Friday, September 13, 2002

The Value of A White Skin The Value of A White Skin   The U.S. Air force has criminally charged two pilots from the Illinois air National Guard for the bombing deaths of 4 Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan last spring.  The Air Force found that one of the pilots, Maj. Harry Schmidt, ignored controllers orders before dropping a bomb, and the commander, Maj. William Umbach, was charged with failing to follow rules of engagement.   The two pilots were flying thousands of feet above a group of Canadian soldiers on a night training exercise.  The Canadians entered a valley, and began firing live weapons at some burned out hulks of tanks.   The pilots descended to investigate, and claimed they were coming under hostile fire.  This was the first violation of procedure.  Pilots are supposed to move away from the area if they come under long range anti-aircraft fire.  After descending, one of the pilots, caught up in the excitement of the hunt, dropped his bomb without waiting for his controller.   The Air Force is to be commended for bringing charges, and it is terrible that the 4 Canadian soldiers died.  But it is very hard to accept this outcome for the 4 dead Canadians, while no charges were brought against the pilots who bombed an Afghan wedding celebration and killed 50 people.  These pilots also claimed they were under hostile fire.  They did not leave the area, but also descended to attack.   According to the London Times, the classified report on the incident found no evidence that the U.S. gunship had come under any type of attack from the ground.   With 4 dead Canadian soldiers, the U.S. conducted a full investigation, and brought criminal charges.  With 50 dead Afghani civilians, the U.S. denied the incident, covered up the evidence, and said victims, including the women and children, were to blame because combatants may have been in the area.   It is hard to deny our government has a double standard:  innocent American and Canadian deaths whether at the world trade center, or in Afghanistan, are of consequence.  Innocent Afghani deaths are not.  This is why many Arabs hate America.   When our leaders claim moral superiority, they lie.   Bumper sticker seen on Route 95 today:  REGIME CHANGE FOR THE U.S.     6:25:25 PM   comment []

© Copyright 2002 Toby Sackton. Last update: 12/26/2002; 9:30:19 PM.