# U.S. strike on Afghan hospital in 2015 not a war crime: Pentagon **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2016, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-strike-on-afghan-hospital-in-2015-not-a-war-crime-pentagon/753485 "2016-04-30T08:04:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-strike-on-afghan-hospital-in-2015-not-a-war-crime-pentagon/753485/1 "2016-04-30T08:04:13Z")
[Reuters report](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-afghanistan-msf-investigation-idUSKCN0XQ24T) > [@](#): > > A deadly U.S. air strike in Afghanistan last year that destroyed a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders did not amount to a war crime but was caused by human error, equipment failure and other factors, a U.S. military report released on Friday concluded. Well, thank goodness for that. Nothing like an independent investigation to clear the air. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-strike-on-afghan-hospital-in-2015-not-a-war-crime-pentagon/753485/2 "2016-04-30T08:12:58Z")
In order for it to be a crime, there has to be intent. Do you have evidence that there was? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-strike-on-afghan-hospital-in-2015-not-a-war-crime-pentagon/753485/3 "2016-04-30T09:42:55Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > In order for it to be a crime, there has to be intent. Do you have evidence that there was? You misunderstand me. I don’t think it was a war crime at all. But how do we persuade the Afghans and other countries of that by an investigation like this? It’s like the fox investigating the raid on the henhouse ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-strike-on-afghan-hospital-in-2015-not-a-war-crime-pentagon/753485/4 "2016-04-30T12:34:29Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > In order for it to be a crime, there has to be intent. Do you have evidence that there was? Not so. It couod be Involountary Manslaughter, as defined under the US recognized criminal codes. Or Constructive Manslaughter, in which there is malicious intent to commit a crime which is not by itself the murder of the incidental victims. There is certainly evidence that the USA dropping bombs in a non-threatening foreign country was done with malicious intent. If you are speeding through a schoool zone and several kids are killed by “human error, equipment failure and other factors”, is that a crime? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-strike-on-afghan-hospital-in-2015-not-a-war-crime-pentagon/753485/5 "2016-04-30T13:18:58Z")
The finding is that it wasn’t a war crime, so comparisons to civilian law are a bit off. They also are still taking disciplinary action against those involved, effectively ending some of their military careers, so it’s not as though they just said “Eh, no big deal” – it just didn’t rise to the level of being a war crime. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2016, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-strike-on-afghan-hospital-in-2015-not-a-war-crime-pentagon/753485/6 "2016-04-30T13:37:01Z")
Shit happens. The incidence of shit happening can never be reduced to zero. > [@](#): > > But how do we persuade the Afghans and other countries of that by an investigation like this? It’s like the fox investigating the raid on the henhouse They’ll have to take our word for it. Because that’s all there is. A UN investigation isn’t going to find any more evidence or be any more credible. Pay them off, pay to rebuild their hospital, and that’s the best that can be done. Regards, Shodan