Lord, what a f'ing way to die.
Well, commanding officers, NCO and troopers are responsible of their decisions in a battlefield. While there are many circumstances when nobody can be blamed for such unfortunate tragedies, there are some when a clear and grave mistake has been made.
Fellow Freeper Mr. Burns says that the Canadian unit had signaled its position, but nobody told the controlling AWACS Schmidt was relying on during his patrol mission. If that's what happened, then IMHO is is a grave mistake we can't discard by saying that "sh*t happens and it's probably the Canadians' fault anyway".
If a soldier must never be judged because he's putting his life at risk for others, then there should not be any court-martial nor any need for military justice. But if that is what happened (I mean, the AWACS not being told about the Canadian unit), Schmidt should not be the one taking the fall, because he seems to have acted rationally according to the parameters he was given.
Weren't Canadian troops bombed by a F-18 during Gulf War 1 ? I do remember there were Marine light assault vehicles bombed because they resembled Iraqi vehicles, but I do seem to recall there was a similar incident with Canadian troops.
I don't think anybody here really believes that.
I think, however, there is some resentment that Schmidt was facing criminal charges -- and a possible 64 years in jail -- for the perceived purpose of diplomatic expediency.