US troops who sought strike thought Taliban had hospital

[webfact]

Troops who sought strike thought Taliban had hospital
By KEN DILANIAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army Green Berets who requested the Oct. 3 airstrike on the Doctors without Borders trauma center in Afghanistan were aware it was a functioning hospital but believed it was under Taliban control, The Associated Press has learned.

The new information adds to a body of evidence that the internationally run medical facility site was familiar to the U.S. military, raising questions about whether the decision to attack it violated international law.

A day before an American AC-130 gunship attacked the hospital, a senior officer in the Green Beret unit wrote in a report that U.S. forces had discussed the hospital with the country director of the medical charity group, presumably in Kabul, according to two people who have seen the document.

The attack left a mounting death toll, now up to 30 people.

Separately, in the days before the attack, "an official in Washington" asked Doctors without Borders "whether our hospital had a large group of Taliban fighters in it," spokesman Tim Shenk said in an email. "We replied that this was not the case. We also stated that we were very clear with both sides to the conflict about the need to respect medical structures."

Taken together, the revelations add to the growing possibility that U.S. forces destroyed what they knew was a functioning hospital, which would be a violation of the international rules of war. The Pentagon has said Americans would never have intentionally fired on a medical facility, and it's unclear why the Green Beret unit requested the strike — and how such an attack was approved by the chain of command — on coordinates widely known to have included a hospital.

Even if the U.S. believed the Taliban were operating from the hospital, the presence of wounded patients inside would have made an air attack on it problematic under standard American rules of engagement and the international law of war.

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Roger Cabiness declined to answer questions, saying in a statement that it would be "premature to draw any conclusions" before the three investigations into the attack are complete.

The U.S. has determined "that the reports of civilian casualties were credible, and we continue to work with the government of Afghanistan to fully identify the victims," said Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, a NATO spokesman, in a statement. U.S. and NATO investigations, he said, "continue to look at a series of potential human errors, failures of process and technical malfunctions that may have contributed to the mistaken strike on the hospital."

"MSF report that they have personnel in the trauma center," the Oct. 2 report by a senior Green Beret officer from 3rd Special Forces Group said, according to two people who have seen it. MSF is the abbreviation for the group's French name, Medicins sans Frontiers. The report adds that the trauma center was under the control of insurgents, said the sources, who would not be quoted by name because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

The coordinates of the hospital were sent to "all friendly forces," the report said, noting that among the U.S. objectives for the next day was to "clear the trauma center" of enemy forces.

Doctors without Borders officials say the hospital was not under Taliban control and that no gunmen were operating from within the compound — about six city blocks square with the one-story hospital situated some two blocks back behind a 12-foot wall — when the AC-130 gunship made five passes, firing for an hour.

Another hospital run by Afghanistan's health ministry, a short distance away, had been overrun by the Taliban when insurgents seized the city, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The new information raises the possibility that some elements of the U.S. intelligence and military apparatus had confused the two hospitals. But other evidence argues against such confusion.

The AP has reported that American special operations analysts were gathering intelligence on the Doctors without Borders hospital, including indications it was being used by a Pakistani operative to coordinate Taliban activity. The intelligence gathering occurred as the U.S. was supporting the Afghan effort to retake Kunduz, which included heavy fighting by Green Berets.

The Green Berets had asked for Air Force intelligence-gathering flights over the hospital, and both Green Berets and Air Force personnel were aware it was a protected medical facility, the records show, according to the two people who have seen the documents.

The analysts' dossier included maps with the hospital circled, along with indications that intelligence agencies were tracking the location of the Pakistani operative and activity reports based on overhead surveillance, according to a former intelligence official who is familiar with some of the documents. The intelligence suggested the hospital was being used as a Taliban command and control center and may have housed heavy weapons.

After the attack, some U.S. analysts assessed it was justified, the records show, and one report said 16 enemies had been killed, the two sources say. Those deaths were said to include the Pakistani, who the U.S. believed was working for his country's Inter-Service Intelligence directorate.

No evidence has surfaced publicly suggesting a Pakistani died in the attack, and Doctors without Borders says none of its staff was Pakistani.

Gen. John Campbell, commander of American forces in Afghanistan, has said that "a special operations unit that was in close vicinity ... was talking to the aircraft that delivered those fires."

A senior Green Beret officer has told superiors that his troops, accompanying Afghan security forces, were under fire and in danger, according to a former government official familiar with his account.

Doctors without Borders denies that any fire was coming from its compound. And even if it was, it's unclear why any U.S. forces outside those walls could not have moved to safer ground.

Also a mystery is why the AC-130 gunship would have kept firing during the course of an hour on a building that both the Air Force and the Army knew was an internationally run trauma center. To avoid civilian casualties, a gunship would typically stop firing as soon as it achieved its objective — in this case, ostensibly, protecting U.S. forces. Generally, the aircraft would require further clearance from the troops on the ground to continue firing.

An AC-130 gunship flies low and slow, often with a good view of its target and the damage it is inflicting. The pilot also would have had to know the locations of U.S. and allied forces in the area, to avoid hitting them.

Doctors without Borders has said it was frantically calling Kabul and Washington during the attack, trying to make the U.S. aware of what was unfolding as patients died in their beds.

Presumably, the gun camera video from the plane would show whether anyone was firing from the hospital. The U.S. government has yet to make it public.
___

Associated Press writer Lynne O'Donnell contributed to this report from Kabul.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-27

[OMGImInPattaya]

So then it was obviously a legitimate target...WAR CRIMINALS!

[oneday]

The Army Green Berets who requested the Oct. 3 airstrike on the Doctors without Borders trauma center in Afghanistan were aware it was a functioning hospital but believed it was under Taliban control,

There is no way that is an excuse to order a strike on a known hospital...not without knowing 100% for sure that there were no innocent patients or doctors inside. If these Green Berets were the ones who ordered the strike then they need to be brought up on charges and any commander above them who supported the decision. However, I still think there has got to be a lot more to this story than has been uncovered...at least I hope so.

[Vandadavid]

Either way was wrong stupid and the chain of command failed

Sorry

[Seastallion]

'Another hospital run by Afghanistan's health ministry, a short distance away, had been overrun by the Taliban when insurgents seized the city, a senior U.S. defense official said.

The new information raises the possibility that some elements of the U.S. intelligence and military apparatus had confused the two hospitals. '

There might be enemy inside, lets bomb it to kingdom come.

.

With an attitude like that, it's no wonder the US condone IDF bombing hospitals. Just as criminal.

[Ulic]

Well we know what story the US will tell and there is probably no whistle blowers to release

any video that contradicts the militaries version of accounts. The story has already changed

so many times with the fingers pointed everywhere but the US military I have almost lost count.

1/ Did not know it was a hospital.

2/ Under Taliban control and taking heavy fire from the hospital.

3/ Afghan troops called in the strike

4/ OK it was us but we will invoke excuse 1&2 again

5/ It was the fog of war and just a communication error

Now we will have a full and through investigation so we can say we had one. Then

we can sweep it under the rug, shrug and use the Jeb Bush reasoning, "shit happens"

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

oops!!!

[Kasset Tak]

US must stop accusing other countries for war crimes as they don't start taking responsibility for their own war crimes!

The US administration and military has always liked to blame others (those who are not on US side):

Russia for helping the separatists in Ukrain when US arm the separatists in Syria.

USSR for helping Cuba when US helped Pinochet.

Palestinians for attacking with rocks and knifes when the Israeli use tanks and airplanes.

Iraq for having chemical and biological weapons when it was US who sold them to Iraq.

USSR for supporting Vietnam (after the Vietnam war) while US supported the Khmer Rough.

[humqdpf]

Whether the hospital had fallen under Taliban control or not is completely irrelevant. Lets stick to the facts:

1. There had been no firing of bullets or shells from inside the hospital

2. Even if the USA military unit had believed that they were under threat from Taliban fighters in the hospital who had mysteriously held their fire until then, they did not need to have the aircraft pass over and back racking the buildings for an hour. They could have escaped with a few minutes of covering fire.

It begs the question as to whether it is policy to fire on any building that contains enemy combatants even if it will mean the large loss of innocent civilian lives.

[Krataiboy]

More ammunition for the fundamentalist propaganda machine. Since when was killing even the enemy's sick and wounded a justifiable act of war. It sounds more like terrorism to me.

[IAMHERE]

I'd like to see the USA apologize and bring all its troops home. Leave those countries to their culture. No more American blood should be wasted over there, leave the countries and their population to their fate.

[Steely Dan]

As ever long after the leftists have moved on pocketing their propaganda victory the truth emerges.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/06/shocking-did-hospital-u-s-bombed-in-kunduz-break-international-laws/

The hospital was not marked as it was required to be in order to be recognized as such. Furthermore civilians had been illegally removed from the hospital to make way for injured Taliban fighters. In other news the Taliban just stoned a woman to death for adultery.

[JingerBen]

As ever long after the leftists have moved on pocketing their propaganda victory the truth emerges.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/06/shocking-did-hospital-u-s-bombed-in-kunduz-break-international-laws/

The hospital was not marked as it was required to be in order to be recognized as such. Furthermore civilians had been illegally removed from the hospital to make way for injured Taliban fighters. In other news the Taliban just stoned a woman to death for adultery.

The Daily Caller is a biased source of information that spins the facts to promote its own agenda.

That's not surprising since it was founded by Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel.

Patel was Scooter Libby's deputy before becoming VP Dick Cheney's chief policy advisor.

Everything is smoke and mirrors with those devious warmongers.

[otherstuff1957]

I'd like to see the USA apologize and bring all its troops home. Leave those countries to their culture. No more American blood should be wasted over there, leave the countries and their population to their fate.

I tend to agree with you. The Afghans don't seem to have the will or the ability to defeat the Taliban themselves, so just pull out and let them take over. The Afghans who don't like the Taliban will simply move to Germany and leave the medieval fanatics behind.

[MisterTee]

I'd like to see the USA apologize and bring all its troops home. Leave those countries to their culture. No more American blood should be wasted over there, leave the countries and their population to their fate.

I tend to agree with you. The Afghans don't seem to have the will or the ability to defeat the Taliban themselves, so just pull out and let them take over. The Afghans who don't like the Taliban will simply move to Germany and leave the medieval fanatics behind.

Those Afghans who can will leave but most will live with the new reality.

It won't be the first time.

Afghans are tough and adaptable... as anyone who has travelled in their country knows.

It's not that they don't have the will or the ability to defeat the Taliban.

They won't do it as part of what they see as an American takeover of their country.

Edited November 8, 2015 by MisterTee