2 U.S. troops killed by 'friendly fire' in Afghanistan - Polidicks

[quote=LATimes] A Marine and a medic are killed in a drone airstrike last week in Helmand province called by a group of Marines who thought they were insurgents. An investigation is underway. Reporting from Washington— In what appeared to be the first case of U.S. troops being hit by "friendly fire" from a drone aircraft, two American servicemen were killed by a Hellfire missile after apparently being mistaken for insurgents moving to attack another group of Marines in southern Afghanistan. A Predator drone fired the missile that killed a Marine and a Navy medic in Helmand province last week, according to two Pentagon officials. Drones have been involved in airstrikes that accidentally killed Afghan and Pakistani civilians since the U.S. began using them in the region a decade ago, becoming a flashpoint for anti-American sentiment. But until now, no U.S. service members have been reported killed by an unmanned Air Force aircraft in error. Dozens of Predators and more heavily armed Reaper drones fly every day over Afghanistan, operated remotely by pilots at air bases in the United States. Cameras aboard the drones also provide live video feeds to ground combat units, which have come to rely on the drones surveillance as well as for air cover. "With increased [drone] usage, there are going to be more incidents like this," said Louis Tucker, the former staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a Navy Seal in the reserves. "People have an expectation that because it's automated, there won't be mistakes, and that's never the case in war." The missile strike occurred about 9:30 a.m. last Wednesday near the crossroads town of Sangin. The former insurgent stronghold has seen a resurgence of clashes in recent weeks between Marines and Taliban fighters, the officials said. Marine Staff Sgt. Jeremy D. Smith of Arlington, Texas, and Seaman Benjamin D. Rast of Niles, Mich., were hit as they moved on foot in a group trying to reach other Marines who had been pinned down by insurgent gunfire. One Pentagon official said the Marines called in the airstrike when they saw images on the video feed of unknown men heading toward them. It wasn't immediately clear why the rescue team headed their way was not clearly identified. The video feeds sometimes provide blurry or unclear images of conditions on the ground, making it hard for screeners responsible for searching the video for possible targets to always understand what they are seeing. In a statement, the US.-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul confirmed that two service members had been killed in a coalition strike but did not disclose the role played by the Predator. "An ISAF Joint Command incident assessment team is looking into the incident," the statement said. "A formal investigation will determine the circumstances that led to the incident." Smith and Rast were with the 1st Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment, a reservist unit based in Houston that deployed to Afghanistan last month on a seven-month rotation. Rast's father, Robert, told a television station in South Bend, Ind. , that the Pentagon had informed him that his son had been killed by a Hellfire missile. Rast, 23, joined the Navy about a year ago and was stationed in San Diego at the Naval Medical Center before being assigned as a medic to the Marine regiment prior to its deployment to Afghanistan last month. Robert Rast told the Houston Chronicle that he had talked to his son about going to Afghanistan around Christmas. "I said, 'Son, I won't lie to you. I'm worried about you and your deployment. What if something happens to you? What will I say to everybody.' He said, 'Dad, just tell them I wanted to be on the front lines covering the guy on my right and covering the guy on my left…You won't have to say any more.'" Smith, 26, joined the Marines in 2003 and had served three tours in Iraq. He joined the reserves after leaving active duty and was called up to Afghanistan. In a statement to the Chronicle, Smith's family said, "The Bible says that we are to run the race that is set before us. Jeremy did that even though it was a difficult race… As a leader with experience, he felt that he needed to go back, to ensure that his guys made it home safely. That is why he did four tours." Senior U.S. Air Force officers say that mistakes involving drones are rare because special cameras and sensors enable drones to observe potential targets far longer and with more precision than conventional aircraft and other surveillance platforms. But with an increasing number of drones flying in Afghanistan, the possibility of mistaken airstrikes also has increased. In one instance last February in Oruzgan Province, at least 15 men were killed and 12 people were wounded, including a woman and three children, after a Predator drone crew mistook them for insurgents. In that case, the missile strikes were carried out by attack helicopters [/quote] Source: [url]http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-drone-20110412,0,4200158.story[/url]

The sooner we are out of afghanistan, the better. It's always sad to see articles like this though. Also "blurry" cameras? Come on, we're talking about dropping bombs on people here, at least get a proper video feed going.

Payback is a bitch. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Trolling" - Starpluck))[/highlight]

just 2 more out of afghanistan [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Trolling" - Starpluck))[/highlight]

With the amount of drone attacks we've been doing, and as morbid as this may sound, I'm surprised it's taken this long for a drone-based friendly fire incident to occur.

Aren't the damn drones designed for actually TAKING A GOOD LOOK AT THE ENEMIES? Like, they should have high resolution cameras FOR EXACTLY THIS REASON.

Corpsman, not medic. EDIT: Fuck off nodachi. The guy is dead, he at least deserves to be referred to by his proper title.

[QUOTE=Retarded Turtle;29127477]Payback is a bitch.[/QUOTE] As much as I hate everything going on in Afghanistan right now, that was a total dick thing to say.

[QUOTE=Retarded Turtle;29127477]Payback is a bitch.[/QUOTE] Are you that fucking dense in the head? I mean, you must be some deluded asshole to think as such. Really? Payback? How is payback remotely on topic? It's a freaking blue on blue situation, and you're really being a smartass? Get bent. Sorry @ Mods, I usually don't attack people, but you really have to excuse this situation. [QUOTE=MrParalegal;29127505]just 2 more out of afghanistan[/QUOTE] Same goes for you, with what I said. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Don't feed the trolls" - Starpluck))[/highlight] [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Don't feed the trolls [fixed]" - Starpluck))[/highlight]

Report and move on...

[QUOTE=GunFox;29127511]Fuck off nodachi. The guy is dead, he at least deserves to be referred to by his proper title.[/QUOTE] where did he post in this thread? or is he using an alt

[QUOTE=JDK721;29128102]where did he post in this thread? or is he using an alt[/QUOTE] Dumb rating

[QUOTE=Imperfect;29127543]Are you that fucking dense in the head? I mean, you must be some deluded asshole to think as such. Really? Payback? How is payback remotely on topic? It's a freaking blue on blue situation, and you're really being a smartass? Get bent. Sorry @ Mods, I usually don't attack people, but you really have to excuse this situation. Same goes for you, with what I said. [/QUOTE] I think those 2 are going all "Payback's a bitch" etc. since US troops have had cases where they killed friendly Australian troops, British troops etc.

"If it can happen, it will happen eventually" As said before, I'm also surprised drones lasted this long without any mistakes.

[QUOTE=ionuttzu;29128268]I think those 2 are going all "Payback's a bitch" etc. since US troops have had cases where they killed friendly Australian troops, British troops etc.[/QUOTE] Still unnecessary

stuff like this happens when you put lethal weapons in the hands of inexperienced servicemen

I am somewhat surprised that this hasn't happened before. Also [quote="The article"] "People have an expectation that because it's automated, there won't be mistakes, and that's never the case in war." [/quote] Isn't this wrong? I thought they (the ones with weapons) were not automated beyond simple auto pilot because of the inherent risk of letting computers fire weapons. As for the blurry image thing mentioned in the article, surely in situations like that they should just abort any sort of attack?

[QUOTE=Jsm;29130735]I am somewhat surprised that this hasn't happened before. Also Isn't this wrong? I thought they (the ones with weapons) were not automated beyond simple auto pilot because of the inherent risk of letting computers fire weapons. As for the blurry image thing mentioned in the article, surely in situations like that they should just abort any sort of attack?[/QUOTE]Yep, it's wrong. The flight path is set by humans, as are the targets. The computer follows each and fires only when ordered to.

Ain't that too bad.

[QUOTE=Jsm;29130735]Isn't this wrong? I thought they (the ones with weapons) were not automated beyond simple auto pilot because of the inherent risk of letting computers fire weapons.[/QUOTE] People have ingrained this mindset that modern weapons and high-tech wizardry will produce a wholly "clean" and "casualty-less" war. It's built off of the results of Desert Storm, Yugoslavia and the initial invasion in Iraq.

That's why drone attacks only should take place in Pakistan, where we don't put our own guys in danger.

Damn, what a shame.

[QUOTE=ionuttzu;29128268]I think those 2 are going all "Payback's a bitch" etc. since US troops have had cases where they killed friendly Australian troops, British troops etc.[/QUOTE] either that or they are saying it because of Us troops killing innocent people. [QUOTE=TehMentos;29132606]That's why drone attacks only should take place in Pakistan, where we don't put our own guys in danger.[/QUOTE] what are you talking about

To be honest, I thought that this was about my second cousin who was recently killed due to "Friendly fire" from an afghan soldier in the past month or 2. :smith:

I feel for the families.

[QUOTE=GunFox;29127511]Corpsman, not medic. EDIT: Fuck off nodachi. The guy is dead, he at least deserves to be referred to by his proper title.[/QUOTE] Is it bad that I know that?

Come on that sucks =/ They go serving their country, they suffer the consequences of that place and meanwhile on the Drone Control Sector in some place warm and cozy in the US someone hits their heads. Seriously WTF...

[QUOTE=Canuhearme?;29127507]With the amount of drone attacks we've been doing, and as morbid as this may sound, I'm surprised it's taken this long for a drone-based friendly fire incident to occur.[/QUOTE] What about the dozens of ANA and Afghan police that have been killed from drone strikes?

So about the people who were saying "Good, it's about time" etc. Well, what about the amount of time that the American's have shot and killed our BAF (British Armed Forces)?

[QUOTE=Shizune;29133289]To be honest, I thought that this was about my second cousin who was recently killed due to "Friendly fire" from an afghan soldier in the past month or 2. :smith:[/QUOTE] Damn i think i read about that, didn't the rogue soldier kill like 6 soldiers? sorry for your loss. [editline]12th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Mr.Campin;29135456]So about the people who were saying "Good, it's about time" etc. Well, what about the amount of time that the American's have shot and killed our BAF (British Armed Forces)?[/QUOTE] But think how many more lives have been saved by the americans. I'm british and can gladly admit that americans have saved our asses countless times over there. (Judging by friends experiences). Obviously something bad is going to happen but you just have to move on...