 In disclaiming U.S. culpability in January 2001 , then @-@ President Clinton told reporters , " The evidence was not clear that there was responsibility for wrongdoing high enough in the chain of command in the Army to say that , in effect , the government was responsible . " American lawyers for the No Gun Ri survivors rejected that rationale , saying that whether 7th Cavalry troops acted under formal orders or not , " the massacre of civilian refugees , mainly the elderly , women and children , was in and of itself a clear violation of international law for which the United States is liable under the doctrine of command responsibility and must pay compensation " . Writing to the Army inspector general 's office in May 2001 , the lawyers also pointed out that numerous orders were issued at the war front to shoot civilians , and said that the U.S. military 's self @-@ investigation – " allowing enforcement to be subject to the unbridled discretion of the alleged perpetrator " – was an ultimate violation of victims ' rights . 
