Pilots in Iraq Face Court-Martial for Voicing Concerns About Aircraft

[donsu]

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/US/pilots_security_031121.html

Two U.S. Army pilots charged with ferrying American military brass around Iraq decided to speak out about the vulnerability of their aircraft. Their reward: criminal charges.

Chief Warrant Officers William Lovett and Robert Jones have 53 years of service between them in the active duty and Army Reserves. Jones has flown in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and Bosnia.

But their current mission in central Iraq may be their last. Long before U.S. helicopters were being shot down, the reserve pilots told National Defense Magazine their planes were not properly equipped to fly in a war zone. That interview, which appeared in the September 2003 issue of the magazine, has now led to the charges of dereliction of duty against the pilots for disclosing "vulnerabilities" of the "mission, procedures, and aircraft."

"These are planes that fly around generals, they fly around VIPs," said attorney Eugene Fidell, who is representing Lovett. "He and the other people involved should not be facing a court-martial; they should be getting decorations for this."

-snip-

"I really want the equipment for them," said Lesley Barber, whose husband flies with Lovett and Jones in Iraq. "They have a right to have it. It's like sending a foot soldier in without an armored vest or a gun. It's nuts."
-snip-
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"Their fellow pilots continue to fly."

[Cocoa]

1. this issue makes me think of Bush's precautions

he made extraordinary demands on the British to ensure his own safety, including that they block out cell phone signals in a huge area of London, for fear of bombings.

His real reaction to the Turkey attack was "the important thing is I'm ok."

[imax2268]

2. They should be

given medals for exposing how vulnerable those aircraft can be...

But...I guess BushCo and the rest of the upper brass thinks a few pilots and some "little brass" are expendable...