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Baril Relied Too Much on U.S. Bombing Pilot's Lawyer Says

Findings on Afghan friendly fire incident called `incompetent'

Friday, July 26, 2002
(1:00 AM ET)
By Dale Anne Freed
Star Staff Reporter

"The general and other investigators had unlimited time to second-guess the decision made by experienced pilots who believed themselves under hostile fire, in the heat of combat, without the luxury of calm and detached reflection and multiple replays of data."

Retired general Maurice Baril and his Canadian investigators were "fed" information from the U.S.-led team probing the friendly-fire attack on Canadian troops in Kandahar and "bought it hook, line and sinker without critical evaluation," says the lawyer for the U.S. pilot who dropped the bomb.

Both inquiries -- which lawyer Charles Gittins calls a mix of "misinformation and incompetent conclusions" -- put the blame squarely on two Illinois Air National Guard pilots: Maj. Harry Schmidt, 37, who dropped the bomb on April 18, and squadron commander Maj. Bill Umbach, 43.

The bomb killed four Canadian soldiers and wounded eight other members of the 3rd battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. Killed were Sgt. Marc Léger, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith.

A transcript of radio communications that night, which was leaked to the Washington Times last week, suggests neither Schmidt, Umbach nor the air traffic controllers flying above them in an airborne warning and control systems (AWACS) aircraft knew the Canadians below were on a live-fire training exercise.

Why the U.S. air controllers didn't seem to know about friendly forces in the area "is the $63,000 question," said Gittins, a civilian defence lawyer who holds the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps reserves.
(More: The Toronto Star News Source)
2002 © Toronto Star Newspapers, Limited.

Dan