Quote:
Originally Posted by Jayems
They are there to identify friendlies to aircraft. Yes, its a rudimentary method, but it obviously worked if the pilots noticed it. And that is the problem. They relied on some guy on the ground saying that there shouldn't be any friendlies around. The fact that the pilots saw the orange (the mark of a friendly) and they somehow decided they must be rockets is where the crime takes place. They shot first, and asked questions later. They could have waited for more confirmation ESPECIALLY because of the markings.
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"Manila Hotel" isn't just "some guy on the ground." He would have been the USA Marine Corps forward air controller attached to British ground troops in that area.
"Manila Hotel" assured the pilots there were no British troops where they were, in those two particular grid squares. Theoretically, he would be the guy to know.
However, the orange tarps were the "last resort" identification for air recognition that, I'm pretty sure, all Allied units at that time in that war had in all their units.
When all the electronic wizardry fails and the system pooches itself, the simplistic orange tarps should cause an individual pilot to pause and question what they're doing.
They're guilty. They knew they were guilty even at that moment
1351.30 POPOV35:
They did say there were no friendlies.
1351.33 POPOV36:
Yeah, I know that thing with the orange panels is going to screw us. They look like orange rockets on top.
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/eu...ipt/index.html
Cowperson