4 Canadian soldiers dead

[Leslie]

Four Canadian soldiers serving with the 3rd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group have been killed in a live-fire training exercise.

Eight Canadian soldiers were also wounded, two with life-threatening injuries, one with very serious injuries, and five with serious injuries.

The fatal accident happened at approximately 5:25 p.m. EDT Wednesday when a U.S. Air National Guard F-16 dropped one or two 500-pound bombs on Canadian troops who were at the time conducting training exercises in an area about 14 kilometres south of the Kandahar airfield.

www.pulse24.com

 

[Justintime]

Pilots should be shot :mad2:

 

[Shadowfax]

No they shouldn't. That wouldn't serve any cause. They should be judged for their crimes, but not shot.

How cruel it may sound, these things just happen

 

[Bink]

It happens all to often. The pilots and those in charge of the pilots orders obviously have far to much freedom to attack if so many civilians and allies are killed in the process.

Where are the safety protocols?

 

[Leslie]

The news channel associated with the source states that, as we are peacekeepers, these are the first Canadian deaths associated with combat since the Korean War.

It also now states that all 4 killed were Edmonton based.

 

[greenfreak]

I'm sure this is going to do wonders for our relations with our allies. God Damnit. I can't imagine doing an honorable thing like serving a cause like this, only to get cut down by someone on the same side as you. Bah.

 

[unclehobart]

From what I heard, the bombs laser guidance was goofed and it went waaaaay off course. Remember the other one that dropped on US troops near 6 weeks ago during that prison riot assault? Insofar as I know, it was a pure accident caused by mechanical failure; not so much poor judgement on the pilots behalf.

 

[Leslie]

I'm sure it was pure accident or mechanical failure. It is very sad for me, as it was the other times these have failed. I cried over the US men and their mothers too. I just hate all of this.

 

[Gonz]

A sad state of affairs but this is war & collateral damage happens. There have been more allies killed by allies in this mes than by the enemy.

 

[unclehobart]

I still remember a Brit APC stuffed with like a dozen men being blown apart by an American A-10 during the Gulf War. It had straggled away from the main attack force and moved so far ahead that it was thought to be a fleeing Iraqi vehicle.

 

[Guest]

Americans would never attack Canadians on purpose. I am sure it was probably an error.

There have been many senseless killings in Afgainistan and neighboring countries that served no purpose. Look at the Daniel Pearl killing for example. I suppose one could argue that the people that killed Pearl managed to get the media attention and stike fear into the hearts of people, but did they really gain anything?

Btw, sorry for straying off the topic.

 

[Leslie]

The report on the channel now is that the pilot saw the training exercise the Canadians were operating, took it as being fired upon (muzzle fire), called his control, was given permission to mark the target, flew over again to do so, saw more muzzle fire, and dropped the bomb. The control had not given him permission to do so. Seems he panicked.

 

[outside looking in]

Friendly fire, accidents or mistakes, sucks.

 

[unclehobart]

Swell... Thats the end of his career.. if not some brig time.

 

[sbcanada]

Originally posted by L. Summerton
The report on the channel now is that the pilot saw the training exercise the Canadians were operating, took it as being fired upon (muzzle fire), called his control, was given permission to mark the target, flew over again to do so, saw more muzzle fire, and dropped the bomb. The control had not given him permission to do so. Seems he panicked.

So he sees the Canadian soldiers in "combat," and he drops the bomb on the Canadians without permission? I think your U.S. airforce pilots need a hella lot more training and psychological profiling.

It's one thing to have casualties in a battle with the enemy, it's another to have them killed by your closest ally. :mad2:

 

[unclehobart]

It was in the dead of night. He saw only muzzle flashes, not that they were Canadian. I think that the area being a practice mock battle zone didn't filter down the chain of command too well. Those who needed to know simply didn't know.

SB, It was a National Guard pilot, aka weekend warrior. Their training is a tad off as they dont get nearly as much stick time as the full timers.

 

[sbcanada]

Why the fuck don't they tell their pilots where the training areas are? Where the friendly units are? They don't tell their pilots shit, and that's why the U.S. has been involved in 3 friendly fire accidents in Afghanistan.

When was the last time a Canadian killed a friendly?

 

[Leslie]

Newest report from same channel is that he in fact was given permission to retaliate. Takes awhile to get the whole story out, so take all of this with a grain of salt.

 

[sbcanada]

Yeah, he suposedly was taking fire from the ground.

Maybe it was those darn Canadians who thought it was a Taliban F-16??

 

[Leslie]

Originally posted by sbcanada
Yeah, he suposedly was taking fire from the ground.

Maybe it was those darn Canadians who thought it was a Taliban F-16??

You'd think he'd have noticed they were all wearing American uniforms