“We’re in jail, dude.”

Article here

I was struck by this on several levels. Firstly, the incident in itself is shocking and nauseating. Friendly fire incidents are something of all times and all wars, unfortunately, but that something like this still happens in the age of high-technological warfare, baffles me.

Secondly, why did it take untill a tabloid posted it on its website before this tape was released to the British coroner’s court for their investigation of the incident? Friendly fire is always unfortunate, but I don't see the point in denying one of your closest allies the chance to investigate the death of one of their servicemen.

Thirdly, I can't imagine what it must be like for the family members of said soldier to hear those pilots first execute the order that killed their relative, and then hear them talk about their mistake so casually.

Iraq seems to have a very bad track record with friendly fire incidents, especially involving non-us coalition troops. It was that bad at a certain point, that foreign troops were asked to submit flags and uniforms, so that they US troops could more easily identify their allies. When you read stuff like that, it baffles the mind.