US report faults drone operators in civilian deaths

[Forkboy]

Grave errors made in air strike that killed 23 Afghans

KABUL, Afghanistan — The US military released a scathing report yesterday on the deaths of 23 Afghan civilians, saying that “inaccurate and unprofessional’’ reporting by a team of Predator drone operators helped lead to an inadvertent air strike this year on a group of innocent men, women, and children.

The report said that four US officers, including a brigade and battalion commander, had been reprimanded, and that two junior officers had also been disciplined. General Stanley A. McChrystal, who apologized to President Hamid Karzai after the attack, announced training measures intended to reduce the chances of similar events.

The episode, in which three vehicles were attacked and destroyed in February, illustrated the extraordinary sensitivity to the inadvertent killing of noncombatants by NATO forces. Since taking command here last June, McChrystal has made the protection of Afghan civilians a priority, and he has sharply restricted the use of air strikes.

The overwhelming majority of civilian deaths in Afghanistan are caused by insurgents, but the growing intensity of the fighting, and the big push by American and NATO forces, has sent civilian casualties to their highest levels since 2001. McChrystal’s concern is that NATO forces are wearing out their welcome.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2010/05/30/us_report_faults_drone_operators_in_civilian_deaths/

[Bonobo]

1. "Training measures"!? Can you imagine...

China sends an un-manned aircraft into the U.S. and kills a couple of dozen men, children and women and then says:

"Sorry, we'll take more training measures."

Well, that's what we did. The U.S.A. is disgusting.

[ZombieHorde]

2. Disturbing.

To quote President Obama on the subject of the use of predator drones on innocent civilians (Jonas Brothers), "Two words for you: predator drones. You will never see it coming. You think I'm joking?"

Pretty good joke Mr. President.

eta: I am using my sarcastic voice here.

[Octafish]

3. We can't make friends by killing them.

That's why the Peace Corps is such a great idea. Of course, the warmonger class hates it.