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Pentagon probes bombing of Kabul Red Cross

The warehouses contained food and blankets used for Red Cross relief operations

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A preliminary investigation into how the U.S. twice mistakenly bombed an International Red Cross warehouse in Kabul last year has concluded that a high-ranking U.S. Air Force general exceeded his authority in ordering the second strike.

Pentagon sources told CNN Monday that the military's probe also found numerous clerical errors, which led to the mistaken bombings, including the failure of the Red Cross to notify the United States it was using the warehouse complex to store wheat and other humanitarian supplies.

After the warehouse complex was bombed the first time, on October 16, it was removed from the Pentagon's "Approved Target List" and should not have been bombed again, Pentagon officials said.

The warehouses contained food and blankets the Red Cross said it was in the process of distributing to 55,000 disabled and other needy Afghan civilians

The preliminary investigation concludes that the U.S. commander in charge of the air campaign, Lt. Gen. Charles Wald, erroneously believed he had the authority to order a re-strike of the facility because it was being looted by the Taliban.

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But the review by the U.S. Central Command found that Wald exceeded his authority in ordering the strike.

Once the investigation is final, it will be up to the Air Force to determine if Wald will face any disciplinary action.

At the time of bombings, Wald was serving as the Air Operations Commander for the war in Afghanistan, working out of a high-tech command center in Saudi Arabia.

Since then, he has returned to the Pentagon and has been appointed Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations.

Tasking order

Wald is currently responsible for formulating policy supporting air, space, intelligence, nuclear, counterproliferation, homeland security, weather and information operations.

The situation with the Red Cross warehouse was complicated by the fact that while the target was put on the "No Strike List" at the Pentagon after the first mistake, it was inadvertently left off a separate "No Strike List" maintained by the U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Florida, sources said.

Normally as a backstop all targets on the daily "Air Tasking Order" are crosschecked against the "No Strike List" to guard against inadvertent strikes against friendly targets.

However, in this case that would have made no difference because the decision to re-strike the Red Cross warehouse complex was made at the last minute because some U.S. planes had "extra bombs," so the target was not listed on the "Air Tasking Order."

In one overnight raid U.S. aircraft dropped 16,000 pounds of bombs on the warehouse complex

No one was killed in the first strike when a U.S. Navy F-18 dropped 1,000-pound bombs on the warehouse, but an Afghan guard was wounded.

On October 25-26, two Navy F-18s and two Air Force B-52 bombers dropped 16,000-pounds of bombs on the warehouse complex.

Another F-18 dropped a 500-pound bomb on a residential area 700 feet away. No one was wounded in the strikes.

At the time, the Pentagon blamed "human error in the targeting process" for the Red Cross hits and a malfunctioning guidance system for the bomb that strayed into the residential neighborhood.

On October 29, CNN reported, "Pentagon sources say despite a public apology, the United States intentionally bombed a Red Cross warehouse in Kabul for a second time, in order to deny food to the Taliban. But senior Pentagon officials insist it was still a mistake, that after the first bombing the warehouse should have been taken off the target list."