Talk:Possible strike errors

Not sure how useful this page is when Russian and coalition strike errors have their own sections ... --Caustic Logic (talk) 03:53, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

... but since it's here, this pattern comes up. The McClatchy article mentions one precedent in Bab, Aleppo back in January.
 * when U.S. aircraft struck a building in the town center, apparently unaware that it had been turned into a jail for civilians. At least two Syrian human rights watchdog groups confirmed the McClatchy report and obtained lists of those killed. The Central Command has never acknowledged the civilian deaths.

And before that was even more killed (69) in Ber Mahle, Aleppo. Covered [Air Strikes in Syria#The Blame for Ber Mahli here.] Many other example surely exist, most of them smaller but adding up.

One or all of these might be straight-up errors but my suspicion is Deash trickery. They take people they don't like anyway and are holding captive, stuff them in a place they make sure gets seen as a base of theirs, maybe already dead, and wait for the bombs to fall. Coalition refuses to acknowledge any of these (while exhibiting "fears") maybe on principle that it wasn't their screw-up, just their bombs. They admit mistakes, not times they were duped.

Besides keeping one bomb off your own guys, getting rid of local enemies with no blame, and getting the blame on your other enemies, one other motive might be to get this result, now reported by ABD Australia after the latest incident:
 * A Northern Territory-based Royal Australian Air Force pilot who took part in the first airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria says missions have been called off due to the risk of civilian casualties.

--Caustic Logic (talk) 03:53, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

One use could be to catalog errors outside Syria (I'm thinking Iraq - is it an issue in Ukraine) that kill "friendly forces" and assist ISIS, and especially the possibility they aren't in error. Somehow, US-coalition air campaign has actually expanded ISIS territory (or happened during the expansion, anyway) In the news today:
 * “ISIS Air Force”: US Airstrike Takes Out Battalion of Iraqi Troops Who Were Battling ISIS It's said to be yesterday, near Al-Naimiya in the Fallujah province - a US support strike hit the column of Iraqi troops, killing 20 and injuring 30 (some may still die). "The Americans carry out airstrikes with 100% precision… How could have they mistaken by kilometers?" Hakim al-Zamili, head of the Iraqi Parliament’s Security and Defense Committee, who called on the PM to launch a probe and take the guilty to court. He doesn't seem to think it was an accident.

Other incidents this year have been cataloged by Airwars.org here. A couple:
 * June 6th, 2015: Fallujah, Anbar province, Iraq. Summary: Fourteen Iraqi soldiers (or possibly Shia militia) were killed and injured in an alleged ‘friendly fire’ event at the Tark military camp south of Fallujah. Al Sumaria cited an unnamed ‘security source as saying that “international coalition aircraft today bombed a regional military headquarters of the Iraqi army in the district of Fallujah.” Dagbladet Information also cited camp militia commander Abu Ahmed as claiming that an American aircraft had carried out the attack: “I have heard and seen F-16s since 1991, so I can easily recognize them. And no, it was not an accident. Accidents happen at the front lines, not on a large base like this.” The alleged incident led to calls for “vengeance” against US forces in Iraq from at least one radical Shia leader. However according to the Yagen site the attack was the work of Grad rockets fired by Islamic State. Coalition officials have also insisted their aircraft did not carry out the attack. Friendly forces reported killed: 6-7 Reported injured: 8-14
 * March 23rd 2015: Tikrit, Iraq. Summary: In what has been characterised as a ‘friendly fire’ incident, Iranian authorities accused the United States of killing two of its advisers in a drone strike during the battle for Tikrit. US officials claimed that their airstrikes on the city only began two days later. (assassination)