October 2, 2007:
The British
Army must routinely deal with newspaper headlines back home, calling for
something to be done about the friendly fire incidents that have British troops
getting killed by American bombs.British military press officers have long since despaired of explaining
that there are far fewer friendly fire incidents now, than in past wars, and
that far more British soldiers have been saved from injury or death because of
air support. Friendly fire losses are believed to be more than fifty percent
less (as a percentage of overall losses) than in previous wars.
While friendly fire has always
been a contentious issue, it has also been a poorly reported one. Between 1941
and 1972, it is believed that 10-20 percent of American casualties were from
friendly fire. This data showed up only after vigorous efforts to get details
from troops.
Friendly fire incidents in
past wars were routinely misreported, usually at the lowest levels (friends of
those who got shot, or did the shooting.) Any attempts to get to the bottom of
friendly fire statistics from old wars, would open too may psychological
wounds. Same with the misreporting of dead soldiers as MIA (Missing In Action)
during World War II. This was often done by the dead soldiers friends, so the
widow could collect the soldiers pay (which was higher than widows benefits)
for a while longer.
The basic problem is that, for
as long as there have been wars, there have been friendly fire losses. This
only increased with the appearance of gunpowder weapons a few centuries back,
and all the smoke, and longer range fire,these new instruments of destruction generated. What has changed
recently, at least in the American military, has been the appearance of a
historically low casualty rate, and increasing monitoring of the battlefield.
All those surveillance cameras you encounter downtown or at the mall, are all
over the battlefield as well. A lot more radios too. There's much more evidence
to work with, if you want to find out what really happened. But one thing that
has not changed is the psychological shock to soldiers who are involved, as the
shooters, or just bystanders, in a friendly fire incident. There's still the
urge to pretend it didn't happen. The troops are thinking of the next-of-kin as
well, for it's common for a dead soldiers friends to visit the family of the deceased,
or at least get in touch. Coming by and saying, "I killed your son by
accident," is a message few troops are capable of delivering.
But friendly fire stuff makes
such great headlines. It attracts eyeballs, and that's how the mass media stays
in business. That won't change either.