Blue on Blue
posted in World News |
The US Government has had no alternative but to bow to public pressure and have subsequently handed over a copy of the cockpit video of the friendly fire incident in which a British soldier, Lance Corporal Matty Hull, was killed in Iraq. It’s a vital piece of evidence that The Sun must be applauded in publicly releasing, so that it must be shown at the inquest into this brave soldiers death. And quite rightly spark a flurry of angry reaction from us all, without adding any undue pressure on his family.
Reading & listening to the transcripts as well as watching the video several times, there is a lot to answer to, which must never be brushed under the carpet.
The Pentagon described the incident as “quite regrettable and unfortunate”. Sorry but this is extremely shallow & distasteful coming from them. This is only antagonised by the comments from Defence Secretary Des Browne who apparently “welcomed the decision”, saying it was “the right thing to do” … ask if he didn’t know it was available? If he didn’t then he’s not doing his job properly.
Lance Corporal Matty Hull’s widow Susan said:
“Not knowing is worse than knowing sometimes.”
“the life of an exceptional man, cut short by sheer and utter incompetence.”
The Sun’s defence editor Tom Newton Dunn said: “During our investigations we’ve come across a quite staggering amount of both US and British military personnel who are more than happy to see this creep into the public domain.” This was encouraging to hear & most welcomed, but I am not surprised. Gradually force commanders are starting to be a little more liberated in their comments about the government and their equipment, operation environment & living conditions.
The MOD says – The tape has not been played at the inquest yet because the Ministry of Defence said it did not have permission from the US. Excuse me, but the MOD initially categorically denied the existence of a tape. Since when should we have permission from The Pentagon over the death of our British Soldiers! We can only blame Mr “Poodle” Blair for that one. Lance Corporal Matty Hull’s inquest was recently adjourned because of the US government’s refusal to release the “classified evidence” … Poppycock!!! The MOD, The Pentagon, The UK & US Governments can only be perceived of having every intention to be deceitful and LIE to first & foremost Lance Corporal Matty Hull’s family, as well as the UK & US Public.
It’s not necessarily the pilots who should be made scapegoats, though they may have been stupid & ignorant of some combat arena procedure, coupled with conflicting orders and poor communications with air controllers on the ground … They do seem to have shown genuine remorse, however we don’t know for sure. It’s the governments which need bringing to justice, and why should American forces have immunity against prosecution in foreign courts … this i cannot fathom … I would like to see the pilots voluntarily coming forward to give evidence, I cannot assume whether they have or haven’t, but can assume if they did, their government would suppress these urges. Who allowed this international law in the first place?
I am not sure if the american pilots should be brought to justice but they should at least answer questions in a UK court of law as to what intelligence these orders were given which came from air controllers who seemed confused in what area they were in, but who actually instructed the air controllers. How many times leading up to the attack were orange marker panels mentioned by the pilots, surely they could have made a better judgement call?
In a military arena, no matter how many precautions are taken, blue on blue does happen, and casualties from friendly fire will occur. What I do find hard to stomach is the deceitfulness from both the UK & US government in their complete denial that a tape existed & unwillingness to release it until exposed by The Sun newspaper. I would be curious to know how they came about it, but glad they did.
Though I have no idea if the family wish to take civil action through the American legal system, or simply need the whole truth & nothing but the truth. If they do, then whatever diplomatic row occurs, so be it, but the government should finance & support them in this. Blue on Blue (Friendly Fire Instances), will unfortunately continue to occur because of the envelope / limits they are pushed too and the technology isn’t there to take out human interference. This doesn’t excuse mistakes, or poor / inaccurate intelligence but goes some way to explaining them. In the first Gulf War we lost as many men to friendly fire as we did to enemy fire. Deceitfulness shouldn’t be attributed to the people of the UK or the US, but only the Governments.
Defence Analyst Francis Tusa says:
“There seems to be a doctrine in US circles to fire first and ask questions later. In the UK it would be ‘ask first, fire later’
Obviously our sympathies lie with the family, friends & colleagues of Lance Corporal Matty Hull, and perhaps they are a little nearer to the truth. whether they will ever find out the full truth we don’t know. One having closure can be such an inappropriate word in circumstances like these and is occasionally used too flippantly.
What makes the US or UK government different from any other in situations like these, in the so called examples they try to set by being so self righteous & deceitful. Basically they LIED … It’s the not citizens which cause conflict it’s the governments.
The US Government (not the people) admit nothing because they live in their own world and don’t care about anyone but themselves. Historically there have been a number of recent military instances covered up by the US Government / Military like >> TO FOLLOW.
