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British paper reveals video of U.S. ‘friendly fire’ ‘We’re in jail, dude,’ pilot reportedly says; U.K. soldier killed in '03 incident
LONDON - A leaked video in which an American pilot is heard saying “we’re in jail, dude,” after U.S. troops killed a British soldier during a friendly fire incident in Iraq was released by The Sun newspaper Tuesday.
Lance Cpl. Matty Hull died when troops fired on his convoy in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on March 28, 2003.
A coroner investigating Hull’s death had demanded the video be released and presented as evidence in the inquest but U.S. authorities refused. The leak means that the material is now in the public domain, his office said Tuesday, suggesting it may be shown when in the inquest resumes Feb. 16.
U.S. military officials conducted their own investigation but the findings have not been made public.
British officials also had asked their U.S. counterparts to release the material to the family but had been rebuffed.
“The main thing to stress is that we have always had a very clear view that what matters is the information should be available to the family and — whilst the Americans cannot be legally obliged to help — they should do so, bearing in mind they are our allies,” said Constitutional Affairs Secretary Harriet Harman, who has had several meetings with officials in the U.S. Embassy.
The defense ministry said it was unable to persuade the United States to declassify the footage — a recording British authorities initially claimed did not exist.
The Ministry of Defense said in a statement Tuesday it had not tried to deceive Hull’s family. It said the army’s Board of Inquiry used a copy of the video in its investigation of the incident, but it was U.S. government property and it was not authorized to release it.
‘I’m going to be sick’ The pilot can be heard in the cockpit trying to establish whether targets on the ground are coalition forces or insurgents.
One man asserts that orange panels on the vehicles could mean they are coalition forces — most are equipped with bright markers to prevent such incidents.
Another man is heard saying the orange markers look like rockets.
“I think killing these damn rocket launchers, it would be great,” a man on the recording is heard saying.
Two U.S. A-10 jets allegedly opened fire on Hull’s tank, which was part of five-vehicle convoy engaged in combat outside of Basra. Four other soldiers were injured, including the convoy’s leader, Capt. Alexander MacEwen.
The convoy — three British Scorpion tanks and two engineering vehicles — had come to a halt at the edge of a shantytown near the southern Iraqi city of Basra. The soldiers were being approached by a crowd of civilians carrying a white flag when they were attacked.
The transcript printed in The Sun records the alleged exchange between the pilots after they realize what has happened.
Pilot 1: “I’m going to be sick.”
Pilot 2: “Ah f---.”
Pilot 1: “Did you hear?”
Pilot 2: “Yeah, this sucks.”
Pilot 1: “We’re in jail, dude.”
“There has never been any intention to deliberately deceive or mislead Lance Corporal Horse Hull’s family,” the defense statement said.
The ministry said when army told the family the findings of its investigation, “we did inform them that some classified material had been withheld, but we did not specify its exact nature.”
The coroner investigating Hull’s death has adjourned the inquest until Feb. 16.
U.S. probe results not released A U.S. Air Force official conducted its own investigation into the incident in 2003, but the results of that investigation were not publicly released, said Lt. Tony Vincelli, spokesman for the Boise, Idaho-based 190th Fighter Squadron, where the A-10 jets are based.
The investigation did not result in a court-martial. Vincelli did not identify the pilots involved.
It is unclear whether the video will be shown at the inquest.
“It is in the public domain, there’s no dispute of that is there? It’s all over the television,” said Geoff Webb, a coroner’s court official.
stick to the politicians GB. had you read the full report you'd know that these guys were given a green light not once, but twice, by command before they fired
[ February 12, 2007, 14:37: Message edited by: glassman ]
-------------------- "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
- Benjamin Franklin Posts: 3898 | Registered: Dec 2005
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Give me your address. I'll pay to meet you.. please. 5 minute
Quote Gordon:
noticed how similar their dialogue was to the old B and B cartoons. It wasn't meant as an insult; anyone with a sense of humor will see that.
I choose to ignore threats defending "American servicemen" from those who have never been one.
_________________________________________________
Gordon,
So you have to be a American Serviceman to defend them?
It appears all through your posts, that all you do is try to mock or insult our servicemen. You got all kinds of ways of doing it. You hope that we will all get in arguments or debates and some bad will come out of it against these servicemen. It is not just about Iraq or Iran, it just seems to be in general you do not like them.
Posts: 3875 | From: ca. | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
"You hope that we will all get in arguments or debates ... "
And someone seems more than eager and willing to take the bait and run with it, claiming damage of whatever kind and declaring, from biased and extreme viewpoints, others to be unpatriotic and unworthy of respect.
Just who is looking for an incident to declare precisely whom to be a what?
There is no good reason to accuse anyone of anything and, if you aren't hunting for someone to dare to knock the chip off your shoulder, then don't jump in accusing people and declaring what they think.
This isn't debate, it is petty insulting and bigotry.
This sword rattling, threatening, and insulting over who does and who doesn't have the rights presented in Amendment I of the Bill of rights is NOT very adult aand certainly is un-American.
Posts: 11304 | From: Fort Worth, Texas | Registered: Mar 2005
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It appears all through your posts, that all you do is try to mock or insult our Constitution. You got all kinds of ways of doing it. You hope that we will all get in arguments or debates and some bad will come out of it against our freedoms. It is not just about Iraq or Iran, it just seems to be in general you do not like it.
-------------------- "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
- Benjamin Franklin Posts: 3898 | Registered: Dec 2005
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