Date: Fri, 19 Apr 2002 12:35:06 -0400
From: bobhunt@erols.com
Subject: [libs4peace] (fwd) [osint] Friendly-fire pilot ignored warnings
To: libs4peace@yahoogroups.com ("Libertarians 4Peace"), Individual-Sovereignty@yahoogroups.com
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002 15:55:28 +0200, "Zahir Jacobs" <zahirj@mweb.co.za>
wrote:
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020419/689783.html
The pilot of an American F-16 fighter jet who dropped a 250-kilogram
laser-guided bomb on Canadian troops in Afghanistan, killing four and
wounding eight, had ignored orders not to fire, sources say.
Pilot ignored orders: sources
'He bombed anyway' after being told twice not to: Canadian military 'not
pointing fingers' but indicates U.S. knew of training exercise
Robert Fife, Ottawa Bureau Chief and Sheldon Alberts, with files from Peter
Morton and Joseph Brean
National Post, with files from news services
Adrian Wyld, The Canadian Press
BRIGADIER-GENERAL IVAN FENTON: "We do dangerous things."
Joe Clark, Progressive Conservative leader
Pte. Richard Green
OTTAWA - The pilot of an American F-16 fighter jet who dropped a
250-kilogram laser-guided bomb on Canadian troops in Afghanistan, killing
four and wounding eight, had ignored orders not to fire, sources say.
The U.S. National Guard pilot twice requested and was refused permission to
drop his ordnance after spotting tracer fire in a desert training area near
Kandahar, where paratroopers of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light
Infantry were on a live-fire exercise.
"When he saw tracer fire again, he bombed anyway," the source said.
The four dead soldiers -- Sgt. Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard
Green and Pte. Nathan Smith -- are the first casualties Canada has suffered
in combat operations since the 1950-53 Korean War, although 111 Canadian
Forces personnel have died on peacekeeping duty since 1950.
The four bodies were to be flown out of Kandahar to Ramstein, Germany, today
and are expected to arrive in Canada this weekend.
Art Eggleton, Canada's Defence Minister, announced yesterday that General
Maurice Baril, the former chief of defence staff, will head a board of
inquiry into the tragedy. He said the U.S. military has invited Canadians to
participate in their inquiry.
"This investigation will be thorough. It will be conducted as quickly as
possible and families will be kept informed as this process moves forward,"
Mr. Eggleton said.
General Ray Henault, the Chief of Defence Staff, said, "We are not pointing
fingers," but he added that Canadian commanders had provided American
brigade commanders with detailed information about the live-fire night
training.
"No operations which are outside the Kandahar airfield are undertaken
without full co-ordination. So I am absolutely convinced that all of the
mechanisms ... that have to be followed were followed."
A Pentagon official said the trouble began when a flight of two F-16
fighters radioed that they were taking fire from the ground and were given
permission by their air controller to mark the target.
"When they went back to mark the target, they reported taking fire again and
the wing man of the two fighters decided that in self-defence he should
drop, and he dropped one 500-pound bomb," the official said.
"Unfortunately what was below them was a Canadian live-fire exercise."
The Pentagon said it appeared the pilots did not know they were flying over
a training area and the fire from the Canadian exercise made them believe
they were under attack.
One sought permission to bomb and was given the go-ahead only to mark the
target, a senior Pentagon official said. On a second pass over the area,
again thinking he was under fire, he dropped the bomb in what he believed
was self-defence.
Jean Chrtien, the Prime Minister, and George W. Bush, the U.S. President,
promised a full and complete investigation into the tragedy.
"Extensive training for combat is meant to save lives. How is that in this
awful case it took so many lives?" Mr. Chrtien told Parliament. "I want to
assure the families, and the people of Canada, that these questions will be
answered."
Mr. Chrtien telephoned the families of the dead and wounded to offer
condolences on behalf of the country.
The deaths were the first Canadian casualties in the U.S.-led war in
Afghanistan and one of the worst so-called friendly fire accidents in the
six-month war against terrorism.
Adrienne Clarkson, the Governor General and commander in chief of the
Canadian Forces, was on hand in Ramstein to greet the wounded.
Two of the eight injured soldiers were reported in serious but stable
condition in Ramstein. Another two soldiers with slight injuries remained in
Afghanistan.
Gen. Henault told reporters yesterday the Canadians were conducting routine
training to "maintain proficiency" in a training area frequently used by
American and other coalition troops.
Gen. Henault, a former air force pilot, said he could not explain how the
American pilot could have thought he was under fire.
"This was an exercise in which they were training on surface-to-surface
firing. This was not a ground-to-air exercise," he said. "There is no reason
for us to believe that it was anything other than that."
But he was also careful not to judge the actions of the pilot, who has not
been identified, before an inquiry is held.
"These are operations that you have to remember are in a combat zone and
like it or not, the pilots are under a fair amount of strain in their own
right," he said.
"All of it is done in seconds. It is not done in hours, and so the pilot and
those who are helping him to do his mission have to do this under difficult
circumstances ... under decision-making timelines which are exceedingly
short."
On Parliament Hill yesterday, flags flew at half mast as MPs in the House of
Commons stood for a minute of silence to mark the tragedy after the Prime
Minister and opposition leaders paid tribute to the Canadians.
"At times like these, we grasp for words of comfort and consolation, but
they are just words," said a sombre Mr. Chrtien. "They can never do justice
to the pain and loss that is being felt this morning in Edmonton by mothers
and fathers, by wives and children who have received the worst news we can
imagine.
Joe Clark, the Conservative Leader, suggested the government's defence
policies may have been responsible for the tragedy.
"Did the arrangement whereby American commanders direct Canadian troops have
any impact on these casualties? Was there any incompatibility between the
communications systems of our troops on the ground and the aircraft involved
in the incident?" Mr. Clark asked as many MPs squirmed in their seats and
some threw their earpieces on their desks.
Svend Robinson, the NDP Foreign Affairs critic, also criticized the
government. "If ever there were any evidence needed that Canadian troops
should not be in Afghanistan under United States command we have seen the
tragic evidence of that," Mr. Robinson told a news conference.
"If Canadian troops cannot be certain that they're not going to be fired on
by Americans we have no business being there."
John Reynolds, the Canadian Alliance interim leader, and other opposition
leaders avoided criticism and focused on the families of the dead soldiers.
"Today is not the day to ask questions in the House ... Today is the day to
offer sympathy to the families," Mr. Reynolds said.
Gilles Duceppe, Bloc Qubcois Leader, expressed sympathy to the families
and friends of the victims, while Alexa McDonough, the NDP Leader, said she
was "shocked and saddened" by the loss of the fou paratroopers. "The
thoughts of all Canadians are with the families of the injured soldiers as
well," she said.
Countess Mountbatten of Burma was "terribly sad" to learn yesterday of the
deaths of soldiers under her honourary command.
"It's terrible when anyone gets killed in a war, and it's all the more
tragic when it turns out to have been a most unfortunate and tragic
accident," said Lady Patricia, colonel-in-chief of the Princess Patricia's
Canadian Light Infantry.
Lady Patricia, who maintains close contact with the regiment, already knew
of the deaths when she was telephoned yesterday in London. She said she
planned to speak with an officer at the Edmonton base as soon as she could.
"I shall find out all I can about it and say how very, very sad I am to
hear, and how much I am thinking of the families. They must be desperate,"
she said.
Brigadier-General Ivan Fenton, commander of land forces for Western Canada,
said he did not believe the deaths would cause hard feelings between U.S.
and Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
"We do dangerous things with dangerous equipment and yes it is an extra pain
in this tragedy," he told reporters in Edmonton.
"But in the final analysis, it really doesn't matter. These things do happen
and I don't think it will produce friction."
Colonel Frank Wiercinski, commander of Task Force Rakkasan, part of the
American 101st Airborne Division, addressed his "Canadian brothers and
sisters," and offered his "sincerest condolences to the families, friends
and especially the 3 PPCLI battle group.
"Our thoughts, prayers and support are with you and the nation of Canada."
Major Howard Michitsch, who retired after 22 years with the regiment, said
the accident "just goes to the irrationality of war."
"I'll bet every one of those soldiers was doing exactly what he was supposed
to do perfectly -- it doesn't matter, they still died. War is like that, you
can do everything right and still get dead," he said.
THE TOLL:
The four Canadian soldiers who died at Kandahar were identified yesterday
as:
Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 25, of Montreal;
Pte. Richard Green, 22, of Mill Cove, N.S.;
Sgt. Marc Leger, 29, of Lancaster, Ont.;
Pte. Nathan Smith, 27, of Tatamagouche, N.S.
- - -
The eight injured soldiers are: Sgt. Lorne E. Ford, 33, MCpl. Stanley P.
Clark, 35, MCpl. Curtis R. Hollister, 29, Cpl. Shane R. Brennan, 28, Cpl.
Brian M. Decaire, 25, Cpl. Rene Paquette, 33, Cpl. Brett R. Perry, 26, and
Pte. Norman D. Link, 24.
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