The acquittal of Capt. Richard Ashby on charges of recklessly slaughtering 20 Alpine skiers raises more questions than answers, both about the Marine Corps and the entire system of military justice.
Once again it appears that something dreadful has occurred due to either recklessness or negligence by supposedly responsible military personnel, and once again it appears no one is to be held fully accountable. (The inquiry into the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon that killed 241 servicemen, for example, ended with what amounted to an official shrug.)
Second-guessing a jury verdict from any distance is tricky, but it appears the eight Marine officers who sat in judgment of Capt. Ashby gave their colleague-in-arms the benefit of every conceivable doubt. How could his twin-engine jet clip a ski-lift cable less than 400 feet above ground when it was supposed to maintain an altitude of at least 2,000 feet and under no circumstances go below 1,000? Why was the EA-6 Prowler going more than 100 m.p.h. faster than called for by orders? And why, after Ashby and his navigator learned of the carnage, did they manage to lose a cockpit videotape they had made of the flight?
By excusing Capt. Ashby as a victim of circumstance, the officers of the jury, in effect, have indicted a wider chain of command. If not Ashby, which officers allowed this aircraft to be launched with inaccurate navigational charts and a defective altimeter? Who failed to adequately brief Capt. Ashby on the parameters of his mission or train him to recognize visually the difference between 350 and 1,000 feet?
Oxymoron is one way to describe a “justice system” that cannot bring itself to punish those directly involved in a lethal screw-up and that considers a career-retarding letter of reprimand sufficient punishment for higher-ups.
Assuming manslaughter charges now will be dropped against Ashby’s navigator, the U.S. government must move quickly to ease the pain of the victims’ families and cut its diplomatic losses. Though no substitute for justice, profuse apologies and ample financial compensation are due those families. Moreover, the people and government of Italy must be reassured that our armed forces are under adequate supervision and, more important, that our military holds the lives of our hosts/allies as dear as those of fellow Americans back home.
It’s a disgrace that such assurances need to be professed . . .that they are not self-evident from the way we act.
