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News :: International Relations |
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USAF Recommends Criminal Charges Against Pilots Who Bombed Canadians |
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by Edmonton Journal
(No verified email address) |
13 Sep 2002
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Two pilots assigned to Illinois Air National Guard's Springfield-based 183rd Fighter Wing will face criminal charges for bombing Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan. |
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Major Harry Schmidt has been unofficially named as the USAF pilot who bombed Canadian soldiers. (USAF photo/Lt. Allen Herritage)
Canadian Press: per Edmonton Journal Friday, September 13, 2002
WASHINGTON (CP) - The U.S. air force is recommending criminal charges against two pilots for their role in the fatal bombing of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan, a senior defence official said Thursday. The charges are to be announced Friday at the Pentagon after the U.S. Central Command and the Canadian government release additional details from a joint investigation of the April 18 tragedy.
The senior U.S. defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the air force would recommend F-16 pilot Maj. Harry Schmidt be charged with involuntary manslaughter. He dropped a 225-kilogram bomb on a group of soldiers from the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, mistaking them for enemy forces. Four Canadians were killed and eight wounded.
Killed in the bombing were Sgt. Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith, all of the Edmonton-based regiment.
The U.S. air force also is recommending Schmidt be charged with failure to exercise appropriate flight discipline.
Maj. William Umbach, the lead pilot, would face charges of aiding and abetting Schmidt in the involuntary manslaughter, the official said. As lead pilot, he should have more forcefully intervened to stop Schmidt from dropping the bomb until confirmation of the target was received, the air force said.
Cpl. Shane Brennan of Edmonton, who was injured in the bombing, said he welcomed the news.
"Those pilots didn't follow protocol. And look what happened - we lost four of our best guys," Brennan said Thursday.
"They had some of the world's most sophisticated equipment for identifying friend or foe and they didn't follow protocol so now they're going to have to face their actions."
Mary Anne Perry of Winnipeg, mother of Cpl. Brett Perry who was injured in the bombing, said charges won't do anything to change the picture or bring back the Canadian soldiers who were killed.
"He has devastated many lives," she said, referring to Schmidt.
If the matter is now going to the U.S. military justice system, "I will trust in our military to go in on our behalf," she said, adding that the Canadian military acted admirably when the bombing occurred and in its investigation.
Because Schmidt and Umbach are members of the Illinois Air National Guard and are no longer mobilized under U.S. federal authority, they would have to be recalled to active duty to face the charges.
It was unclear Thursday whether the recommended charges against them will be considered under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice or will be taken directly to a court martial.
The bombing caused a public uproar in Canada. The joint U.S.-Canadian investigation faulted both pilots for failure to follow established procedures to ensure that they attacked a legitimate target.
Central Command publicly released the basic findings of the investigation in June but did not release details. It said it needed more time to remove classified information from the report.
Schmidt spotted flashes on the ground as he was flying over the Canadians, who were conducting a nighttime live-fire exercise. He thought the fire was from hostile forces but was told by a U.S. air controller to hold fire until further inquiry could clarify the situation, the investigation report said.
Schmidt nonetheless declared he was "rolling in self-defence" and dropped the bomb.
The inquiry that was completed in June determined Schmidt and Umbach were largely to blame for the mistaken attack, although it also found undisclosed problems in the pilots' command structure.
Both U.S. and Canadian boards probing the incident said the pilots weren't told Canadians troops were conducting a night-firing exercise on a range near Kandahar.
"The pilot's actions were not consistent with either the expected practice for a defensive threat reaction or existing published procedures," the Canadian investigation reported.
"This represented a failure of. . .airmanship and technique."'
The U.S. report was equally harsh:
"The (inquiry) found the cause of the friendly fire incident to be the failure of the two pilots to exercise appropriate flight discipline, which resulted in a violation of the rules of engagement and an inappropriate use of lethal force."
A decision on disciplinary action was left to Lt.-Gen. Michael Moseley, the senior U.S. air force officer in Central Command.
In August, however, that responsibility was transferred to Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force, based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Lawyers for Schmidt and Umbach had said Moseley was predisposed to find the pilots guilty. |
See also:
http://www.canada.com/edmonton/story.asp?id={752C9417-B998-4A1F-9594-9F58E724BAA1}
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