http://www.azdailysun.com/non_sec/nav_incl...?storyID=101463

U.S. bombing error kills at least five in Iraq

By NICK WADHAMS
Associated Press Writer
01/09/2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- The United States military said it dropped a 500-pound bomb on the wrong house outside the northern city of Mosul on Saturday, killing five people. The man who owned the house said the bomb killed 14 people, and an Associated Press photographer said seven of them were children.
The strike in the town of Aitha, 30 miles south of Mosul, came hours before a senior U.S. Embassy official in Iraq met with leaders of the Sunni Arab community to apply political pressure against their threat to boycott Jan. 30 elections. The Arab satellite broadcaster al-Jazeera said the Sunnis asked the Americans to announce a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

Brendan,

Saw nothing in the article which supports the title you gave to this thread. Methinks when you called it "Bombing Error or Intentional Bedlam" you were editorializing, and might be, in a back handed way, making the accusation that a war crime has been committed. 'Twould be helpful in understanding if you could explain what your basis for this is, eh? 'Tis an inflammatory accusation.

If everything is as the story reports and it was accidental then IMHO the person or persons responsible should be charged and tried for criminal negligence and for the wrongful deaths that resulted. These kind of accidents don't just happen, somebody has to make a serious mistake to cause them. Those kind of mistakes require the accountability only a courts martial can ensure.

U.S. Bombs Wrong House, Killing at Least Five Iraqis
By CHRISTINE HAUSER

Published: January 9, 2005


BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 8 - Five Iraqis were killed early on Saturday when an American warplane dropped a 500-pound bomb on the wrong house during an attack on insurgents in northern Iraq, the military said. People on the scene, however, said 14 people were killed.

The military said in a statement that an F-16 fighter plane mistakenly dropped the guided bomb on the house, in the village of Aitha, about 30 miles south of Mosul. "The intended target was another location nearby," the statement said, adding than an investigation was under way and that "Multi-National Force Iraq deeply regrets the loss of possibly innocent lives."

A man identifying himself as the owner of the house told The Associated Press that the attack killed 14 people, all in the same family. An A.P. photographer there also said that 14 family members had been killed and that 6 other people were wounded, including residents of nearby homes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/09/internat...ast/09iraq.html
That there brendan is what the U.S. calls collateral damage. Trust me, they will appologize! LOL For some strange reason, I do not think this is an isolated case of mistake. Do not think you will see much in the court martial scenario here, unless there is some G.I. the U.S. truly wants to get. All seems clear in the article to me brendan, plain, simple and very easy to comprehend.