More damaging evidence is surfacing against the Americans in the friendly-fire incident that resulted in the death of four Canadians. The National Post reports a U.S. colonel places the blame squarely on the American chain of command.

Canadian and American inquiries blamed two American pilots for the April 17 bombing. But the report in The Post suggests the colonel believed the airmen were the fall guys for the accidental bombing that killed four and injured eight Canadian soldiers as they participated in a live-fire exercise in Afghanistan.

A transcript obtained by the newspapers shows that Colonel David C. Nichols interviewed the pilots just after hours after the fatal incident. In the transcript, Nichols comments that the tragedy was caused by communications problems that had plagued American operations in Afghanistan.

"Why don't we as an organization know where these friendly [troops] are?" The Post quotes Col. Nichols as asking. "The problem I see with this is we have friendly aircraft in a war zone that is unknown as to where the bad guys are and where the good guys are."

Maj. Harry Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach are facing up to 64 years in jail for charges of involuntary manslaughter, dereliction of duty and assault for the accidental bombing. A hearing to be held Monday, will determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to a trial.

The pilots say they fired in self-defence. That position is supported by Nichols in the transcript obtained by The Post in which he commends the pilots for doing "a very good defensive manoeuvre" and says they had no other choice.

"We have been doing this mission since the 16th of October. And that has been a stated, ongoing problem from the beginning, not knowing where the friendly locations are.

"We could know where the good guys are. Our guys in the airplane, our guys providing command and control for the guys in our airplanes, should have absolute confirmation where friendlies are at all times," one passage of the transcript obtained by The Post says.

The newspaper says that Nichols had called an emergency meeting the month before to discuss ways to fill gaps in communication.

Earlier Friday, Ret. Col. Bill Taylor told Newsnet that "more and more information is coming in that points to a breakdown in command and control that should have been controlling the two pilots."

The U.S. military analyst said Umbach received conflicting signals before dropping the bomb. Taylor said the communication problems appear to be high up in the chain of command, adding he believed it will be difficult to convict the two pilots of involuntary manslaughter and negligence.

Reports escalate ahead of military hearing

A number of reports have come out ahead of the Article 32 military hearing, to be held Jan. 13, that offer possible scenarios as to what might have caused the accidental bombing.

Recently, a report by ABC News suggested amphetamines or "go pills" given to the two pilots may have contributed to the accident. The U.S. Air Force gives the pills to all their pilots to combat fatigue on long missions.

Their lawyers have said the pilots are being turned into scapegoats for failures in the U.S. military command structure.

Eugene Fidell, the president of the U.S. National Institute of Military Justice, told Newsnet that it's "premature" and "irresponsible to suggest the two pilots are being scapegoated.

"Let's see how the broad the investigation is before anyone suggests anyone is being scapegoated here," he said.

Others continue to place the blame squarely on the pilots. Earlier this week, a retired British army officer told CTV's Canada AM that the American pilots should be held accountable for the accidental bombing.

"It should not be that the pilots can feel that they can engage targets with impunity and without responsibility for their actions," Larpent said from London.

"They do need to take tremendous care, and they need to think twice. It's not a matter of just shooting first and asking questions later."