Thursday, July 08, 2004
TheStar.com - Editorial: U.S. justice fails Canadian troops: "Major Harry Schmidt, an elite American military pilot, 'flagrantly disregarded a direct order' to hold fire in Afghanistan. Then he dropped a 220 kg. bomb from his F-16 warplane that killed four Canadian soldiers and wounded eight.
He acted 'shamefully,' with 'arrogance.' He chose to wage his own private war in defiance of all orders. He never expressed heartfelt remorse.
And he lied to excuse his fatal actions.
That's how U.S. Air Force Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson summed up the case against Schmidt this week, as he officially reprimanded him for the 'friendly fire' bombing on April 17, 2002 when the pilot mistook the Canadians for Taliban fighters.
And having rendered this scorching verdict, what penalty did the U.S. military impose?
Schmidt loses $5,672 (U.S.) in pay. The reprimand will go on his military record. And he will not fly warplanes again.
This is justice, of sorts, but it falls well short of what this case deserved.
'Is that what the boy's life is worth? $5,000?' Dyer's mother Agatha asked, voicing the disgust of many Canadians.
By any reasonable standard, Schmidt should have faced a jail term. Initially, he and fellow pilot Maj. William Umbach faced tough charges of manslaughter and assault as well as dereliction of duty that could have sent them to prison for 64 years. However, the U.S. military found a 'strong' but insufficient case for conviction. So Carlson dropped those charges a year ago.
For the military bureaucracy, that was a relief. It avoided a court-martial process in which the pilots' defence lawyers would have tried to discredit flawed command-and-control sy"
He acted 'shamefully,' with 'arrogance.' He chose to wage his own private war in defiance of all orders. He never expressed heartfelt remorse.
And he lied to excuse his fatal actions.
That's how U.S. Air Force Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson summed up the case against Schmidt this week, as he officially reprimanded him for the 'friendly fire' bombing on April 17, 2002 when the pilot mistook the Canadians for Taliban fighters.
And having rendered this scorching verdict, what penalty did the U.S. military impose?
Schmidt loses $5,672 (U.S.) in pay. The reprimand will go on his military record. And he will not fly warplanes again.
This is justice, of sorts, but it falls well short of what this case deserved.
'Is that what the boy's life is worth? $5,000?' Dyer's mother Agatha asked, voicing the disgust of many Canadians.
By any reasonable standard, Schmidt should have faced a jail term. Initially, he and fellow pilot Maj. William Umbach faced tough charges of manslaughter and assault as well as dereliction of duty that could have sent them to prison for 64 years. However, the U.S. military found a 'strong' but insufficient case for conviction. So Carlson dropped those charges a year ago.
For the military bureaucracy, that was a relief. It avoided a court-martial process in which the pilots' defence lawyers would have tried to discredit flawed command-and-control sy"
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