From: Gene McAloon 

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 15:17:16 -0500, "John Beamish"
 wrote:

>The correct conclusion is:  it is a gross injustice to all the pilots who
>did the same things and got away with it because it was concluded by the US
>military hierarchy that those people were simply expendible.

Yes, that too. But the point is that these things happen in war. They are easily
excused when they are Afghan tribal types, who may or may not be enemy, but
not so easily excused when they are troops of your northern neighbor. In
fact, had they been US troops, I doubt if much would have happened because
being killed by
friendly fire is what sometimes happens in battle zones and for the most part it
is accepted as regrettable and all that, but . . .

There is no question here of being dispensable or not. Rather it is simply
a question of who you are and the possible political consequences, both
domestic and foreign.

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5