Antiwar.com Blog

40 aborted bombing runs:

Australia’s F/A-18 pilots defied the orders of American commanders and refused to drop their bombs on up to 40 missions during the invasion of Iraq, it can now be revealed.

In a remarkable account of how our airmen applied Australian rules of engagement, an RAAF pilot has told The Sun-Herald each of the 14 RAAF Hornet pilots aborted three to four bombing runs because intelligence given at pre-flight briefings did not concur with what they found at the target.

Last night, The Sun-Herald could not confirm whether or not American field commanders raised objections about the Australian pilots’ actions, nor if US pilots later carried out the bombing runs themselves.

But Australia’s Defence Force chief, General Peter Cosgrove backed the pilots’ action, and said there were no recriminations.

Squadron Leader Daryl Pudney last week described how he and other Australian F/A-18 pilots were forced to weigh up the risk of civilian casualties in a split second before dropping their bombs.

He said pilots broke off many missions after they saw the target and decided there was not a valid military reason to drop their bombs.

What can I say? The implications for more horrible American intelligence and avoidable civilian casualty repercussions are enormous. What was the ratio of American bombing missions to Australian ones? How many American pilots aborted bombing runs to spare civilians?

A few paragraphs in this March 12th entry by Riverbend, a woman blogger in Iraq, caught my eye. It is about four Iraqi men detained by the US military who were able to buy their freedom when their families coughed up $300 payments to the soldiers holding them. I hadn’t realized that we were charging a fee to release detainees from American custody. Is this official military policy, or are these cases of outright extortion? Are the thousands of detainees still held by the US in Iraq merely in prison because they can’t come up with their $300 fee? I realize this story is hearsay but it has somewhat of a ring of truth to it, at least to my ears.

They agreed that one of the soldiers would accompany the man back to the city and wait while he came up with $300/detainee. The rest of the men would be freed a couple of days later. And it worked. Two days later, his three relatives came walking home after being dropped off on the side of the road. Basically, they paid a ransom for their freedom. … read more

I note there is no mention of fees to be paid by a detainee in these requirements for release outlined by Paul Bremer back in January, 2004.

“First, the person released must renounce violence. Second, the person released must have a guarantor, such as a prominent person in his community or a religious or tribal leader who will accept responsibility for the good conduct of the individual being set free.”

Chris Albritton, writing in his blog, Back to Iraq, believes there’s reason to consider that the Madrid train bombing might be a joint operation:

There’s no reason that al Qaeda wouldn’t work with — or help fund — groups that further its own ends in the short run. (Which is why it never worked with Saddam. Not only did it not share any long-term goals with Iraq, and in fact wanted to destroy Saddam’s government, but it didn’t share any short-term goals either. Saddam didn’t want to destroy the United States. He wanted an end to sanctions so he could go back to trying to dominate the Middle East — something bin Laden wants to do himself.)

So. What conclusions may be drawn? As Juan Cole notes, if the ETA did it, it would be seen as local significance and probably bolster the standing of Jose Aznar’s conservative party prior to the Sunday ballot. If it’s jihadists, this will be seen as on par with Sept. 11, 2001, Bali and Lockerbie — and the War on Terror will have suffered a setback. The U.S., paradoxically, probably would like to have the bombers come from al Qaeda because that would bolster Bush’s charge that the War on Terror is ongoing — so don’t change commanders in the middle of a war.

However, either/or is too limiting. I think this was probably some kind of joint venture between the ETA and jihadists, but, still, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to see this as a wholly Islamist enterprise. We just don’t know the full story yet.

As Chris points out, it is too early to know but this is an interesting insight that the mainstream media, to my knowledge, has not written about.

Update: I was wrong. BBC is speculating about collaboration.

Roderick Long gives Abu Hafs Brigades, who claim responsibility for the Madrid train bombing which killed at least 200 people, an “F” in Logic.

Death of Rachel Corrie in Rafah
March 16

US Campaign National Day of Action for Rachel Corrie

Iraq Invasion
March 20

Antiwar March:

Peace activists will mark the one-year anniversary of the war in Iraq this weekend with a march on Washington beginning at the site of the military mortuary that accepts U.S. casualties.

Military veterans and members of families who have lost loved ones in the war will join in the memorial procession and rallies outside Dover Air Force Base and the White House.

The Dover base is home to the nation’s largest military mortuary, where bodies of U.S. soldiers are processed and prepared for return to their families.

Susan Lindauer, the accused spy for Iraq, seems to have been quite well-connected.

In 1998, she testified before the Lockerbie inquiry in 1998, saying that Syria, not Libya, was responsible for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland.

She supplied a copy of her deposition to Daniel Pipes’ Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, where they were eager to publish anything focusing new attention on Syria.

The charges against Lindauer is that she attempted to influence US government policy by meeting informally with an official (while failing to register as a foreign agent). That official has been identied as White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, her cousin.

Lindauer is the daughter of a former candidate for governor of Alaska.

A Capitol Hill staffer friend of mine has told me that this is going to be a very interesting story as the pieces of the onion are peeled away.