The video clip makes shocking viewing. Two US fighter pilots are told over the radio that there are no friendly forces in their area.
Reassured by this false information, the pilots dismiss the distinctive orange “friendly” markings on the four tanks beneath them, convinced that they are orange Iraqi rocket launchers. One then attacks, killing British soldier Matty Hull and severely injuring four others.
The clip, leaked to British newspaper The Sun earlier this month, throws into sharp relief the military’s failure to tackle the problem of friendly fire. In both the second world war and the Vietnam war,…
