http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-34925237
The report catalogues a perfect storm of errors, at every level of the operation.
The most extraordinary admission was that military personnel failed to pick up on indicators the aircraft crew was shelling the wrong building, even though the target co-ordinates it transmitted to headquarters were clearly those of the MSF hospital.
Gen Campbell said he had ordered immediate changes to address the failures, but the long and detailed list of mistakes will prompt questions as to how often wrong targets have been struck before - without a group like MSF to raise the red flag - and whether something like this could happen again.
This is especially the case as the general noted that fatigue and the high tempo of operations in Kunduz contributed to the tragedy.
The fact that the crew thought it was hitting a Taliban command centre explains MSF's contention that the operation was conducted with a purpose to kill and destroy.
But predictably the report does nothing to address its accusation of war crimes: a military spokesman refused to talk about laws of war, saying only that the operation had violated US rules of engagement.
So basically everything that MSF has said to date is true.
So the official line is
“Oopsey our bad, move along.”
Absolutely fucking stunning, I suppose it is better that, than admitting anything else.
They needed extra time to write this conclusion out? Seriously? Five minutes, a crayon and the back of a cigarette pack later.
Not only does it prompt questions as to past mistakes, it proposes questions about competence and lack of leadership of the whole mission in Afghanistan, one long fuck up from start to finish.
We really should learn how to stop resorting to militaristic solutions at every turn. Invading, occupying and bombing our way into history with extraordinary negative results.
How many billions do we spend every year to supply the military with the latest and greatest command and control systems, it’s obviously a total waste of money because we hire monkeys to run it, if you believe the report.
I suppose it is better to admit that we are totally incompetent, rather than take the consequences for actual competency.
The lives ruined and wasted over the last fifteen years, the money pissed away and we are in a global position far more dangerous than it was at the damn start of this vicious farce.
Next time someone proposes military solutions kick them out of office, don’t vote for them and tell them to go to hell and take their lunacy with them. If we could get Bin Laden without invading a country, did we really have to invade one to miss him?