Wanted to hit a few points head on:
Originally Posted by rab-k
A 'no blame culture' is one which those involved in anything concerning the safety of others seeks to achieve, in the hope that open and honest reporting leads to fewer mistakes. However, if negligence is proven then appropriate action should be taken.
Precisely why we have two completely separate investigations. The first is called the Safety Investigation Board (SIB) and is completely privileged, confidential, & it's use is solely for mishap prevention. The second is typically called an Accident Investigation Board (AIB) - the principle purpose of this investigation is to provide a public accounting to the taxpayers what we did with their money (ie - crashed a plane, killed a man, etc). Lawyers are present, blame may be apportioned, & negligence or other culpability may be assigned. So you see, we don't have a "no blame culture" - I think you understand this, but wanted it to be clear to others.
Originally Posted by rab-k
The problem here as seen this side of the pond is that Govt. departments from both sides were seen to be party to a "cover-up", which is not "Rumour", but fact. The wife of the deceased was told that no such video existed. Now guess what is airing in the media? If that is not a "cover-up" then I don't know what is.
OK, I'll play semantics - you say, "...both sides were seen to be party to a "cover-up", which is not "Rumour", but fact." The only fact in this statement is qualified by the modifiers "...were seen..." - there is no factual basis for claiming a cover-up just yet, unless you have more info than that being reported in the Sun. Read my other post & you will see at least two scenarios where someone may have legitimately told the wido there was no video. I'm not alleging that's what happened, merely that it could have happened.
To play devil's advocate for a moment, what purpose would be served by showing the distressed widow that video? You cannot see her husband, you cannot even clearly make out the vehicle he was in. For all she knows, there is no direct tie-in to her husband's death & it serves only to fuel the calls for "off with their heads!" for the pilots involved.
Originally Posted by Wrathmonk
Only if we can compare number of frat incidents by country as well .....
I'd be happy with that. I still believe, but cannot prove, that the statistics would be infintessimal & statistically insignificant. Sheer size & numbers mean the US will always have the most - it means almost nothing as a number & only means something with a "per capita" type context (ie - X frat per 1 million targets).
Originally Posted by nigegilb
I understand that the US operates a closed system and who is to say this is wrong.
Only one of the two investigations is "closed"
Originally Posted by nigegilb
It could have been explained to her that this was a tragedy that probably should not have happened and that your people were very sorry, but that tragedies such as this one, do happen in war.
I'm going to sound crass & I don't mean to be, but I don't see how jeopardizing our "closed system" would help anyone. I think we could state exactly what you have there, express our sorrow & firm resolution that we will continue to strive to eliminate these tragic accidents, but I wouldn't compromise our privileged information just to show her, what I believe to be, an irrelevant video.
Originally Posted by nigegilb
She only wanted to know the truth.
Was she ever lied to in regards to how her husband died? Did the MoD tell her it was enemy fire? The existence of the video doesn't change how her husband died. It doesn't change anything but people's speculation.
You want cover-up? Look at how the US Army handled the Tillman frat case. If Mrs. Hull was only lied to about the existence of a near irrelevant video, she got off much better than Tillman's family. I don't mean to devolve into a "my scar is bigger than your scar" exchange, rather, to illustrate that I believe this video is largely irrelevant to the widow in this case.
Of course, in my zeal for protecting privileged information I could be missing the plot entirely...
