U.S. PILOTS 'GUINEA PIGS,' LAWYER SAYS

The American pilots who mistakenly killed four Canadian soldiers in
Afghanistan were drugged-up "guinea pigs" at the time of the bombing, one
of their defence lawyers said yesterday.

"This was an Air Force science project using AF pilots as guinea pigs,"
Charles Gittins, lawyer for Major Harry Schmidt, said in an e-mail
interview with The Globe and Mail yesterday.

This fall, a U.S. military investigation criticized the force's use of
amphetamines, but found that the drugs used by Major Schmidt and Major Bill
Umbach were simply "not a factor" in the pilots' fateful decision to drop a
225-kilogram, laser-guided bomb on Canadian infantry soldiers. Eight were
wounded and four were killed by the pilots, who mistook the ground troops
for enemy fighters.

The U.S. pilots have been charged with four counts of involuntary
manslaughter. Their defenders argue that blame should focus on higher-ups,
and say that the U.S. military's use of amphetamines -- so-called "go
pills" -- deserves serious scrutiny.

Last night, that argument was advanced to millions of North American
viewers by the ABC News show 20/20, which looked at the bombing and
explored the role that military-prescribed pills could have played in it.
Such pills are routinely given to pilots on long missions.

The show also featured a chilling videotape taken from inside Major
Schmidt's cockpit the night of the bombing.

The pilot is alarmed when he sees a small white flash appear on a sea of
night-vision green. Thinking he is in danger, he trains his cross hairs on
the speck below, the place where the Canadians are conducting a live-fire
training exercise.

Announcing that he is about to act in "self-defence," Major Schmidt decides
not to wait for clearance to drop his payload. "Bombs away," he says
shortly before his screen explodes into a bright white. Seeing the flare he
says, "Shack," military jargon for a perfect hit.

Soon after, a radio call indicates that "friendlies" are in the area. Only
then does Major Schmidt begin to doubt himself. "It did not look organized
like it would be our guys," he tells his partner. ". . . I hope that was
the right thing to do."

Through all this there is a sense of urgency to Major Schmidt's voice, who
had expressed fear that his partner, Major Umbach, was being fired upon.

Eight months on, "no one can say authoritatively that the drugs did not
affect Harry's judgment or perception," Mr. Gittins said.

ABC News reported yesterday that go pills were banned by the U.S. Air Force
in 1992, but have been reintroduced. It quoted an Air Force general as
saying the military prescribes go pills (and no-go pills, their
sleep-inducing counterparts) in small, tightly controlled doses. The
network said the two pilots were told they could be found unfit to fly if
they did not take the drugs.

Captain Richard Langlois, a spokesman for the Canadian Department of
National Defence, said pilots here do not take any pills. "We do not
prescribe psychostimulants for our air crews."

Medical literature indicates that the drugs may be cause for concern.

"At high doses, these drugs can create a toxic psychosis characterized by
paranoid delusions, hallucinations, and frequently, aggressive or violent
behaviour," a recent paper on amphetamines published by Canada's Addiction
Research Foundation says.

The paper suggests that 60 milligrams is at the top end of what is
considered the "therapeutic range." The pilots were well below that level.

The U.S. investigation found that Major Schmidt requested pills the day of
the 14-hour flight, obtaining them about three hours after waking up. He
took 10 mg of the pills while Major Umbach took five mg.

Nothing indicates that these amounts were "considered excessive or beyond
what would typically be expected," the U.S. investigation found. ". . . The
prescribing physicians felt that both pilots tolerated the Go/No-Go pills
and managed their crew rest well prior to the incident."

The investigation found that Major Schmidt was "likely performing at 91 per
cent cognitive effectiveness at the time of the incident."

The two pilots are grounded in their home state of Illinois, where they are
regarded as heroes despite the charges they face.