Doctors Without Borders closes Afghan hospital, says U.S. may have committed war crime

Songbird · Oct 7, 2015

three_bags_full said: ↑

So, without diving into the childishness that this thread -- like threads here are wont to do -- has become, I will attempt to provide a bit of clarity on the weapons systems used.

From all indications, the munitions were fired from an AC-130 gunship. They don't ALWAYS operate at night and are not reserved for support to special forces operations. I have been supported by AC-130 crews on a four occasions. Twice at night; twice during the day. It is an old C-130 that has been modified with several weapons systems, including high-resolution cameras and targeting systems. It's primary weapons are a 25MM GAU machine gun (think Gatling gun), a 40MM Bofors cannon and a 105 Howitzer. Their guns are mounted on the left side of the aircraft. When they fire, they are in a constant left turn, in order to place the weapons systems at a better angle. They are NOT precision weapons and do not fire guided munitions. Some munitions are coordinate based; some are guided to the target by searching for a coded laser pointed at a target; some are dumb. These are dumb. That said, these dudes are good. I have toured their facilities and flown with them as they train. They shoot every single day (it's really ridiculous how much money they have). This video is a really good primer on how the crews work (
) . Their average first shot is within approximately 15 meters of its mark. The next one (on stationary targets) is on. That's pretty amazing for 1960s technology. These guys are running calculations and literally using Kentucky windage to hit targets and they are phenomenal at it.

That said, if the hospital was hit, they meant to hit it. I'm not going to get into the argument that we intentionally fired upon a hospital without combatants inside in an attempt to hurt casualties or workers. That's absurd and everyone here knows that. Do we fuck up? All the time. I'm just saying they hit what they meant to hit.

Rules of engagement at this point -- really for the last five years -- are so restrictive that these guys wouldn't have fired on the building, had combatants not been in it (IMO). An aircraft commander isn't going to risk his career over it. They also can't clear their own fires. Someone on the ground has to do it for them. Someone on the ground has to tell them they are cleared to fire. I doubt Americans were on the ground, so Afghans were in the lead. Maybe there were Americans there. Not sure, but those are becoming fewer and father between.

They could've quite possibly not known what the building was, too. This likely wasn't a planned operation, but hasty support to a unit under fire.
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Thank you, 3bags.

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Doctors Without Borders closes Afghan hospital, says U.S. may have committed war crime

Songbird Well-Known Member

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Doctors Without Borders closes Afghan hospital, says U.S. may have committed war crime

Songbird Well-Known Member

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