INJUSTICE OVERSHADOWS 'FRIENDLY FIRE'

It is there that theological matters will be discussed and then decided upon. It is there that philosophy will rivet every conversation. It is there that morals and ethics will impregnate whatever is thought-through. It is there that legal jargon will appear to be in charge, but in fact will not be in charge.

And that is where the problem lies. This is not a legal matter predominantly. It is not a major military matter either. It has to do with a spiritually fallen world, hence it being theological, philosophical, moral and ethical.

But will anyone in power get hold of that baseline truth? I doubt it. With that, my whole being quakes with dismay, just anger, and a strong drive to get out the overarching truth — that the case before the judge is religious, spiritual.

The logic is this: we inhabit a spiritually fallen sphere. This planetary existence is not perfection. It is not heaven. We are citizens of a world in which error, mistake, mishap, lack of fine-line judgment are givens in everyday life. Each human relates in practicality to that fact; we wake up with it, we go to sleep with it.

Therefore, why are there still supposedly intelligent people who press for a perfect world with perfect humans acting perfectly in making perfect decisions so as to reach perfect conclusions?

The same happens frequently in highway accidents when no party is truly at fault. In other words, it is a matter of imperfection ruling so as to eventuate in tragedy, sometimes death. It can happen on a school ground, when crossing a busy intersection, when stepping to the fifth rung of a ladder.

So why is it that when "friendly fire" kills some Canadians, there are those who go spastic? They are all up in arms, alarmed, stunned out of their wits, ready to call down judgment on mere mortals involved? It is simply dumbfounding to come upon such appearing sophisticated, educated persons going bonkers over "friendly fire."

After all, "friendly fire" happens—in wartime. Doesn’t it? It’s a part of the scene. We all know that. Or at least we all should know that.

So when it happens, what gives? We give, that’s what rational people do. We give into the reality that these awful occurrences can tumble down upon our heads so that we are left with pain and loss. But to rush to blame others for what happened in such "innocent" situations is mean, illogical and unjust.

Yet testimony has come in that Majors Harry Schmidt and William Umbach are to face court-martial for the "friendly fire" set loose last April 17 near to Kandahar. These two pilots presently with the Illinois National Guard are being charged with involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and dereliction of duty!

What is the worst case scenario for these gentlemen? Sixty-four years in military prison. Get it: possibly sixty-four years in military prison!

A 500-pound bomb was dropped by mistake. Bodies were left flung across the ground in Afghanistan, some dead. Four Canadians died, eight were wounded.

This hearing is considered by some to be equivalent to a grand jury proceeding. It is projected to last two weeks. Will Col. Patrick Rosenow posit to 8th Air Force commander Gen. Bruce Carlson that Umbach and Schmidt be court-martialed? Carlson will have the final decision on whether to go further with charges.

There are indeed many who are justly angry about this court trial. Good. May their tribe increase and their voices rise to the heavens.

Schmidt and Umbach state they made the attack, concluding they were coming under fire during an assignment to give air cover for ground troops. So that’s it. Anyone could have been laced into such a situation.

These two men were flying in separate F-16 jets. It was Schmidt who dropped the bomb. Umbach was mission leader.

The men had not been informed that a Canadian live-fire was scheduled, an omission that Umbach lawyer David Beck states bore blame for the unfortunate outcome. Had the persons been aware of the maneuvers, they would have flown on without letting loose a bomb.

Is it that we are bowing down to Canadian powers-that-be? It is well known that there is a long-standing rivalry between the two countries on just about every life level.

How many times have Americans been characterized as being snobbish in dealing with Canadians? How many times have Canadians thought themselves a bit lower in status on some sort of ladder to the American whatevers? Does all this psychological stuff play into the present trial?

So — to return to the original thesis—above and beneath it all is the theological and philosophical. Theology and philosophy both teach the world’s citizenry that we don’t exist in perfection. We live with part near-perfect and part imperfection, not knowing which is going to govern each life situation.

Therefore, acknowledging this reality, when is it that fallible humans are going to relate such theological / philosophical baselines to all of life so as to quit suing unfairly, blaming unfairly, and hurting other like humans unfairly?

I just don’t understand then why the US is permitting all this.

Is it that we are bowing down to Canadian powers-that-be? It is well known that there is a long-standing rivalry between the two countries on just about every life level.

No, it mostly has to do with the fact that soldiers were needlessly killed by someone who specifically disobeyed orders.

The US Air Force has a definite interest in seeing that orders are followed. And I can't believe that anyone would have trouble accepting this.

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No, it mostly has to do with the fact that soldiers were needlessly killed by someone who specifically disobeyed orders.

Yes, it does appear that the Canadians may have been disobeying an order, causing their own death. Canadian troops ignored cease-fire order, lawyers for U.S. pilots assert http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/823082/posts

This is a military INTERNAL matter, and should not be on TELEVI SION. Every pilot going into battle from here on will be looking over his shoulder and in that instant could be shot down. That is what is the matter with it. We all support our guys who fly those big birds of firepower..they need everything we can give them, including support when something like this happens. No doubt, it will happen again.

I have trouble accepting the above oversimplification of what happened in Afghanistan on April 17th.

I can't understand how anyone can ignore the fact that the pilots were sent out to fly over a combat zone without ever being told there would be a live-fire exercise involving rocket-propelled munitions in the middle of a warzone. Amazingly, some people are able to write off the significance that virtually no one in the air operations center had even heard of Tarnak Farms before the bomb hit. On top of that, I keep encountering people who find nothing at all significant about the fact that the range was a "small arms" range (.50 cal or about 12.7mm and under), but 84mm rockets were being fired instead ... without any notice of this fact being given to the aircrews.

Consider carefully that the AWACS crewmember who was talking to the pilots said that if he had known anything was going down on the ground, he wouldn't have let the pilots get anywhere near the place.

If all of this is so simple, then I pose this question: why did LtC Stogran, PPCLI commander, refuse to come testify at the hearing in Louisiana?

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