Friendly fire report to be completed by June
Last Updated Fri, 19 Apr 2002 22:45:56
OTTAWA - A report on the friendly fire tragedy in Afghanistan is scheduled to be delivered to the prime minister by the end of June. And an interim report is to be completed within three weeks, Defence Minister Art Eggleton said Friday.
Meanwhile, U.S. President George Bush expressed his belated dismay at the accident to reporters Friday, almost two days after the deaths were reported to government officials.
"I wish I could bring them back," he said.
His delay has aroused anger in Canada, and contributed to the sense of anger about the deaths.
The Canadian government's board of inquiry is setting out to establish the facts of the deaths. The five-member board will make recommendations on the following areas:
the conduct of live fire exercises
co-ordination between ground and air forces during such military drills
safety procedures used during the training
communications between armed forces of different countries.
Art Eggleton
"We owe it to the Canadian people who have expressed tremendous sympathy and support for all those involved. And we owe it to the loved ones of the brave men who died and were injured. And we owe it to the members of the Canadian Forces to reduce the risk of this ever happening again," Eggleton said.
The United States has given no assurances that Canada's inquiry board will be able to question U.S. airmen and the ground controllers who directed the flight.
Four Canadians died Wednesday night when a U.S. jet dropped a bomb on them while they were on a training exercise in Afghanistan.
If inquiry will try an establish how the bomb came to be dropped on soldiers who were on a live fire exercise in an area supposedly set aside for training.
Experts have suggested the Canadians may have failed to let the U.S. authorities know they were in the area, but they think it is much more likely that the ground controller failed to communicate clearly with the pilot.
Early reports suggested the pilot acted on his own initiative, without explicit approval, although he may have had the right to drop the bomb, if he believed he was under attack.
Reports suggested that was the case.
Canadian on U.S. board
Although the Canadian inquiry may not be able to examine U.S. servicement directly, the United States has promised to allow a member of the Canadian board to participate fully in the activities of an American inquiry board. That member will then report back to the Canadian board.
Conservative leader Joe Clark said that was not good enough, but Eggleton seemed satisfied with the plan. "We're there to find out what happened. We're not there to point fingers or chase ghosts anywhere," he said.
He could not say what he would do if the arrangement did not provide him with all the necessary information.
The head of Canada's inquiry board will be General Maurice Baril, the former chief of defence staff.
Gen. Maurice Baril
"I've spent most of my life working with soldiers, and I can tell you it will not be easy to investigate such a tragic event," he said. "However, I believe that my knowledge and experience in the Canadian Forces will benefit the board."
Baril said one of his goals is to ensure that family members are kept informed on his findings. But some military details will not be released, since the campaign against terror is far from over.
The Department of National Defence has begun its own inquiry.
The four dead, members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, a big part of the Canadian contingent co-operating with U.S. forces to fight terrorism in Afghanistan, are Sgt. Marc Leger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith.
Eight others were wounded and are recovering in a U.S. military hospital in Germany.
Written by CBC News Online staff
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Bush, top U.S. general react differently to Canadians' deaths
Last Updated Fri, 19 Apr 2002 18:22:13
WASHINGTON - U.S. President George W. Bush and the top U.S. general were a study in contrasts Thursday in reacting to the deaths of four Canadian soldiers accidentally killed by a U.S. pilot.
Gen. Richard Myers
Bush did not mention the deaths during a series of events in Washington until a reporter shouted a question as the president was leaving the fourth meeting of the day. "I talked to the prime minister last night and expressed my condolences," Bush said.
He called Jean Chrétien late Wednesday when news of the deaths reached Ottawa and Washington. The accident happened in Afghanistan when Canadian soldiers were on a night training exercise.
At a media briefing Thursday, a clearly distressed chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff, General Richard Myers, said the accident "is right up there with the worst news I've heard in my career."
Later Thursday, the White House put out a statement expressing regret at the deaths and admiration for Canadian soldiers and Canada's contribution to the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan.
Both the U.S. and Canadian military have begun investigations into the circumstances of the deaths. But losses to "friendly fire" are very common in war, historians and soldiers say.
Fog of war
While some Canadian soldiers expressed anger at the U.S. military, others were sad but recognized the fog of war often leads to horrible accidents.
For example, 160 Canadian and Polish soldiers attacking German lines were killed by U.S. planes in 1944. In 1994, two U.S. fighters in Iraq accidentally shot down two U.S. helicopters, costing 26 lives.
On Wednesday in Afghanistan, members of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry were on a night exercise using real ammunition. Two U.S. F-16 fighters on patrol in the same area saw the gun flashes and one of the pilots believed he was being shot at.
They were apparently not aware they were flying over an area restricted for training.
One pilot sought and received permission to mark the area as a potential target. He was not given permission to bomb it, but pilots can act in self-defence.
On a second pass over the area, he invoked his right of self-defence, and dropped at least one 250-kilogram laser-guided bomb.
Canadian Chief of Staff General Ray Henault, a pilot who has flown jet fighters, said the U.S. pilots were in a war zone and had to make a quick decision. "All of it is done in seconds," he said.
The U.S. pilot was from the 183rd Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard, based in Springfield, Ill. Gen. Myers said National Guard pilots are trained to the same standard as active Air Force pilots.
The U.S. investigation is expected to be complete in 30 to 60 days.
Written by CBC News Online staff
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Letters convey grief, anger over 'friendly fire' deaths
Last Updated Fri Apr 19 22:33:18 2002
TORONTO - Expressions of grief and outrage continued to pour into CBC News Online Friday on the "friendly fire" deaths of four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
'The level of incompetence in the mighty U.S. armed forces is inexcusable'
Some of the hundreds of e-mails from around the world urge Canadians not to overreact to the accident by blaming the United States and all Americans, but many criticized U.S. President George Bush for his brusque reaction to the incident.
Sgt. Marc Leger
"I was outraged and upset about the tragedy that took place in Afghanistan," said Angela Smith of Shelbourne, Nova Scotia. "How could this happen? We are in an alliance with the U.S.A., not the enemy...."
Politicians express condolences and ask questions
Others tried to set the accident in context, such as a letter from Jim Dunk of Campbellford, Ont., who wrote: "We should not be entirely surprised by the tragic deaths of Canadians in Afghanistan. There are always risks associated with actions of the kind our troops are exposed to in that country." Having said this, Dunk adds: "However, those risks are compounded by the cowboy mentality of the Americans, which is to shoot first and ask questions later...."
"This was a training exercise frighteningly close to the Kandahar base," wrote Britton Cole of Kingston, Ont. "The level of incompetence in the mighty U.S. armed forces is inexcusable."
Cpl. Ainswoth Dyer
Mark Ojah, a Canadian from Winnipeg, wrote from Texas: "I am appalled at President Bush's casual dismissal of the "friendly fire" incident in Afghanistan that took the lives of four Canadian soldiers and left eight others injured. Indeed, it appears that the President would not even have publicly acknowledged the tragedy had it not been for the prodding of a Canadian journalist who caught Bush on camera as he attempted to scurry away."
"My wife could not have breakfast and cried when she heard the news yesterday," said an e-mail from Kamal and Suzanne Gib of Gatineau, Quebec. "She was touched by the statements of the wives of the soldiers on TV. We are a country of peace and peacekeeping, and that is what makes us Canadians...."
Pte. Richard Green
"It saddens me today to realize not only have our countrymen died in a tragic accident, but we blame our American allies," wrote Justin Di Ciano of Woodbridge, Ont. "I never thought our society was so ignorant. Let's get the proper facts before we speak. First of all, 200 Canadians died in World War II due to 'friendly fire'...."
"I really resent this incident being portrayed as an 'accident' or the result of 'friendly fire'," wrote V.R. Slogrove of Vancouver Island, B.C. "It was caused by the appalling conduct of some trigger-happy cowboy who was allowed to have dangerous weapons at his/her command by a bevy of incompetent officers commanded by a President who obviously doesn't give a damn about anything Canadian."
Pte. Nathan Smith
Patrick Gannon of Toronto scolds CBC News Online in a letter that said: "Canadians will surely want to hear the details of how and why they were killed or injured and about the reaction of the governments and militaries of Canada and the United States to these details as they become available. This is the kind of story Canadians deserve to hear about. Canadians do not deserve to have 'the emotional response from Canadians' portrayed to the world as the insular and mean-spirited comments of a very select few."
We encourage you to send more e-mails to
[email protected]. You can also post messages on the Canadian Armed Forces Web site.
Written by CBC News Online staff
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