Airstrike on Afghan hospital was ‘US decision’, admits US commander

[KoKo]

Airstrike on Afghan hospital was ‘US decision’, admits US commander – video

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/oct/06/airstrike-afghan-hospital-us-army-video

A deadly airstrike that hit a hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz was the result of a mistake made within the US chain of command, the US commander of international forces in Afghanistan said on Tuesday. General John Campbell made the admission while testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington on Tuesday. The airstrike on Saturday hit a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and killed 22 people

[bemildred]

1. The US is kind of stuck.

It is either:

1.) They did not check before bombing

or

2.) The did and bombed anyway

They chose the latter.

[KoKo]

3. Incompetence somewhere along the chain...

Last edited Tue Oct 6, 2015, 04:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Might be there's still more we don't know since their story has changed a few times. If it was just the hospital that was bombed and they were alerted during the bombing to stop...it does lead one to wonder...

Someone needs to be held accountable.

[Maedhros]

2. This was a war crime. Period.

What is Obama going to do about it?

[mike_c]

4. bombing civilian hospitals is a war crime....

A "mistake" is when you forget your hat in the morning or leave the milk out on the counter. Airstrikes against a civilian hospital, murdering noncombatant medical personnel, and burning civilian patients in their beds is not a "mistake." The MSF hospital was targeted and repeatedly fired upon over the course of an hour or so. There were no wayward munitions or targeting errors. The hospital was accurately struck, time after time. That's a war crime, not a "mistake."

The officers on board the plane are culpable, as is the entire chain of command behind this operation.

[KoKo]

5. Yes...Someone needs to be held accountable....

and to use the word "mistake" when he must know by now how this happened and if he doesn't then he's covering.