that I was actually offended by this news. After all the hard work that was put into the case and this was the perception of my prosecutors success. But I could also see their point. That has been a bitter pill to swallow, the fact Akhtar was not fired or relieved of his position. It’s something that has received renewed attention but I’m not sure if he’ll actually get transferred. The support he’s receiving from MoD (Ministry of Defense) is strong enough that someone (BK) is keeping him in his position. I think it’s BK’s way of sticking it to the command at 201st Corps for prosecuting his golden boy.

Anyway, I am now looking at the Akhtar case in a new light. I’m still proud of my prosecutor and the guts he showed in getting this case to court. It will still go down in the history books as the first case of a Brigadier General of the ANA being successfully prosecuted.