Quote:


well its not a trigger I would've pulled.



Perhaps, perhaps not. 90% of the time what looks like an RPG is one. You'd have to look at *every* situation these guys faced over the last month to decide if you'd fire this time - these guys didn't have the luxury of making that decision away from the context of their recent experience and indoctrination.

Mistakes happen in war. What bugs me about this one is not that a mistake got made but rather that it was covered up internally (where is DoD's copy of that video again?) When the reaction is not "Let's make sure that doesn't happen again" but instead "Let's make sure no one finds out" that's a serious problem. What *should* have happened as a result of this is to modify training (to including *not* firing at Iraqis carrying SLRs with a 200mm f/2.8 lens) so the gunners would gain confidence not to fire.

Accidental attacks on civilians have actually been pretty low in Iraq, even if you assume every claim is true. It's very surprising by historical standards and I'm not sure why. Probably a combination of much better targeting technology and the fact that so much is recorded and harder to cover up.

The great strategic surprise is that such a small percentage of Iraqi deaths were caused by American fire. I never fell for the notion that Iraqis would dance for joy at Sadam being ousted, but I also never imaged that the Iraqis would use it as an excuse to slaughter each other.
_________________________
"If they can't picture me with a knife, forcing them to strip in an alley, I don't want any part of it. It's humiliating." - windsock