June 20, 2003
SCHMIDT-UMBACH: A PRECIS
There's really nothing left on the Schmidt-Umbach reprimands that I haven't said before. It was a predictable outcome, one which I fear will not give the next cowboy pilot sufficient pause before he recklessly disregards the lives of allied soldiers below. But there was a hearing, and all the facts are out, and people can draw their own conclusions about what should be, at the least, a cautionary example. The one open question -- to what degree Canadian participation or lack thereof in American military adventures affected the final outcome -- will never be answered.
Here's some of Flit's earlier work on the subject:
Canadian media credulity watch, vol 56
Well, they're certainly getting a favourable trial by media
If you throw enough of it, something's bound to stick
Perhaps a telling moment
Two errors of note
A BM-21? He thought he was being fired on by a Katyusha?
Tarnak Farms revisited
Psycho Schmidt defence takes new turn
Schmidt's lawyers keep gnawing away at American sentiment
Give it up, George
What was going through Psycho's mind?
Couple interesting things in the American report, too
The full transcript: 'Stand by for the microscope.'
It's devastating
Mark Steyn goes to 23,000 feet
23,000 ft, part 4
23,000 feet over Kandahar
The psycho and the screwball
The Kandahar range bombing: the Washpost's view
'We know exactly what happened: the pilot is the only one who can answer why'
More known about Afghan accident
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