Video of U.S. Jets Firing On Brit Troops Surfaces - 'We're in jail, dude,' pilot says after deadly incident
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UK asks U.S. for Iraq friendly fire death details
Video of U.S. friendly fire unleashes storm in UK - Video
Some of the headlines, though, give an impression of things that just doesn't match with what I saw and heard. And it isn't just the much-maligned usual media suspects.
Some are making a big deal of the fact that one of the distraught pilots said, "We're in jail, dude," following the incident. Less of a big deal was another thing the poor pilot said after he found out that they were dealing with "blue-on-blue" fire - "I'm going to be sick."
More telling than what is being said, is what's NOT being said in the press -
1. The pilots repeatedly refer to orange on the top of the vehicles, repeatedly ask if there are friendlies in the area. There is a lengthy conversation on the subject, and it is repeatedly confirmed to the pilots that there are no friendlies where the vehicles are.
2. The pilots are obviously distraught over what has happened, and one of them asks more than once for the status of the troops they've just fired on.
Clearly, this could have been avoided. Clearly, there was a communication breakdown somewhere. But what concerns me is that in all of the salivating over a friendly fire incident, the pilots are going to be put through even more trauma than they no doubt have already endured. The more media attention gets put on this, the more likely it is that these pilots are going to be scapegoated.
Another item being flung around is that these were National Guard pilots who had never been in combat before. As if there are no other troops serving in Iraq that have never been in combat!
And as if troops who have never been in combat have no idea what they're doing - we just grab Larry the Cable Guy and shove him in a multi-million dollar warplane.
One British soldier was killed, and one wounded, in the incident. That is tragic. Also tragic would be scapegoating two pilots for an incident that wasn't their fault.
Those of us who have never been to war cannot possibly know what it is to be there, but we should be able to at least recognize that fact, and understand that in a world where split-second decisions mean the difference between being alive at the end of the day, and not, sometimes these things happen. Sounds oversimplified, I know, but there it is.
The other thing that makes me say, "Hmmm" is the fact that this incident happened in 2003, and the video was leaked to the press. Given the issue of the Iraq resolution in Congress this week, I have to wonder at the timing.
The accident should be reviewed. Our military should learn from it. But we should not skewer two brave pilots for the expediency of feeling better about the ugly side of war. And if this was leaked to advance a political agenda, it's despicable.
The big outcry is over why the government tried to "hide" the video. Both the British and U.S. governments are denying deliberately trying to conceal anything; the U.S. is now saying they'll let the video be seen.
If there was any attempt to avoid spotlighting it, though, maybe it was a simple issue of knowing what sort of a feeding frenzy it would create once it was out. Can't say I blame them if that's the case.
Labels: My Two Cents, opinion, rants
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