BBC: 'Friendly fire' killing unlawful

[maddezmom]

'Friendly fire' killing unlawful

Four other soldiers were injured in the attack near Basra
The death of a UK soldier when a US pilot fired on his convoy in Iraq was unlawful, a coroner has ruled.
The "friendly fire" incident near Basra in March 2003 which killed Lance Corporal Matty Hull, 25, amounted to a a criminal act, Andrew Walker said.

Video footage from the cockpit of the US A-10 "tankbuster" plane was shown to his family during the inquest, but was not shown at the Oxford inquest.

The coroner said the death was "entirely avoidable".

He said: "I believe that the full facts have not yet come to light."


more:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6449227.stm

Coroner's office: British soldier's death in Iraq 'friendly fire' incident unlawful, avoidable
LONDON (CNN) -- The death of a British soldier who succumbed four years ago in a U.S. "friendly fire" attack in Iraq was an unlawful killing, a deputy coroner said.

Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner Andrew Walker also said the incident was entirely avoidable.

more:http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/03/16/friday/index.html

[uppityperson]

1. k&r, what next?

Does Mrbush's not signing on whatever it was (so USA military can be tried in wherever, world court?, my memory shows me vagueness rather than details, sorry), will anything happen? Will the poodle bark?

[Eugene]

2. BBC: US rejects ruling on UK soldier

Last Updated: Friday, 16 March 2007, 18:13 GMT

US rejects ruling on UK soldier

The US State Department has rejected a coroner's conclusion
that the "friendly fire" death of a British soldier in Iraq was
unlawful and a criminal act.

Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull, 25, died near Basra on
28 March 2003 when a US pilot fired on his tank convoy.

US spokesman Sean McCormack said it was a "tragedy"
during a time of war.

-snip-

Speaking at a State Department briefing in Washington,
Mr McCormack said: "Clearly we don't agree with the
assessment. What we have here is a tragedy that occurred
during a time of war.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6459895.stm

[maddezmom]

3. well if they would release the audio, maybe we'd know

:shrug:

[Seldona]

4. Video footage here.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e06da463d7

The pilots were told their grid was clear of friendlies, to be fair. What a horrible, horrible, position to be in. Edited to add the pilots clearly did screw up. Watching it again closely they did attempt to verify targets, and then did not wait for final verifacation.

[maddezmom]

5. listening now...seems like they were led astray by the folks on the ground

and had to make a split second decision. I guess the question is did they follow procedure and what kind of procedure can you have in this situation.... God I hate this fucking war!!! :(

[Seldona]

6. Amen to that.

--God I hate this fucking war!!!--

From what I understand neither pilot was charged, but both were done flying. The thing that struck me was, were insurgents on their last legs using light armored tanks in 2003? Much less tanks with rocket launchers.

It certainly proves that what the military was experiancing, and what this lying administration was saying about ground conditions, were WORLDS apart.

[maddezmom]

7. thanks for the link

I'm still listening....:cry:

I've heard bits and pieces here in the UK, but not the whole thing. These guys made a huge mistake and knew it in a split second. Everyone should listen before they pass judgement. They are in serious pain listening to it.