U.S. bomb kills 3 British soldiers in Afghanistan

[Originalboxcar]

Hope all is well Randy

Three British soldiers were killed by a bomb dropped by U.S. aircraft supporting them in a battle against Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan, the British military said on Friday.

The incident on Thursday takes the number of British deaths in Afghanistan since the Taliban was toppled in 2001 to 73.

Two other soldiers were wounded in the incident which took place after the troops were attacked during a patrol northwest of Kajaki where U.S. contractors are reconstructing a large dam meant to bring electricity to southern Afghanistan.

"The guys were out on a routine patrol last night northwest of Kajaki," said a British military spokesman in Helmand. "They came into quite an intensive fight and during that fight they called in close air support which was provided by two U.S. F-15 aircraft."

A single bomb was dropped by the aircraft.

"We called in fire onto what in this case were the Taliban ... either the position was inaccurate or there was a problem with the bomb," the spokesman said.

Afghan officials have criticized foreign forces for killing dozens of civilians in the last two year with inaccurate air strikes.

The British Ministry of Defense said a thorough investigation would be launched.

[sabredriver]

sad to see not good for ALL concerned lets hope randy is not the driver..

[Django]

I hope not too. But I would doubt he would be allowed to say either way.

[Chicoartist]

Our (very) fast-movers over there, like everyone with the ability to carry out "deadly force" in our allied collective name(s), are under enormous pressure to be PERFECT, and folks, that's just not possible, especially at night and hyper-multi-tasking like they are. Heck, guys on the ground aren't moving very fast, and look what happened to Pat Tillman!

Yes, our guys and gals are extremely well-trained and razor-sharp proficient, and while I'd love to be zooming around in an F-15E or whatever like they do, that "zooming around" with deadly weapons carries with it a level of responsibilty and pressure that isn't so well-known, and, I'll bet, it's a pressure that most (like myself) might be hesitant to accept if we could wave a magic wand and put ourselves in those cockpits wearing all that "cool gear".

This was a tragic mistake that may or may not have been preventable, but the experts will dissect it and lessons will be learned, and we'll achieve 100% across the board perfection just about the time God decides it's time for all of us to get in the back of the truck and head up to the "big house".

As he should, I'm sure Randy already knows more about this accident than we ever will, and yes, I'm also sure that he's not at liberty to say a single word about it.

Wade

[Broken-Wrench]

Drop bombs for years on target and get a atta boy, make one mistake and it wipes the board clean

[Boneyard]

A tragic incident, my thoughts are with the casualties and their families and friends. The casualties were from the Royal Anglian Regiment, the Infantry Regiment for the ten counties of East Anglia and the East Midlands. RAF Lakenheath is located in East Anglia.

[Bill Greenwood]

Years ago in Neb. I met a P-47 pilot who had strafed and bombed US army troops in Europe, resulting in a lot of casualties. There was some kind of marker on the ground, our guys were supposed to be on one side and the Germans on the other, but our guys had advanced and the update did not get passed on to the pilots. At this same show was one of the Army guys who had survived the attack. He did not hold a grudge, but the pilot still felt bad after all those years. As war becomes larger and less personal these kind of things can happen, but I am glad I am not the pilot.

[mennie]

Tragic for both sides.
Could just as well have been Dutch aircraft or soldiers.

Maybe it's time to start up building a batch of P-47's?
Would that be more accurate because of the lower speed, lower altitude, strafing with the gun or with rockets?
The Afghans can only fire back with AK-47's, the P-47 can handle that.

[muddyboots]

I've just got into a fight on another site where a friends (brititsh) was raging at the pilot. In reply I explained just how little the pilot really has control over picking a target like that, and with old iron bombs, where it lands. Civilians just don't understand the dangers, mostly due to modern media showing pics of a missile flying down a chimney and hitting Saddam in the tuchus.

Randy I hope it wasn't you for your sake. And I hope you're there for whoever it was for his sake. My sympathy and support goes out to all you guys.

[Randy Haskin]

In typical fashion, "the rest of the story" rarely makes headlines as much as the sensational beginning of the story:

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/ ... n_072808w/

Reports: F-15 crew cleared in British deaths

Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 9:37:04 EDT

An investigation into the friendly fire deaths of three British soldiers in Afghanistan cleared the aircrew of the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle involved in the attack, according to British news reports.

Instead, the Ministry of Defence investigation faulted the British soldier who directed the F-15E onto its target, several British newspapers are claiming.

The mistaken attack took place at dusk Aug. 23, 2007, during a battle with Taliban militants in Helmand province. An F-15E was called in and released a 500-pound bomb. Instead of striking a Taliban position about 1,000 yards from the British troops, the bomb hit a compound held by British soldiers, killing three soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment.

[ZRX61]

Royal Anglian Regiment

The decendant of the outfit my maternal grandfather was with at Cambrai...

[Manonthefence]

In war, do you kiss your mother with that mouth? ups happen. Glad to see that the investigation has found out what actually happened, hopefully lessons can be learned.

I agree with Randy about it not making the news, that is the nature of Journalism nowadays and sadly it has little to do with the truth and lots to do with sensationalising things.

[muddyboots]

In typical fashion, "the rest of the story" rarely makes headlines as much as the sensational beginning of the story:

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/ ... n_072808w/

Reports: F-15 crew cleared in British deaths

Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 9:37:04 EDT

An investigation into the friendly fire deaths of three British soldiers in Afghanistan cleared the aircrew of the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle involved in the attack, according to British news reports.

Instead, the Ministry of Defence investigation faulted the British soldier who directed the F-15E onto its target, several British newspapers are claiming.

The mistaken attack took place at dusk Aug. 23, 2007, during a battle with Taliban militants in Helmand province. An F-15E was called in and released a 500-pound bomb. Instead of striking a Taliban position about 1,000 yards from the British troops, the bomb hit a compound held by British soldiers, killing three soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment.

A lie can travel the world before...

[Bill Greenwood]

The story, as first, reported was accurate, it was not a lie, or a distortion. It said the F-15 bomb hit the British troops; no conclusion as to why or what went wrong could have been given then and was not given in the first story. I certainly don't find any fault with the first story.

[n5151ts]

In typical fashion, "the rest of the story" rarely makes headlines as much as the sensational beginning of the story:

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/ ... n_072808w/

Reports: F-15 crew cleared in British deaths

Staff report
Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 9:37:04 EDT

An investigation into the friendly fire deaths of three British soldiers in Afghanistan cleared the aircrew of the U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle involved in the attack, according to British news reports.

Instead, the Ministry of Defence investigation faulted the British soldier who directed the F-15E onto its target, several British newspapers are claiming.

The mistaken attack took place at dusk Aug. 23, 2007, during a battle with Taliban militants in Helmand province. An F-15E was called in and released a 500-pound bomb. Instead of striking a Taliban position about 1,000 yards from the British troops, the bomb hit a compound held by British soldiers, killing three soldiers assigned to the 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment.

rule 1-In a war, people die.
rule-2-you can't change rule 1.

thanks for the rest of the story...I think journalists that cover war stories should have to serve in a combat role BEFORE they are allowed to report anything---eventually those reporters would work their way up in the news world and perhaps report the whole story EVERY time.