Posted on 06/27/2002 2:11:02 PM PDT by Clive
A Canadian report on the bombing tragedy which killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in April will be released Friday, and will say that the American pilot who dropped the fatal bomb rushed his attack, defence officials say.
The report will closely mirror the leaked findings of a parallel American inquiry, which blamed an American pilot for turning to the attack without properly assessing the situation.
The findings of the American investigation are to be released in tandem with the Canadian report.
Maurice Baril, the retired general who led the Canadian inquiry, delivered the report to Gen. Ray Henault, the chief of the defence staff, on June 19.
The document has been under review since then, to ensure that it meets privacy and national security requirements and doesn't threaten to compromise any possible legal action by American authorities.
The report won't make any recommendations about legal action, although it's expected the American inquiry will recommend a hearing for the pilot.
The leaked version of the U.S. report said Maj. Harry Schmidt, the part-time air national guard pilot who dropped a 225-kilogram bomb on a Canadian exercise in the wee hours of April 18, didn't follow proper procedures.
Published reports said a surveillance aircraft warned the pilot the forces were friendly just seconds after he dropped the bomb.
The F-16 pilot apparently spotted muzzle flashes or tracer trails from the Canadian live fire exercise and concluded either he or his wingman was under attack.
Instead of leaving the area to assess the threat and plan a possible counterattack, as procedures dictate, the F-16 pilot and that of a second plane rushed to attack before a radar plane could confirm the target as hostile.
The eight-week U.S. inquiry, co-chaired by Brig.-Gen. Marc Dumais of the Canadian Forces, interviewed 70 people.
Mr. Baril's inquiry had access to the American material and conducted its own interviews in Afghanistan. It also studied radio transcripts and other documentary material.
Capt. James Key, a U.S. air force lawyer appointed to represent the F-16 pilot, would not comment on the leaked reports.
He has said his client is very remorseful over the tragedy.
Relatives of Canadian soldiers killed and injured reacted with sadness and resignation at the leaked news.
Joyce Clooney, whose grandson Pte. Ricky Green died in the April incident, said the report confirmed what she and many other families had long suspected — that the pilot acted improperly.
"I always felt sure the Canadians were in the proper place," Ms. Clooney said from her home in Bridgewater, N.S.
"The pilot just made the decision quickly. I'm not angry, but we're hurt. We trusted that Ricky would be safe over there."
Several relatives said that kind of court action against the pilot would solve nothing.
"Nothing anybody is going to do will make it better," said Suzanne Leger, aunt of Sgt. Marc Leger, who was killed in the bombing.
"Marc's not going to walk in the door tomorrow because this pilot is prosecuted or people are still investigating the issue. People have to understand it happened in a war zone," she said from her home in Lancaster, Ont.
Many of the relatives said they felt badly for the pilot.
"He didn't do this on purpose," said Maureen Decaire, whose son Cpl. Brian Decaire was injured in the attack.
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