The October 3, 2015 destruction of a Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, was the subject of a report released on November 25, 2015. General John Campbell, Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, read the report, which was the result of a U.S. investigation into the attack on the hospital by a U.S. AC130U gunship that killed 30 patients and medical staff.
General Campbell stated that “This was a tragic, but avoidable accident caused primarily by human error.” “Human error” is the ubiquitous term used by those unwilling to admit responsibility or accept blame. In this situation, “human error” was a substitution for “incompetence” or “gross negligence”.
According to the report, an electronic system aboard the AC130 aircraft malfunctioned, showing the crew that instead of the building that they were looking to destroy, the target was an open field. The crew took it upon themselves to arbitrarily open fire upon the largest building nearest to the open field-the MSF hospital. The U.S. will never allow an independent investigation of the events, as this may open the door to further repercussions and revelations than the present report reveals.
General Wilson Shoffner’s final words to end the Department of Defense press briefing were, “And finally, we would never, ever do anything to harm innocent civilians.” If General Shoffner believes these words to be true, then he needs to be briefed upon the U.S. military’s practice of targeting funerals and weddings and the fact that civilians attempting to flee the attack on the MSF hospital were mowed down by the crew of the AC130.
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