*IF THIS IS A REPEAT TOPIC, SORRY, JUST DELETE THE THREAD HEH*

I'm not sure if you guys followed this bit of news, but the pilots involved in the accidental bombing, killing 4 canadian soldiers, will not be court marshalled. My question is..why? I hate to be a nit-picker and start bashing the US(cuz I have nothing against the US heh), but Ive noticed a reoccuring theme with the US military getting away with "accidents".

Ill provide you with some examples that have taken place in the past...

quote:

quote: Those Afghans who have received compensation got a relative pittance. In the most recent instance, an errant bomb strike on a wedding in Afghanistan's Uruzgan province on July 1 killed 48 civilians and left 118 others wounded. A week after the attack, victims were promised a total of about $18,500 — $200 for each individual killed, and $75 for each wounded person. quote: Nearly six months earlier, on Jan. 24, U.S. commandoes raided the village of Hazar Qadam, also in Uruzgan province, killing at least 16 people in a raid on what was believed to be an al Qaeda or Taliban hideout. The Pentagon later acknowledged it had made a mistake, and that it had likely killed pro-American Afghan fighters. Each of the families of the victims received at least $1,000. quote: When American fighter jets mistakenly bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, during the 1999 Kosovo conflict, killing three people and wounding 27 others, the United States agreed to pay $4.5 million in damages to the families of the victims. This amounts to $150,000 per victim. quote: After a U.S. Marine jet clipped a ski-lift cable near the city of Cavalese in the Italian Alps on Feb. 3, 1998, 20 people in a gondola plunged to their deaths. A little over a year later, the victims received a total of $40 million — about $2 million each. quote: And in 1988, the U.S. warship USS Vincennes mistakenly shot down an Iranian A300 airbus carrying 290 people in the Persian Gulf. In 1996, Washington volunteered compensation of $300,000 for each wage-earning victim, and $150,000 for each non-wage-earners, in a settlement that totaled $131.8 million.

SOURCE


These pilots are reputed to be the best in the air force..yet something like this happens? Considering that the US has probably the premier military system on this planet, reoccuring accidents like this shouldnt be happening.
There are a lot more examples, in the Toronto star, but I couldnt find it on their website. I know, other countries have their share, but my question is, why werent these pilots punished "properly" ? Not asking for a death penalty, but at least get court marshalled. You can't just pay off deaths

Any thoughts on this??

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I remember during the American airstrike campaign in the former Yugoslavia, some bombs were "accidentally" dropped on the Chinese embassy in belgrade. As far as I remember, some people were killed, but I don't remember what happened to the pilot.

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It has to start somewhere,
It has to start sometime,
What better place then here?
What better time than now?
--Rage Against the Machine

Notice the decline in the amount of money spent on reparations. It started at 130 million $ and it ended at 18000$. I guess when next such accident happens the victims' families will get a bubble gum and a piece of chocolate as a reparation.

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1+1=10

quote:

Originally posted by DrUg_Tit0 Notice the decline in the amount of money spent on reparations. It started at 130 million $ and it ended at 18000$. I guess when next such accident happens the victims' families will get a bubble gum and a piece of chocolate as a reparation.

Sad but true. The gov't can't let things like this actually get out, therefore the families could NEVER recieve full reperations.

___________________

It has to start somewhere,
It has to start sometime,
What better place then here?
What better time than now?
--Rage Against the Machine

Plus all the wars and other international operations by the U.S. takes away money that can be used for reparations