- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two
U.S. F-16 fighter pilots have been charged with manslaughter and assault
in the April "friendly fire" bombing of Canadian troops in Afghanistan
that killed four soldiers and injured eight, the Air Force said on Friday.
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- The highly unusual criminal charges by the Air Force
against Illinois Air National Guard pilots Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj.
William Umbach followed a long joint investigation of the April 18 bombing.
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- Schmidt, who launched a 500-pound laser-guided bomb on
Canadian troops conducting a night live-fire exercise near Kandahar, and
flight leader Umbach each faced four counts of involuntary manslaughter
and eight counts of assault.
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- Schmidt was also charged with failing to exercise flight
discipline and not complying with the military "rules of engagement"
in the area. And Umbach was charged with negligently failing to exercise
appropriate flight command and control and ensure compliance with the rules
of engagement.
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- The charges were the first criminal accusations against
pilots in the year-old Afghan war against the al Qaeda and Taliban in which
a number of friendly fire attacks killed U.S. and allied troops and Afghans.
The pilots said they thought they were under attack from ground fire.
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- In 1999 a U.S. Marine Corps pilot aboard an assault jet
that clipped an Italian gondola cable was sentenced to six months in jail
on charges of conspiring to obstruct an investigation into the accident
that sent 20 people on the gondola plunging to their deaths.
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- BOTH 'PRESUMED INNOCENT' -- AIR FORCE
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- President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien
ordered investigations by their countries into the April attack on soldiers
of the Third Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry,
who had been firing only on surface targets in a recognized training ground.
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- If convicted of all the charges, the two pilots could
face prison terms and other punishment.
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- The Air Force said on Friday that the charges, brought
by the 8th Air Force based at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, were
only accusations and that "both officers are presumed innocent."
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- A joint U.S.-Canadian investigation concluded that Schmidt
and Umbach, who thought they were being fired at failed to use proper procedures
and exercise caution.
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- Investigators said Schmidt did not check properly before
he dropped his bomb and Umbach, an Air National Guard squadron commander,
let things get out of control.
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- Air Force Brig. Gen. Stephen Sargeant who led the investigation
brought the charges.
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- The long investigation report released in June said Umbach
got permission from a nearby U.S. AWACS (airborne warning and control system)
radar plane to determine the precise location of what the flight thought
was surface-to-air fire. While the lead pilot was trying to get those coordinates,
the pilot of the second F-16 requested permission to fire on the location.
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- The radar plane told the pilots to stand by, investigators
said, but Schmidt provided the coordinates and then radioed that he was
"rolling in, in self-defense."
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