Re: Friendly Fire

[Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Peter,

There was a report in the British Guardian.  Apparently the Americans
bombed a Special Forces & Kurdish convoy.  This would seem to be a genuine
'blue on blue' as the military put it in their charming way.


regards

Gary

This is the Guardian report



10 dead in 'friendly fire' incident

A convoy carrying Kurdish fighters and US special forces came under attack
from an American warplane in northern Iraq today,  a BBC correspondent with
the troops reported.

The BBC world affairs editor, John Simpson, said he counted at least 10
bodies amid the burning vehicles.  "An American plane dropped the bomb
right beside us. I saw it land about 10 feet away," Simpson told BBC
television. The BBC said the incident occurred in a Kurdish-controlled area
of northern Iraq. Simpson said the convoy contained between eight and 10
cars,  two of which carried US special forces troops.

He added that a senior Kurdish political figure was believed to be among
the injured. "This is just a scene from hell here," Simpson said. "All the
vehicles are on fire, there are bodies burning all around me, bits of
bodies all around... The Americans  saw this convoy and they bombed it.
They hit their own people."

The BBC said Simpson had been wounded in the leg by shrapnel. His
translator was seriously injured, he said. There was no immediate
confirmation of the incident from US or British officials.