Australian pilots refused to bomb civilians on American orders

Australia's F/A-18 pilots defied the orders of American commanders and refused to drop their bombs on up to 40 missions during the invasion of Iraq, it can now be revealed. In a remarkable account of how our airmen applied Australian rules of engagement, an RAAF pilot has told The Sun-Herald each of the 14 RAAF Hornet pilots aborted three to four bombing runs because intelligence given at pre-flight briefings did not concur with what they found at the target.

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Thanks to Blowback on the POAC forum for this story.

This underscores a point made by former Middle East CIA operative Robert Baer when he complains that the intelligence we rely on for our operations needs to be backed up by information on the ground, and that is why the information Powell provided at the UN consisting of aerial surveillance photos should have been suspect. And Powell would have known that, of course.