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News :: Animal Rights |
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U.S. air force dismisses charges against Doped up pilot That bombed Canadians |
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by Friendly-Fire
(No verified email address) |
24 Jun 2004
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(CP) - Family members of Canadian soldiers who were killed when an American fighter pilot mistakenly bombed them in Afghanistan (news - web sites) expressed disappointment at a U.S. air force decision Thursday to dismiss all criminal charges against him. |
Maj. Harry Schmidt has accepted an offer to face administrative punishment in exchange for dismissal of four counts of dereliction of duty, the air force said. Agatha Dyer, mother of Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 25, who was killed in the 2002 bombing, said she was saddened by the news.
"He should get some penalty because he was at fault. He didn't obey orders. My heart is broken," Dyer said Thursday from her home in Montreal.
"I believe so much in the Lord. I know one day he (Schmidt) is going to pay. I know this man cannot sleep at night. He knows what he did was wrong. I am praying for God to give me strength."
Schmidt was originally charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault for dropping a laser-guided 225-kilogram bomb from his fighter jet on April 18, 2002, near Kandahar, killing four and wounding eight Canadian soldiers who were conducting live-fire exercises.
Schmidt later said he released the bomb because he mistook the Canadians' gunfire for an attack from Taliban soldiers. A military investigation found that Schmidt should have flown out of the area.
U.S. military officials recommended the charges be dismissed and that Schmidt face possible administrative punishment instead.
He could face punishment including 30 days confinement or loss of one month's pay, about $5,600 US, air force spokeswoman Col. Alvina Mitchell said.
Schmidt turned down the offer of administrative punishment, saying he wanted to clear his name in a court martial. He was ordered to be tried on the lesser charge of dereliction of duty.
The air force said the criminal charges would be dismissed after the conclusion of administrative punishment proceedings, which will begin next week.
Schmidt's lawyer, Charles Gittins, said his client chose the non-judicial forum to speed up the process.
"It's an opportunity to get the case resolved sooner rather than later," Gittins said in an interview from Middletown, Va.
"The earliest the (court martial) would start was October. It probably would have been delayed again. . . . It would probably be another year before the case was resolved."
Gittins stressed that his client's choice does not represent a guilty plea. Schmidt has said in his defence that the air force gave him no warning that allies would be performing exercises that night.
"He's always accepted the fact that he caused deaths and injuries. . . . The question was simply, 'Was it wrongful, given the circumstances?' He does not accept that it was wrongful. It was clearly an accident."
Killed in the bombing near Kandahar along with Dyer were Sgt. Marc Leger, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith. They were the first Canadians to die in combat since the Korean War. Eight other Canadians were wounded.
Maureen Decaire, mother of Cpl. Brian Decaire who was one of the injured, said dropping the charges against Schmidt means the U.S. military is not taking friendly-fire incidents seriously.
"I am disappointed. They are not particularly safety conscious. The lesson will not get learned," she said Thursday from her home in Winnipeg.
"If it is just thrown away and dismissed, what is the lesson? There should be some measure of responsibility for what was done."
Gittins said the administrative hearing will be conducted by a general at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., starting July 1. It's expected to last about a day.
"This is just a change in forum, not a change in strategy," Gittins said. "We're going to still present essentially the same evidence we would have presented at trial."
He said it was unclear whether Schmidt would testify. His client is not required to enter a plea.
Schmidt, 37, could receive a letter of reprimand, loss of one month's pay and house arrest.
Green's grandmother, Joyce Clooney, said Thursday she doesn't want Schmidt to be able to fly military planes again, but she also doesn't want him to go to jail "because that's not bringing the boys back. Nothing is going to bring the boys back."
"We need something so they didn't die in vain. My grandson is gone and so are the other boys," said Clooney, 73, of Bridgewater, N.S.
Len Hollister, father of Sgt. Curtis Hollister, said his son has still not fully recovered from the wounds he suffered from the bombing.
Hollister said he was sad to hear they dropped the criminal charges against Schmidt.
"I kind of think he (Schmidt) was hot-dogging that night, but he does't want to admit that," Hollister said from his farm in Cupar, Sask.
"Is any action going to be taken in the future or is it just going to be sluffed under the table as an accident and (forgotten) about? I think that is what has probably happened already."
The case against Schmidt and his mission commander, Maj. William Umbach, has been closely watched in Canada, where many were outraged by the bombing and the two days it took President George W. Bush (news - web sites) to publicly apologize. Manslaughter and aggravated assault charges against Umbach were dismissed and he was allowed to retire, as he had requested.
Relatives of the dead Canadian soldiers were also disappointed last June when Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force, first offered to dismiss the manslaughter charges and impose administrative punishment.
In an administrative hearing, Carlson would have considered allegations that Schmidt failed to ensure that the troops he attacked were not allies and did not obey when air controllers told him to "stand by" before he dropped the bomb.
Carlson also recommended that a flying evaluation board determine whether Schmidt should be allowed to fly for the air force again.
Schmidt had transferred to the National Guard in 2000 after a decorated career as a navy pilot and an instructor at the navy's "Top Gun" fighter pilot school. |
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