Kunduz Report

The investigation, known officially as a combined civilian casualty assessment, was led by U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Richard Kim and was comprised of representatives of NATO and the Afghan government.

[...]

The crew of a U.S. warplane that attacked a medical charity's hospital in northern Afghanistan last month, killing and wounding dozens of civilians, misidentified the target, believing it to be a government compound taken over by the Taliban, according to an investigation report obtained Wednesday.

  Daily Camera

Bullshit.

Doctors Without Borders has already reported that they made sure all parties involved in war knew precisely where the hospital was, as you do if you are in charge of a hospital in a war zone. In fact, they desperately reported their location again to the US and Afghan authorities EIGHTEEN times during the attack.

The report said the crew of the U.S. AC-130 gunship relied on a physical description of the compound provided by Afghan forces, which led the crew to attack the wrong target. It said the intended target, thought to be under Taliban control and being used in part as a prison, was 450 yards away from the hospital.

Again, precise coordinates were provided. They knew it was a hospital.  Their Afghan counterparts knew it was a hospital.  If there was a prison nearby, it would have been even more pertinent to know precisely which was which.  US forces may have been directed to bomb the hospital by the Afghans - who knows? - but they knew what they were bombing. In fact, one of the early reasons given by the US military for bombing it was that there were Taliban inside. That, of course, was still not only immoral, but illegal, so they had to drop that line.

The report said investigators found no evidence that the Americans involved knew they were attacking a hospital. It said they found no evidence that key commanders, including the Afghans and the AC-130 gunship crew, had access to a "no strike" list of targets that were off-limits to attack. Under U.S. rules of engagement, no hospital or similar facility is a valid target.

This particular operation was the only one ever carried out  in Afghanistan (or any war theater) in the absence of off-limits targets. How odd.

It is unclear whether the U.S. Special Forces commander on the ground, who authorized the air assault, had the map grid coordinates for the Doctors Without Borders hospital available to him at the time he authorized the attack, the report said.

Did they not just say they had no evidence of such a thing? What exactly is unclear in regard to this commander?

The medical charity had provided GPS coordinates for its medical facilities in Kunduz to U.S. military authorities in Kabul and to Afghan government officials on Sept. 29.

Well, did they or did they not have "access" to a no strike list?

"This mission critical information was not received by the AC-130 aircrew" or the Afghan commanders, the report said.

What did the "US military authorities" who were provided with it do with that "mission critical information"? Eat it?

Investigators found no evidence that the crew or the U.S. Special Forces commander on the ground who authorized the strike knew the targeted compound was a hospital at the time of the attack.

Yeah, they would find that, wouldn't they.

The plane fired 211 shells at the compound over a 25-minute period before commanders realized the mistake and ordered a halt, it says.

Twenty-five minutes before they called a halt. It was a mistake alright, just not in the sense they're claiming.

"The misidentification of the MSF compound and its subsequent engagement resulted from a series of human errors, compounded by failures of process and procedure, and malfunctions of technical equipment which restricted the situational awareness" of the U.S. forces involved, the report concluded.

How rich. That must be the standard conclusion in the US military investigation guide book, leaving a blank for the target du jour to be filled in PRN.

President Barack Obama has apologized for the attack, one of the worst incidents of civilian casualties in the 14-year history of the U.S war effort.

And that wasn't enough? Christ, what do these people want?

A subsequent U.S. military investigation was done to look further at the case and to determine accountability. Gen. John Campbell, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, was scheduled to make a public statement Wednesday about the further investigation.

Gee, I wonder what General Campbell will have to add to this clearly thorough report.

UPDATE: