Pentagon: 2015 Strike On Afghan Hospital ‘Not A War Crime’

[Purveyor]

Source: Reuters

By Reuters - Apr 29, 2016

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. military investigation has concluded that a deadly air strike in Afghanistan last year that destroyed a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders did not amount to a war crime but was caused by a number of factors, including human errors.

Forty-two people were killed and 37 were wounded during an Oct. 3 strike that destroyed a hospital run by the international medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

“The investigation concluded that certain personnel failed to comply with the rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict, however, the investigation did not conclude that these failures amounted to a war crime,” General Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, told reporters on Friday.

2016-04-29T180211Z_2_LYNXNPEC3S155_RTROPTP_4_USA-AFGHANISTAN-MSF-INVESTIGATIONVotel said it was not a war crime because none of the service members were aware that they were striking a hospital.

Read more: http://southfloridareporter.com/pentagon-2015-strike-on-afghan-hospital-not-a-war-crime-video/

---

The Joke of U.S. Justice and “Accountability” When They Bomb a Hospital

Ever since the U.S. last October bombed a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Kunduz, Afghanistan, the U.S. vehemently denied guilt while acting exactly like a guilty party would. First, it changed its story repeatedly. Then, it blocked every effort – including repeated demands from MSF – to have an independent investigation determine what really happened. As May Jeong documented in a richly reported story for The Intercept yesterday, the Afghan government – rather than denying that the hospital was targeted – instead repeatedly claimed that doing so was justified; moreover, they were sympathetic to calls for an independent investigation, which the U.S. blocked. What is beyond dispute, as Jeong wrote, is that the “211 shells that were fired . . . were felt by the 42 men, women, and children who were killed.” MSF insisted the bombing was “deliberate,” and ample evidence supports that charge.

Despite all this, the U.S. military is about to release a report that, so predictably, exonerates itself from all guilt; it was, of course, all just a terribly tragic mistake. Worse, reports The Los Angeles Times‘ W.J. Hennigan, “no one will face criminal charges.” Instead, this is the “justice” being meted out to those responsible:

One officer was suspended from command and ordered out of Afghanistan. The others were given lesser punishments: Six were sent to counseling, seven were issued letters of reprimand, and two were ordered to retraining courses.

MSF continues to insist that the attack was a “war crime” and must be investigated by an independent tribunal under the Geneva Conventions. In a statement this week, Amnesty International said that it has “serious concerns about the Department of Defense’s questionable track record of policing itself.” The LA Times story notes that Physicians for Human Rights said in a letter to the White House that “the gravity of harm caused by the reported failures to follow protocol in Kunduz appears to constitute gross negligence that warrants active pursuit of criminal liability.”

But none of that matters. The only law to which the U.S. government is subject is its own interests. U.S. officials scoffed at global demands for a real investigation into what took place here, and then doled out “punishments” of counseling, training classes, and letters of reprimand for those responsible for this carnage. That’s almost a worse insult, a more extreme expression of self-exoneration and indifference, than no sanctions at all. But that’s par for the course in a country that has granted full-scale legal immunity for those who perpetrated the most egregious crimes: from the systemic fraud that caused the 2008 financial crisis to the worldwide regime of torture the U.S. government officially implemented.

more...

https://theintercept.com/2016/04/29/the-joke-of-u-s-justice-and-accountability-when-they-bomb-a-hospital/

[w0nderer]

1. K & R to keep eye on n/t

[NV Whino]

2. I get it. It was just an oops.

[Jopin Klobe]

3. Soooooo ... if the Nazis had said, "Whoopsie!" ...

... instead of, "We were just following orders." ...

... there would have been no Nuremberg ...

... no harm - no foul ...

... right? ...

[840high]

4. Ooops - let's tell that to the dead

and their families.

[EX500rider]

5. MSF doesn't want to admit it but they bear some responsibility for not marking the roofs..

....of their hospitals with a red cross or crescent as required for hospitals in war zones.

[Eugene]

7. The roof had two red and white MSF flags on it.

The cross and crescent are for ICRC use.
The only site I can find to support your
assertion is The Daily Caller.

According to the DoD, the air crew manually selected
a building that looked like the target when the
coordinates they were given didn't check out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/world/asia/afghanistan-doctors-without-borders-hospital-strike.html?_r=0

[EX500rider]

13. I just read your link and saw no mention of the hospital being marked on the roofs with red crosses

[Eugene]

14. From The Washington Post via The National Post:

Source: Washington Post

U.S. gunship made five passes over Afghan hospital, despite 9-foot flags ID’ing it as a medical facility: MSF

Tim Craig, Washington Post | October 8, 2015 3:23 PM ET

KABUL — The U.S. military aircraft that attacked an Afghan hospital over the weekend made at least five passes over it dropping explosives, even though two flags draped across the roof of the building marked it as a medical facility, hospital officials said on Thursday.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Hospital officials had previously stated that they had given Afghan and coalition troops the GPS coordinates of the buildings. Those coordinates pinpointed the front steps to the emergency room, officials said Thursday. Two 6-by-9-foot flags with the organization’s red and white logo also were draped across the roof, they said.

U.S. officials have said that an AC-130 “gunship,” which is used to support American Special Operations troops and can fire a range of ammunition, carried out the raid. It is not immediately clear whether the crew of the fighter craft, which uses infrared technology at night, could distinguish the markings on a flag.

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/u-s-gunship-made-five-passes-over-afghan-hospital-despite-9-foot-flags-iding-it-as-a-medical-facility-msf

[EX500rider]

16. It would seem to me if it had been properly marked from the air they wouldn't..

....have confused it with the Intelligence building they thought they were hitting.
A small flag on one side flag won't cut it, you need large markings visible from every side.

[Ilsa]

6. AP reported that their careers are

Probably over, but you never know who might be related to whom, or who has the goods on someone, or where a favor is owed.

[Volaris]

8. Oh well then it's OK...

Official investigation of bank robbery (by bank robbers) finds that Bank wasn't robbed. Justice is Served.

Counseling? Fucking REALLY???

[Lucky Luciano]

9. Glad this has been settled. nt

[Enthusiast]

10. The big crime is going to war against a nation that did not attack us on 9/11.

[olddad56]

18. and the other big crime was not charging GWB and his handlers for that war crime.

[Enthusiast]

19. I agree.

[polly7]

11. They knew what they were bombing.

"OCTOBER 3, 2015 — Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) condemns in the strongest possible terms the horrific bombing of its hospital in Kunduz, which was full of staff and patients. MSF wishes to clarify that all parties to the conflict, including in Kabul and Washington, were clearly informed of the precise location (GPS Coordinates) of the MSF facilities in Kunduz, including the hospital, guesthouse, office and an outreach stabilization unit in Chardara northwest of Kunduz.

As it does in all conflict contexts, MSF communicated the precise locations of its facilities to all parties on multiple occasions over the past months, including most recently on September 29.

The bombing in Kunduz continued for more than 30 minutes after American and Afghan military officials in Kabul and Washington were first informed by MSF that its hospital was struck."

BBM

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/afghanistan-msf-staff-killed-hospital-partially-destroyed-kunduz



Kunduz Killers Go Free

by Media Lens / March 31st, 2016

On the night of October 3, 2015, a United States Air Force AC-130 gunship repeatedly attacked a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. Forty-two people were killed and dozens wounded. The US military plane had conducted five strafing runs over the course of more than an hour despite MSF pleas to Afghan, US and Nato officials to call off the attack.

MSF154301The remains of a bed frame in a room on eastern wing of the main Outpatient Department building.

As we reported at the time, MSF were unequivocal in their condemnation of the American attack. The hospital was ‘intentionally targeted’ in ‘a premeditated massacre’; it was a ‘war crime’. The medical charity rejected US assurances of three inquiries by the US, Nato and the Afghan government. MSF demanded instead an independent international investigation. It was to no avail. The US ignored public outrage and went ahead with its standard whitewashing procedures when it commits war crimes that get exposed. The outcome was announced on March 18. BBC News reported:

The US military has disciplined more than a dozen service members after an air strike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) hospital in Afghanistan killed 42 people last year.

‘The Pentagon has acknowledged that the clinic was targeted by mistake, but no personnel will face criminal charges.

Note that the BBC wording – ‘the Pentagon has acknowledged that the clinic was targeted by mistake‘ – is deceptive bias. The BBC made no mention that MSF had presented strong evidence that the clinic was ‘deliberately targeted’, that the attack was a ‘war crime’, and that there was an urgent need for an independent inquiry.

The BBC continued:

Full article: http://dissidentvoice.org/2016/03/kunduz-killers-go-free/

http://medialens.org/index.php/alerts/alert-archive/2016/815-kunduz-killers-go-free.html

[Doctor_J]

12. Pentagon clears Pentagon of wrongdoing

I'm glad they got to the bottom of this

[Tactical Peek]

15. Ok, it's an "Oops".

But it's "Oops, we committed a war crime."

This link is to the Pentagon press conference today.

Some of the reporters ask good questions, and the CENTCOM commander lacks good answers, imo.

April 29, 2016

Investigation of U.S. Airstrike on Afghan Hospital General Joseph Votel briefed reporters and responded to questions on an investigation into the October 3, 2015, U.S. airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan.?The attack killed 42 people, many of them medical workers and Afghan civilians.?16 service members were disciplined for mistakes that led to the strike, but none faced criminal charges.

http://www.c-span.org/video/?408837-1/pentagon-issues-report-doctors-without-borders-bombing


Now it's time for a full and independent investigation, including looking into the particulars of this initial investigation. Notice the reporters point out inconsistencies between the initial command statements and this report, such as whether the attack stopped when the attackers were told they were firing on a hospital or had already stopped when they were notified. Lots to straighten out with an outside investigation.

[ronnie624]

17. "To initiate a war of aggression,

therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole."

-- Robert H. Jackson

[killbotfactory]

20. War is a crime

for how much longer do we tolerate mass murder?