Iraq War, Nasiriya March 23 "Marines sure they were friendly-fire victims"

Eighteen Marines were killed in Nasiriya on March 23 as U.S. and coalition forces drove to Baghdad.

Six months later, those who fought alongside them told CNN they remain bitter that an undetermined number of their friends were killed -- not by Iraqis -- but by an Air Force A-10 they hoped was coming to their rescue.

"Schaefer keeps a snapshot of an armor-piercing A-10 round, made of depleted uranium, which was found inside his destroyed vehicle."

I do not know what I am more upset about, this incident occurring or the military trying to cover up that it ever happened (6 months) An armor-piercing A-10 round inside a vehicle is proof enough for me.


Lighten Up, Francis!
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"Friendly fire is a fact of war."

I understand that and agree that it is a part of a war. But what I cannot forgive is that the military presented a story that our guys were ambushed and slaugtered in Nasiriya when in fact many were killed by our own. ...And don't give me anything along the lines that they did not know this while they were feeding lies to the media. (Reeks of war propaganda)

This kind of deadly negligence is far too common to write off as "the fog of war": the Air Force consistently provides the largest share of "friendly fire" casualties.

This is rooted in a culture where the other services are distained and where the Air Force's own personnel and equipment must never be risked. In this attack, the A-10 never overflew the vehicles to identify them - which are, as the story said, extremely large and unique vehicles - but began firing while the Marines were fighting for their lives against a major Iraqi attack.

The patterns that emerge are damning; the Air Force refuses to risk itself to properly identify the target, refuses to train adequately with other services to blend capabilities with them, refuses to train their personnel in recognizing our equipment.

During Viet Nam I witnesses an Air Force fighter attack a Marine battalion, killing 26 Marines despite numerous flares, smoke markers, air panels, and calls for "abort" over the radio. In the first Gulf War, Air Force Warthogs attacked Marines and British troops and refused to admit responsibility. After the war, Air Force fighters shot down two Blackhawk helicopters without closing to identify them. Every war, the pattern continues and the Air Force refuses to change. And nobody calls them to account or reforms their culture.

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