The Guardian reports the following:
Australian Super Hornets pulled out of an air strike on an Islamic State target in Iraq when the risk of killing civilians became too high, defence officials have revealed.
RAAF aircraft have carried out three missions in Iraq since joining the battle against Isis but have not fired on any targets, it was confirmed in a briefing given by the chief of the defence force, Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin, the chief of joint operations, Vice-Admiral David Johnston, and the officer commanding No 82 wing, Group Captain Micka Gray.
Johnston said an Australian combat “package” of F/A-18F Super Hornets had tracked a target on the first night of the missions, with plans to fire on it, but the risk of collateral damage was too high.
“They had identified a target which it was tracking, that particular target moved into an urban area where the risks of conducting a strike on that target increased to a point where it exceeded our expectations of the collateral damage so it discontinued the attack at that point,” he said.
This is clearly something that Harper Inc. et alia want us to pay no attention to.
Harper has no qualms about this sort of thing. Israel does it all the time with its Arab targets. They deliberately target civilians and essential infrastructure including utilities, schools and hospitals. Despite that policy both the Conservatives and Liberals stand behind Israel and thus make themselves complicit.
ReplyDeleteHence the need of both Israel and the majority of our politicians to rely on the politics of fear and faux patriotism, Mound.
DeleteThat we never learn seems to be one of the saddest aspects of human nature, LD.
ReplyDelete