The investigating officer found that U.S. forces, given what information they had available to them at the time, acted in self defense and with appropriate force after being fired upon. He also found that there was no intentional effort to target persons or places known to be part of the Pakistani military, or to deliberately provide inaccurate location information to Pakistani officials.
Nevertheless, inadequate coordination by U.S. and Pakistani military officers operating through the border coordination center -- including our reliance on incorrect mapping information shared with the Pakistani liaison officer -- resulted in a misunderstanding about the true location of Pakistani military units. This, coupled with other gaps in information about the activities and placement of units from both sides, contributed to the tragic result.
If the Pakistanis weren't so paranoid, they'd have cooperated more closely with us in the first place and prevented the tragedy. Friendly fire accidents happen in the best of times. Pakistan's idiocy in viewing America and not jihadis (and their own security services) as the primary source of death and misery in Pakistan will keep Pakistan in misery.
But I'm sure China will put up with this mess of a nation better if Pakistan carries out their threat of switching sides (well, switching sides even more) and becoming a Chinese ally. I'm sure China will send cash into that bottomless pit of need and ignore Pakistani support for radical Moslems that might effect China's far west.
But we still need Pakistan to fight in Afghanistan, even though their double dealing is highly annoying. And Pakistan has nukes. So it would be foolish to kick them to the side of the road fully. If Iran ever goes nuclear, we'd think it the height of smart diplomacy to have relations with Iran as good as with Pakistan.
UPDATE: Of course they don't believe it:
The Pakistani army on Friday rejected a U.S. investigation that concluded mistakes on both sides led to American airstrikes last month that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and severely damaged the already strained relationship between the two countries.
One of the problems was that we conducted the operation without letting the Pakistanis know--because there is a strange correlation between informing the Pakistanis and the Taliban finding out about operations.
The Pakistanis clearly need regular beatings with the clue bat to have reality penetrate their thick skulls. I just don't know if they are beyond saving, given their self-destructive actions and very thinking.
UPDATE: Here's a press conference on the investigation. It seems clear that in addition to errors, Pakistan's confusion over what side it is on is at least as much of the problem. Just why did the Pakistanis think American aircraft were letting flares off and buzzing them? Yet the Pakistanis kept shooting at our people.
