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I have no doubt that my reaction to the tape would be similar to your own. However, I'm even more concerned that flight tapes from our zillion-dollar fighter aircraft are making it out for general distribution.

When a fighter pilot is zipping along in a fifty million dollar aircraft at the speed of sound and having to make split second decisions I have no doubt that the hell of war manifests itself in ways that the rest of us can scarcely comprehend - or appreciate.

Your posts are very insightful and exhibit an understanding of the challenges associated with flying fighters.

At night, in a combat zone, the margin of error is razor thin. Your mission is to kill people, and unfortunately, if you make the wrong judgment call, the wrong people may be killed. Fog of war is correct.

These pilots were acting correctly, they never violated any "orders," and they were responding to perceived enemy actions on the ground.

The pilots were acting in accordance with Rules of Engagement, as every soldier, sailor, Marine and airman has a right of self-defense, and some "controller" in an AWACS a hundred miles away knows this.

The pilots responded to shots being observed and the pilots reacted accordingly. It does not matter if the shots "could" have reached the aircraft, as tracers burn out way below maximum altitude.

Another aspect is the fact that any caliber of any weapon, to include rocks, can down a 50-million dollar jet. Heck we lose about a dozen jets a year due to bird strikes. Now, imagine what a 50 cal. round can do to an electric jet that flies by wire and is completely controlled by electronic pulses, pulses that would be mucked up if a round hit an electric circuit board.

All fire directed towards you is presumed to be hostile.

That the pilots made a mistake is not in dispute. What is in dispute is the question of mistake vs crime. Is a mistake a crime?

Keep up the good posts, as I've tired from participating in posts on this subject, as those that don't know/can't appreciate/do not understand the challenges of flying fighters are not worth the effort.

Have a great day.

Gunrunner2