[Mb-civic] CBC News - 'FRIENDLY FIRE' PILOT REPEATS COVERUP ALLEGATION

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'FRIENDLY FIRE' PILOT REPEATS COVERUP ALLEGATION
WebPosted Fri Oct 28 17:09:06 2005

---U.S. Maj. Harry Schmidt, who dropped a bomb that accidentally killed
four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in 2002, has again claimed that he
was the victim of a coverup by U.S. military authorities.

In a new book on the incident, Friendly Fire: The Untold Story , he tells
author Michael Friscolanti that any inquiry into the incident could raise
questions about the control system the air force used on April 18, 2002,
when Pte. Richard Green, Pte. Nathan Smith, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer and Sgt.
Marc Léger died after Schmidt mistook them for Afghan insurgents and
dropped a bomb.


Maj. Harry Schmidt (AP file photo)
"They didn't want to fix the problem.
They wanted to fix the blame," Schmidt said, almost exactly the same
phrase he used in his first talk on TV about the incident, in June.

FROM JUNE 6, 2005: 'Friendly fire' pilot relives incident

However, Col. John Odom, who led the prosecution against Schmidt and his
wingman, has said the pilots broke the rules. Schmidt was told not to
drop the bomb, but did so.

Friscolanti reported that the U.S. air force did not know the Canadians
were in the area, even though Canadian officials informed the U.S.
headquarters.

In the book, Schmidt said the attack only became an issue because it
involved non-Americans.

"I think I'm a victim of the fact that it was an international accident,"
Schmidt told Friscolanti. If the bomb had killed Americans, the Pentagon
would have hushed it up.

But because it involved Canadians, the Pentagon had to recognize the
command system was flawed, or find someone to blame.

"You're going to put America's command-and-control structure on trial?"
Schmidt told Friscolanti. "It's not going to happen."

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