Friendly fire
From Conservapedia
Friendly fire incidents are caused by miscommunication among military forces on the same side. The two most common types stem from errors of targeting and errors of identification.
- "Fratricide is the employment of friendly weapons and munitions with the intent to kill the enemy or destroy his equipment, or facilities, which result in unforeseen and unintentional death or injury to friendly personnel." [1]
In the confusion of battle, it is easy to shoot one's own comrades in arms, accidentally. [2] Nonetheless, U.S. troops are required to exercise care and can be prosecuted if their negligence results in death. [3]
Friendly fire losses are common in wars, as exemplified by friendly fire attacks on 53 US naval vessels during World War II that killed 186 sailors and wounded 438. These incidents mostly occurred in large-scale amphibious or aircraft carrier operations late in the war.[4]
The US Coast Guard cutter Point Welcome (WPB-82329) was on a routine patrol off the coast of Vietnam in 1966 when hit by "friendly fire" from American warplanes, causing a number of casualties and the abandonment of the vessel. An inquiry blamed the incident on a lack of coordination between the air force and navy on rules of engagement identification procedures.[5]
Other examples of victims of friendly fire include:
- Stonewall Jackson by fellow Confederates in 1863
- Pat Tillman by Americans in Iraq in 2004
- American A-10 attacks British armoured personnel carriers killing nine British soldiers during Operation Desert Storm
Further reading
- Garrison, Webb. Friendly Fire in the Civil War: More than 100 True Stories of Comrade Killing Comrade. (Nashville: Rutledge Hill, 1999). 229 pp.
- Gauker, Eleanor D. and Blood, Christopher G. "Friendly Fire Incidents During World War Ii Naval Operations." Naval War College Review 1995 48(1): 115-122. 0028-1484
External links
References
- ↑ (Eliminating Fratricide In Ground Combat), Defense Update
- ↑ It's this combination of increasingly lethal firepower, fluid battlefields, complex communications, and the notorious "fog of war" that can add up to friendly fire losses. (Brad Knickerbocker), The Christian Science Monitor
- ↑ Military commanders have occasionally leveled charges of involuntary manslaughter in high-profile friendly-fire cases, such as one in 2002 when Maj. Harry Schmidt, an Illinois National Guard pilot, mistakenly bombed Canadian troops in Afghanistan. But ... there is no uniform, openly published military case law about when friendly-fire cases cross the line from accident to crime . . . " [1]
- ↑ Gauker and Blood, (1995)
- ↑ William R. Wells, II, "Friendly Target," Naval History 1998 12(3): 33-36. 1042-1920
