Originally Posted by
airsound
But, expected or not, is this not a gross failure of everything the Geneva Convention is supposed to stand for?
No, nothing so grandiose. Geneva wasn't written for the kinds of wars that have been going on for the last 20 years, no matter how hard you try to shoehorn them into it.
This is a
up, make no mistake. If it was deliberate (which I seriously doubt) it is far more serious and in that case may approach the matter of how allegedly civilized nations wage war.
It strikes me as a failure in C3I, or C4I, and IMO not a complex one, particularly when you look at the tools available and the experience base available to do the job correctly. As a US taxpayer and someone once involved in stuff like this, I am not pleased to see what looks like numerous errors in the decision chain resulting in a tragic outcome.
As I pointed out, and as Caz' citation form the NGO points out, it's hard enough to get modern medical care in Afghanistan as it is without someone (accidentally or otherwise) blowing up a hospital.