(Wordless Wednesday below this post)
Canadian Troups have taken a lot of loses in Afghanistan in the last few months.
This past week has been particularly bad. I hate to hear about our brave soldiers losing their lives while fighting with the enemy or because they were ambushed by the Taliban, but at least they went there knowing that that could happen. However when I hear that our soldiers were killed or wounded due to friendly fire I get really angry.
PANJWAII, Afghanistan (CP) – The sun lifted into a clear sky with the usual haze of dust at 5:30 a.m. Monday while two U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts swept down the narrow Arghandab River valley, blasting away at supposed Taliban positions.
A young corporal from Newfoundland glanced toward the heavens, noting one aircraft’s sickening low-pitched moan as it shattered the ground with a 10-second burst of about 300 shells the size of pop cans.
It’s far from the rat-tat-tat usually associated with a machine-gun.
“It’s like the noise a whale makes when it runs into a ship,” said Cpl. J. R. Smith from Mount Pearl, N.L.
An hour later, the soldiers found out more than 30 Canadian soldiers, including Pte. Mark Graham who died, were the unintended targets at the bottom of that strafing run. A giant Chinook helicopter was needed to ferry out all the wounded.
How can something like this happen?
In earlier reports it was stated that the Canadian troups were aware that the US fighter planes would be passing over within a half hour. If the Canadians knew the Thunderbolts would be passing by, why on earth did the US pilots not know that the Canadians were right below them? How did they mistake the Canadian troups for Taliban Insurgents?
I don’t understand. I want some answers as to how something like this could happen. 30 injured, 1 dead (a father, an Olympic relay runner). Of the 30 injured only 5 are expected to return to duty.
I don’t mean to offend any Americans that might be reading this. I’m sure you (an American) would be upset if other UN troups accidentally killed or injured your soldiers, right? With all the high tech equiptment available these days you would think something like this would be impossible.
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In other news, I’m sure that just about everyone has heard that Steve Irwin passed away. He’s the Crocodile Hunter if you don’t know him by his real name. As a reptile owner and lover, some of his antics used to upset me. I thought he took too many risky chances with wild animals, and that he might have at times accidentally encouraged others to do so, and in doing so this would end up giving reptiles and even worse name in peoples minds. But he was an animal lover, an educator and he had a passion for life that most people never attain. He’ll be missed.
One of my favorite memories of him was from an episode where he was sitting in a sandy area with a small bearded dragon. He was busy telling the view audience that beardies are usually friendly and that they either don’t bite or rarely bite when the little guy jumped up and bit him on the nose. It was hilarious.
You’ll be missed Steve!
And to all the people who have been posting jokes and making fun of his death. Shame on you.
the friendly fire is so devastating!!! if my loved one died that way I think I would go nuts!
how did Steve die?
Friendly fire was very common in past conflicts. Definitely sounds like some wires were crossed here.
Have people been making fun of him? I haven’t seen that, but I agree with you, shame on them.
Friendly fire always burns me up too. As if war wasnt’ senseless enough!
Making fun of anyone’s death is just wrong imho.
As for the “friendly fire” I guess what is most distressing is this is not the first time Americans have accidently killed Canadians in Afghanistan. And I believe the first time those involved barely got a slap on the wrist. Very sad…
Cheers from T.O. … 🙂
Hi Tricia,
All of the events coming out of Afghanistan and Iraq I think are bringing people down…I read a lot of thoughts about how this just doesn’t make sense anymore…or if it ever did.
Something has to give…I have no idea what that would be.
I am sorry i didn’t call you in last couple of weeks. Or been around. I have been overwhelmed and traveling, am in chicago again right now, but glad to be here. A comfy computer an desk. Catching up.
I also posted about Steve Irwin, it really is a loss especially a consevationist and environmental educator in these times we need people like him more than ever.
“Friendly fire” incidents are a sad but normal part of modern warfare – particularly when you’re dealing with modern weaponry such as long-range artillery, missiles, and aerial weapons. In all these cases, the person with his/her finger on the trigger can’t really see the target – and so, if there are any fowl-ups in communications or information-flow, the wrong people can get hurt or killed.
The problem isn’t unique to multinational operations, either: In Israel’s recent campaign in Lebanon, a number of Israeli soldiers were killed and injured by “friendly fire”.
Obviously, f_ck-ups like this need to be investigated. The causes need to be identified, and measures need to be taken to prevent future occurrences. But the most that can be accomplished, realistically, is to minimize “friendly fire” incidents; they’ll never be entirely eliminated.
Oops! That should have been “foul-ups”, not “fowl-ups”. I would never dare to call a soldier – American, Canadian, or Israeli – a chicken!
You’re absolutely right to be angry about this. The term “friendly fire” makes no sense at all and it sounds like it’s being used to downplay the incident.
Oh! Happy Birthday too!
As an American I apologize for the loss of your brave soldiers.
Friendly fire is not uncommon. It is my understanding that war and battlefield conditions are usually chaos and almost impossible to control. We had a professional football player from around here, Pat Tillman, who gave up a promising and lucrative career to join the Rangers. He was killed by friendly fire, very tragic. I’m sure we Americans kill more of each other via friendly fire than we kill soldiers from other countries.
yeah, friendly fire. It’s amazing what euphemisms can bring to manipulative speech