Brain Dead American on SPEED drops bombs on canadians. *AQUITTED*
 

This kid rich lived down the street from me years ago.. Now some dumbass who cant follow orders drops a fucking bomb on him...

A) he should never have been there
B) that american should be charged


-- On a sidenote... This man will be flying over your house soon.:321GFY



U.S. air force dismisses charges against pilot accused in bombing of Canadians

2 hours, 2 minutes ago


NEW ORLEANS (CP) - The U.S. air force announced Thursday that it will dismiss all criminal charges against an American fighter pilot who dropped a bomb that killed four Canadians in Afghanistan (news - web sites) in 2002.


AFP/Getty Images/HO Photo



Maj. Harry Schmidt has accepted an offer to face administrative punishment in exchange for dismissal of four counts of dereliction of duty, the air force said.


Schmidt originally was charged with manslaughter and aggravated assault. Military officials recommended the charges be dismissed and that Schmidt face possible administrative punishment instead.


Schmidt turned down the offer, saying he wanted to clear his name in a court martial. He was ordered to be tried on the lesser charge of dereliction of duty.


The air force said the criminal charges would be dismissed after the conclusion of administrative punishment proceedings, which will begin immediately.


Schmidt's lawyer, Charles Gittins, said his client chose the non-judicial forum to speed up the process.


"It's an opportunity to get the case resolved sooner rather than later," Gittins told The Canadian Press in an interview from Middletown, Va.


"The earliest the (court martial) would start was October. It probably would have been delayed again . . . It would probably be another year before the case was resolved."


Gittins stressed that Schmidt's choice does not represent a guilty plea.


"He's always accepted the fact that he caused deaths and injuries . . . The question was simply, 'Was it wrongful, given the circumstances?' He does not accept that it was wrongful. It was clearly an accident."


Agatha Dyer, mother of Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, 25, who was killed in the bombing, said news of the development made her "very sad."


"He should get some penalty because he was at fault. He didn't obey orders. My heart is broken," Dyer said from her home in Montreal.


"I believe so much in the Lord. I know one day he (Schmidt) is going to pay. I know this man cannot sleep at night. He knows what he did was wrong. I am praying for God to give me strength."


Also killed in the bombing near Kandahar were Sgt. Marc Leger, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith. They were the first Canadians to die in combat since the Korean War. Eight other Canadians were wounded.


Gittins confirmed the administrative hearing will be conducted by a general at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., starting July 1. It's expected to last about a day.


"This is just a change in forum, not a change in strategy," Gittins said. "We're going to still present essentially the same evidence we would have presented at trial."


He said it was unclear whether Schmidt would testify. His client is not required to enter a plea.





Schmidt, 37, could receive a letter of reprimand, loss of one month's pay and house arrest.

Schmidt was charged for dropping a laser-guided, 225-kilogram bomb from his fighter jet on April 18, 2002, near Kandahar, killing four and wounding eight Canadian soldiers who were conducting live-fire exercises. Schmidt later said he released the bomb because he mistook the Canadians' gunfire for an attack from Taliban soldiers.

A military investigation found that Schmidt should have flown out of the area.

Schmidt has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying the air force gave him no warning that allies would be performing exercises that night.

The case against the two U.S. pilots has been closely watched in Canada, where many were outraged by the bombing and the two days it took President George W. Bush (news - web sites) to publicly apologize.

Relatives of the dead Canadian soldiers were disappointed last June when Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson, commander of the 8th Air Force, first offered to dismiss the manslaughter charges and impose administrative punishment.

In an administrative hearing, Carlson would have considered allegations that Schmidt failed to ensure that the troops he attacked were not allies and did not obey when air controllers told him to "stand by" before he dropped the bomb.

Carlson also recommended that a flying evaluation board determine whether Schmidt should be allowed to fly for the air force again.

Schmidt had transferred to the National Guard in 2000 after a decorated career as a navy pilot and an instructor at the Navy's "Top Gun" fighter pilot school.

Will there be riots in Canada?

Not likely. :1orglaugh

I'm not really mad, just dissappointed.

On speed???????


where

that's what they give soldiers to keep them "UP"

Thats not the soliders fault,, it's the fault of the military.

I agree, they're the ones who should change there methods. Drugs cloud judgment and the guy ended up making a mistake.

Exactly.

You do what your told in the military.

i think he should be kicked out of the military, but criminal charges are going too far imo.

he didn't obey orders but he didn't intend to kill allies.

Disobeying orders causing death should be grounds for a beheading.

its called Friendly Fire,it happens in war,get over it...although he should never be allowed to fly again..

:thumbsup manslaughter.. negligence causing death..

to me negligence in this case is debateable. its war, friendly fire occurs. the procedures need to be reviewed, but throwing the guy in jail is not right.

Shouldn't you be banned or something?

If someone says "dont shoot" and he shoots, its not really a debate on negligence. Unless he could prove he thought his life or others were in danger... but even then his orders were to "stand down"

Friendly fire is expected in war, yes. But death from friendly fire via the disobeying of direct orders is a different matter. As far as I'm concerned if a soldier disobeys an order and causes death of civilians or friendlies they should be punished severely.


Very severely.


It's far from something to be saying something retarded like "get over it" over.

This issue hits pretty close to home.

This is fucked up to say the least, but not a surprise.

No doubt. Cpl. Dyer was from my area.

This case fucking disgusts me. I was physically ill when I first heard about the accident.

This is beyond a simply case of negligence or friendly fire.

Disgusting is really the only word that accurately describes the handling of all this.