US military personnel face punishment over Afghan hospital strike

[unhappycamper]

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/18/us-military-face-punishment-afghan-hospital-strike-kunduz

Military personnel referred for ‘administrative action’ after bombing of hospital in Kunduz in which 42 people died

US military personnel face punishment over Afghan hospital strike
Agence France-Presse
Friday 18 March 2016 05.37 EDT

US military personnel involved in a devastating airstrike on a hospital run by Médecins Sans Frontières in Afghanistan have been or will be punished, officials have said.

~snip~

More than 10 military personnel face administrative action, another official said. This could range from “negative counselling”, or being told not to do something again (WTF) to a letter of reprimand, which generally blocks further promotion, the official said. Removal of command is also a possibility.

Next week, the Pentagon is due to publish a version of its report on the Kunduz attack. It will be redacted to remove classified material. Barack Obama has apologised and the Pentagon has said it will pay compensation to the families of those killed.

Médecins Sans Frontières has called for an international investigation into the airstrike.

[tazkcmo]

1. Heads will roll!

As long as they are below O grade 3 and E grade 8.

[unhappycamper]

2. Yup.

[atreides1]

3. From the Guardian 11/25/15

"During the flight, the onboard electronic systems malfunctioned, preventing command-and-control operations and limiting the ability to send email or video. In addition, as it arrived in Kunduz, it also mistakenly reported that the aircraft had been targeted by a missile, putting it off course, and in turn degrading the accuracy of some targeting systems.

Even when these were corrected, the crew remained “fixated” on the physical description of their original target, Campbell admitted, even though there were some “contradictory indicators”.

The crew of the AC-130 gunship relied on a physical description of the compound provided by Afghan forces, which led the crew to attack the wrong target on 2 October."

How accurate is a physical description at dark, especially when your systems are malfunctioning and the aircraft is off course?

The aircraft commander had the authority to abort the mission, but didn't, a slap on the wrist for murdering 30 people!