Better Safe than sorry.
Posted on 03/22/2011 10:26:57 AM PDT by darkside321
Channel 4 News International Editor, Lindsey Hilsum, says that the villagers were shot when a US helicopter picked up the pilot who had ejected from the F-15E Eagle plane after it experienced a mechanical failure.
The US aircraft crashed on Monday night and was found in a field outside Benghazi and landed in rebel-held territory.
The local Libyans who were injured in the rescue mission are currently in hospital. They are the first confirmed casualities of allied operations, almost four days after operations began. At the time of writing, no one had died as a result of the gunfire.
Lindsey Hilsum has been in the hospital where some of the injured were taken. She has spoken to the father of a young boy who expects to have his leg amputated due to a bullet wound.
Gauging the reaction of locals in the area, she said: "the local Libyans do not seem resentful, they still want the coalition forces to keep operating."
Both crew members ejected and have now been flown out of Libya by US personel, according to a US military spokesman.
He said the crash was "not due to enemy or hostile actions."
The pilot and a weapons officer were aboard the fighter jet, having set off from from Aviano Air Base in Italy. On experiencing the mechanical difficulties, both pilots ejected safely, but suffered minor injuries.
The pilot was rescued by the US helicopter soon after crash landing and opposition rebels recovered the weapons officer, taking "took good care of him" before coalition forces picked him up some time later.
(Excerpt) Read more at channel4.com ...
Better safe than sorry.
This makes no sense. Unless the helo crew mistook civilians or “rebels” for pro-Daffy forces?
}:-)4
Sooo....are we now shooting both the rebels AND Kadaffy supporters? Just wanted to adjust my scorecard.
They’ll probably never let these guys fly missions again. Damn...just damn...
Does this mean Obama will face charges of War Crimes in The Hague?
Why are the rules of engagement (ROE) different for the Libya boondoggle than they are for Afghanistan?
What were the villagers doing that caused the Americans to fire on them? Running toward the helicopter, shouting and gesticulating? (Of course, they may have been hoping the Americans would let them on board and fly them out of Libya.)
Guess these “rebels” are not so pro-western after all.
SAR ROE no brainer.
Those were my thoughts, although I'd first put my money on "It didn't happen and this is just a lefty reporter making up stories out of whole cloth."
I don’t blame these guys one bit. They were on the ground. But this thing is turning into a gigantic cluster**** even faster than I expected.
which guys?
In fact, they seemed proud of being the first collateral damage in the historic US president's first war.
Better Safe than sorry.
This might have been an unfortunate accident:
Behind him his F15 Strike Eagle was a burning wreck. He had parachuted into a field of sheep somewhere near Benghazi airbase and needed to escape - his fellow crew member had landed in another field nearby.
Raising his hands in the air he called out “OK, OK” to greet the crowd. But he need not have worried.
“I hugged him and said don’t be scared we are your friends,” said Younis Amruni, 27.
A queue formed to shake the hand of the airman, as locals thanked him for his role in the attacks.
“We are so grateful to these men who are protecting the skies,” he said. “We gave him juice and then the revolutionary military people took him away.”
Also note from the OP:
“Gauging the reaction of locals in the area, she said: “the local Libyans do not seem resentful, they still want the coalition forces to keep operating.””
A “friend” of mine once explained the reactions of locals to seeing military forces of other countries. If the flag is from the U.S., run toward it, you might get something. If the flag is from another country, run away, they will probably shoot you. I guess we are trying to be just like all the other countries.
?????...first report I heard about the second flyer was picked up by a Marine Osprey...???? The first guy was picked up right away
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