NATO cites errant missile in Libya civilian deaths

[LetTimmySmoke]

Source: MSNBC

TRIPOLI, Libya — NATO on Sunday acknowledged responsibility for an airstrike that Libya said killed nine civilians in Tripoli earlier in the day.

"A military missile site was the intended target of air strikes in Tripoli last night," NATO said in a statement. "However, it appears that one weapon did not strike the intended target and that there may have been a weapons system failure which may have caused a number of civilian casualties."

Earlier, the Libyan government accused NATO of deliberately bombing a residential neighborhood, adding to charges that the alliance is striking nonmilitary targets.

Journalists based in the Libyan capital were rushed by government officials to a neighborhood where rescue efforts were under way at a destroyed building, which appeared to have been partially under construction.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43454221/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Who wants to bet the military contractor off-shored the development of whatever weapon system that malfunctioned to some third world country to save a little money.

[ChrisBorg]

1. At least the U.S. is not involved in any hostilities in the area.

[daleo]

2. Well, I wonder.

There's probably lots going on that is hush-hush. There always is.

Apologies if I missed some sarcasm.

Further apologies if my apologies above are mis-guided.

And so on.

[JackRiddler]

3. "Errant" given enough missiles is predictable, inevitable, and morally the same as intentional.

[JackRiddler]

4. It's not really a malfunction.

If you shoot enough, it will happen. Over and over. No system is 100 percent accurate. That means that "oops sorry" is an odious rationalization.

Afaik they don't actually outsource weapons planning to other countries. The next generation is always being designed and built here. That stuff tends to be Top Secret/Noforn and up. (This country doesn't have an industrial policy or protection for domestic manufacturing, except for the military-industrial complex.)

The US is supposed to stay ahead of the pack, so that it can sell the prior generation of weapons to the future enemy, and then destroy that using the next generation.

[jakeXT]

5. Your own bed may not be safe, but maybe the beach is

At the very front, it's the same faces day in, day out. They are determined but few in number. Many more man checkpoints or lay on rugs in ditches to hold the back lines.

"Our units, we're the only ones fighting," Ali said. "The rest of Misrata is sleeping or swimming in the sea."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110619/ts_nm/us_libya_rebels_advance