Blunders behind botched U.S.-led strike in Syria in September: inquiry
Source: Reuters
Blunders behind botched U.S.-led strike in Syria in September: inquiry
By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
Reuters November 29, 2016
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. military investigation has concluded that a series of "unintentional human errors" led to a Sept. 17 coalition air strike that killed fighters aligned with the Syrian government instead of the targeted Islamic State militants.
The strike, which Moscow said killed more than 60 Syrian soldiers, prompted an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting as tensions between Russia and the United States spiked.
Brigadier General Richard Coe, who led the investigation, told reporters at the Pentagon on a conference call on Tuesday that the major errors ranged from a basic misidentification of targets to "group think" during intelligence development and even a communications blunder on a hotline with Russia.
Coe also defended the coalition personnel involved, saying they were "good people trying to do the right thing."
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