U.S. Pilots Blamed in Canadian Afghan Deaths

29/06/2002| IslamWeb

HIGHLIGHTS: Two Reports-Canadian & Joint Canada-U.S. Concur on Findings|| Incident Represents Failure of Airmanship & Technique of the Wingman & of Leadership of the Flight Leader||All Disciplinary Options Are Open in the Case|| STORY: The U.S. F-16 pilots who mistakenly bombed Canadian troops in Afghanistan in April, killing four soldiers and injuring eight, are solely to blame for the incident, a Canadian military panel said Friday, echoing the conclusion of a joint Canada-U.S. probe.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Canada, retired General Maurice Baril, Canada's former Chief of Defense Staff, added the actions of the pilots "represented a failure of airmanship and technique of the wingman and a failure of leadership of the flight leader."

Canadian troops were not to blame in any way for the incident during the evening of April 17, when members of Alpha Company, 3rd Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, were conducting a night live-fire training exercise on the ground near Kandahar airport, officials said. The four Canadian soldiers were bombed when one of two U.S. F-16 fighter jet pilots dropped a 500-pound laser-guided bomb on the Princess Patricia soldiers. (Read photo caption)

Another report, this by the Canada-U.S. Coalition Investigation Board (CIB), details of which were released in Tampa, Florida, Friday, said the Americans had failed "to exercise appropriate flight discipline, which resulted in the violation of the rules of engagement and an inappropriate use of lethal force."

The CIB report also found that "failings within the pilots' immediate command structures, while not causing the incident, were contributing factors."

Canadian defense officials in Ottawa could not offer details on that finding, and a seven-page summary of their own report had passages blanked out for security reasons.

U.S. officials said all disciplinary options are possible in the case.

In Nova Scotia, Joyce Clooney, the grandmother of 21-year-old Private Richard Green, who died in the bombing, said her grandson would not have wanted to "hang out to dry" the U.S. pilots blamed.

"He knew when he went in the military that something could happen, but we certainly didn't expect it from friendly people," she told CBC television.

PHOTO CAPTION

An A-10A Thunderbolt II leads a P-38 Lightning through a turn over the Arizona desert, as part of the United States' Air Force Heritage Conference 2002 training flight, on June 26, 2002. The U.S. F-16 pilots who mistakenly bombed Canadian troops in Afghanistan in April, killing four soldiers and injuring eight, are solely to blame for the incident, a Canadian military panel said on Friday, echoing the conclusion of a joint Canada-U.S. probe. Photo by Reuters (Handout) REUTERS/USAF