Inquiry finds US not to blame for Australian soldier's death
A military inquiry on Thursday rejected an Australian soldier's allegations that a comrade died unnecessarily during a gunbattle in Afghanistan because the U.S.-led coalition provided inadequate air support, The Associated Press reported.
The unnamed soldier said the intense firefight that killed Lance Cpl. Lance Mackinney on Aug. 24, 2010, would have ended before his death if the U.S. had brought in mortars and more air support. The allegation, made in an email published in several Australian papers, raised fears the U.S. was more concerned with avoiding civilian casualties than with supporting its allies, AP said.
But Australia's Vice Chief of Defense, Air Marshal Mark Binskin, said Thursday that an Australian military inquiry into the fatality and the allegations contained in the email found "no evidence of any substantial weakness or deficiency that contributed to his death," AP said.
Birkin said the inquiry determined the use of F-16s or mortars would have been dangerous to both troops and civilians.
Read more about the firefight and the inquiry from The Associated Press
