The Protections confered upon Medical Personel and "Good Samaretans" are contingent on them identifiying themselves as such. (Convention I, Chapter 7) They did not so the Van and it's occupants fall under the provisions of Convention IV, Chapter 1, wich prohibits the intentional targeting of Civillians who are not taking an active part in the conflict.
A case could be made for the two men in the van to be classified as "Active Participants". Likewise there was no way for the helicopter crew to know about the children in the van thus thier wounding could not be considered "Intentional".
With those two issues addressed there's no real grounds for a hearing. Yes, people do get prosecuted for Geneva Violations. I've seen plenty of guys go to Mast and a few go to Court Martial. It doesn't really make the news though because the Pentagon doesn't like to advertise its mistakes.
The original post was adressed to those fools out there who seem to think that it is possible to fight a "Clean War" where only the "Bad Guys" get killed. The truth is that these things happen. no matter how stringent the rules, extensive the training, or advanced the weaponry, people are fallible and make mistakes.
People who believe that this incident is somehow "special" are not being honest with themselves.
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Date: 14/4/10 01:34 (UTC)as for the Geneva Conventions...
The Protections confered upon Medical Personel and "Good Samaretans" are contingent on them identifiying themselves as such. (Convention I, Chapter 7) They did not so the Van and it's occupants fall under the provisions of Convention IV, Chapter 1, wich prohibits the intentional targeting of Civillians who are not taking an active part in the conflict.
A case could be made for the two men in the van to be classified as "Active Participants". Likewise there was no way for the helicopter crew to know about the children in the van thus thier wounding could not be considered "Intentional".
With those two issues addressed there's no real grounds for a hearing. Yes, people do get prosecuted for Geneva Violations. I've seen plenty of guys go to Mast and a few go to Court Martial. It doesn't really make the news though because the Pentagon doesn't like to advertise its mistakes.
The original post was adressed to those fools out there who seem to think that it is possible to fight a "Clean War" where only the "Bad Guys" get killed. The truth is that these things happen. no matter how stringent the rules, extensive the training, or advanced the weaponry, people are fallible and make mistakes.
People who believe that this incident is somehow "special" are not being honest with themselves.