TomTom,

More of our own have been killed by friendly fire than all allies conbined. In the heat of battle mistakes occur.

Your assumption that we are cavalier and humiliating you is a sad comment on the state of your own psyche.

James Troscinski, Grosse Pointe Park, USA

Mr Fowler,
Sir I must wholeheartedly disagree with your analysis.
RE: HItler, who knows what would have happened, but to equate WW2 with todays wars is a grave mistake.
War is a science. We spend billions upon billions of pounds in technology to make war fighting more effective and less costly to our side. There is no room for error in 21st century war fighting. There are no longer two great armies facing each other in the middle of nowhere. The battle takes place in areas with civilians and key infrastructure such as power stations and waterworks in the way. We also rely on at popularity home. To be cavaliar in our attitude to combat in this age means we will take 2 steps back. We may win the battle, but not the war for hearts and minds of the people we are supposedly 'liberating'.
You blame the lefty media and politicans who do not want 'victory but perfection'. Sir, Perfection is victory. In a guerilla war the full support of the people on both sides equal success

A Tocher, London, UK

First the expression of condolences for the loss to a family for the loss of the loved one.. This young hero of Her Majesty military forces gave the ultimate sacrifice accident or not he is honored !!

The expression of Mr. Dan Brydges , my friend to the north in Canada I feel is a summation and view of modern warfare that we are engaged in . The United States Military , as well as, American law enforcement , in which I am a member work over time to correct mistakes of “friendly fire “ . Still with all best efforts it fails. The failing may be due to miscommunication, incorrect information you name it . The reality is we have one KIA and two American military pilots that will re live their mistake till the day they die .

As an observer I must address some issues about the war in Iraq. In general I must say I am up the air about the war. Even as a survivor of 9/11 attacks at the World Trade Center at New York City I am still not sure about Iraq . However, every opportunity that media in my country and forget the foreign press America is the big ape, inhuman or the phrase that is known around the world the “Ugly American”.

For me Iraq to a degree is this generations Viet Nam , a place and a time I would like to forget . But there is no doubt there are forces in the Middle East and I’ll put Russia and the new “love and peace”, China into the camp that would wish my country would loose or suffer attacks worse that 9/11 attacks .

Every day on the news in America another “military body count “ is broadcasted , just like the 1960’s when we were in Viet Nam. . Maybe a son , father , brother or even a wife daughter became another stat. This goes on day after day .Military men and women, thanks to the end of the cold war and reduced military are on their third tour in country. The strain that it places on all American can’t be overlooked.

After the attacks of 9/11 action was taken on all fronts, military, law enforcement, financial etc. The United States was at war ….to most. We will make mistakes and God knows there are more to come. What I see there are two sets of rules in the world. One America MUST follow all the protocols of war, prisoners of war etc. We conduct cyber / phsy warfare on prisoners in Iraq and there is a world outcry. American troops and NGO are kid napped and beheaded …no world outcry.. Why they were just Americans.. God knows what their loved ones went through

This is a “low keyed” sick time we live in and we are fighting some sick, sick Islamic people that equal Nazi Germany . To one and all they are fighting for keeps be it Iraq, UK or America . I have one regret that we don’t have leaders like Sir Winston Churchill and FDR in our time .

Enzo F. Cannizzo, NYC, USA

Those pilots should have gone down low and made a close-up visual assessment of the supposed targets - that's a no-brainer. Instead, they guessed ("look like orange rockets"), and made a tragic blunder.

John Alfieri, West Henrietta, U.S.A. - New York

May I add a note of caution regarding the release of classified material via the media? Magnus Linklater was correct a few days ago when he voiced his concern. Because the general reader does not understand the full import of all that is in a military video he might not realise the risk to security of what is shown or heard. The threat of release by the media would have allowed the MOD to sanitise, if necessary, the material before publication and a delay of one day would not have diminished the effect of the material shown.
We should all be aware of the maxim "The soldier's need to survive transcends the public's need to know;"

J G Wishart, Edinburgh, UK

A very tragic situation. Certainly it is hard to comprehend, but when you are flying a jet at such high altitudes and speeds in a dangerous situation, I'm sure it makes you react differently than if you are sitting in front of a computer screen. These pilots were not murderers, but they did make some tragic mistakes that they will have to live with. We have all made gaffes that in retrospect seem foolish and negligent. Unfortunately for soldiers, every one of their mistakes carries far graver implications. Condolences to the family of Mr. Hull, who have to live without someone they love for the rest of their lives and God bless those who continue to put their lives in harm’s way for us each day, be they British or American.

Erik, Richmond, Virginia, United States of America

It seems to me that all the people who blame the U.S pilots have no idea what it must be like to fly in a battle zone, above a desert, with possible targets that are camouflaged vehicles.
In war mistakes are sadly made, but we should all remember these are battlefield conditions, not a stroll down the village pub on a summer evening. After listening to the tapes it is quite obvious that the pilots were horrified when they found that they had hit friendly vehicles. If any fault could be found it must be with the battlefield controllers not the pilots, who were told that only hostile vehicles were in the area.

Chris Kenney, High Wycombe, U.K

If the British do not want American air support then they
should invest in their own airforce. The people ultimately responsible for this incident are those who prefer to outsource their defence so that public money can be spend on such trivia as the London Olympics. The outrage of some Brits over the poor vehicle recognition skills of American pilots is contemptible in view of the fact that in a previous friendly fire incident a British tank crew fired on one of their own tanks - killing two British servicemen.
If the Brits can't recognise their own then why should the Americans.
If you don't want US air support - just say so.

Anthony Kilbride, Wayne , NJ , USA

I saw the tape and it seems to me that the pilots received at least three confirmations that there were no friendlies in their area. The fact that the pilots asked three times is an indication to me that they were not being cavalier about the situation. They saw the orange "panels" which are not even really panels and asked immediately if there were any friendlies in the area. The response three times was no. At the same time the convoy was approaching a town so, time was also a factor. I personally don't think the pilots are individually to blame here. I think the problem here is a failure to communicate at a much higher level between the British and American forces as to where each are going to be operating. By the way there is no standard on those orange panels. They can be placed anywhere and don't have to be a particular size. It seems to me that if all you have to identify yourself as a friendly is orange panels, I would have the whole top of my vehicle painted orange.

Stuart, Hattiesburg, MS/ The Evil Empire

My father was in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) during WW2, at one point ground-stationed in New Caledonia (Western Pacific Ocean), servicing USAF fighter-bombers. I remember him telling me at a very young age that "when the Yanks took off, we went underground because the likelihood of them jettisoning all their bombs at the slightest hint of turbulence or a wing-shot was very high." "Morons with flying licences" is what he called them. Appears little has changed (hell, the USA is even being 'decidered' by one such.

GrahamG, Auckland, New Zealand

You all show your ignorance in what happens during war. Try being there yourself one day.

Simon, Oxford,

I recall an older colleague that I worked with many years ago. He had fought (and had been captured) as an infantry soldier in North Africa. I remember being enthralled as he explained that '....aircraft with black crosses under the wings were always considered dangerous. Aircraft with red roundels were always considered friendly. The real problem were the ones with white stars. You just never knew whether you needed to dive in the nearest ditch, or stand and wave!'

Doesn't sound like much has changed in 60 years.

Mike, London, UK

^Michael Helm, he had no choice to take part in this "unjust war", he was a soldier, it was his job. I bet you wouldn't face a court martial or be brave enough to join an army as you wouldn't be able to whine like a little girl anymore safe behind your computer screen

Gareth Jacob, Nuneaton,

It would seem that responsible discussion of the tragedy would first describe what, how, and why the event occurred but most importantly what can be done to prevent further incidents before blame is assessed. It appears a proper analysis has not been put forth in a rush to blame the pilots and therefore the United States and of course by implication George Bush.
Despite a common language and traditions there are unavoidable differences in training, tactics, doctrine and equipment between the sovereign nations, Great Britain and the US. In the "Best of all possible worlds" blue-on-blue events would never occur but to to express surprise or outrage when the rare event does occurs in a fast moving combined arms battle is at best naive.
To end on a constructive note may I suggest that British MoD devote sufficient resources to provide the British Army with adequate close air support so its Army is not reliant upon another nation for this vital function? I suspect the resultant commonality and integration would limit the number of future events.

Russell Fiore, Exeter, New Hampshire/USA

On anecdotal evidence, many American servicemen seem to have a "whoop whoop kick-ass" attitude aided and abetted by hollywood that manifests itself in cavalier actions at best and downright irresponsible actions at worst. Add to that an American foreign policy that is seemingly on evidence wholly designed to try to leverage the worlds "resources" for the benefit of America which results in wars, covert political meddling, and strong arm diplomacy, who needs enemies when we have friends like these. I love American culture and many of the people I have had the pleasure to meet but at a political level they don't really respect us or anyone else for that matter.

Sonny, London, UK

I have listened to the video tape and was immediately struck by the fact that both pilots seemed to be callous in the extreme - wether or not the targets were friend or enemy there was no need for the phrase "looks like he's haulin ass". It was not a movie, it was not a video game, they were aiming to kill someone's son, father, brother. Maybe the A10 tank buster pilots should spend 6 months with the poor blood infantry before they are sent into combat, they might then be more likely to check who it was they were about to kill.

Being from an RAF family, I also know that if it had been British pilots, the MOD would have probably given them up the the Americans, they would no longer be flying let alone teaching others to fly.

Its sometimes hard not to be anti-American.

Louise Hoare, Limassol, Cyprus

If the killed British soldier had not agreed to be part of this criminal war, he would be alive today. Sadly, now he was murdered, just as thousands and thousands of Iraqies in this unjust invasion.

Michael Helm, Copenhagen, Denmark

Friendly fire has always and will always be a causualty
of war. War is not a science but rather an art and
it is prone to error from the onset. There were multitudes of mistakes made during the Normandy invasion
that cost both American and British lives. But the difference between now and then is that today's media
prolific theater of war reporting demands perfection when that is impossible. Hitler would possibly have won had today's media been around during WWII. We'd have been choked with hearings, reports, investigations and demands for punishment, resignations and humiliation while Hitler recouped and marched towards victory.
Sadly, this is exactly what's happening in the war on terror and the war in Iraq. They could care less about perfection but demand victory while our leftist politicians and media could care less about victory while demanding perfection.
Hopefully there will be no more friendly fire loses, but if so, llet's blame war and not each other.

David Fowler, Memphis, TN/USA

The US seems to have a cavalier attitude towards its allies and in the case of Britain, an ally that will suffer any humiliation to remain one. This incident is symptomatic of a blind spot certain Americans have to anyone other than themselves and a complete ignorance of British vehicles, British presence, and even orange panels. Just what British can do other than avoid being on the same battlefield as US forces is hard to tell. A real pity, the illusion of being allies had been heartwarming.

TomTom, Leeds, England

Given an opportunity to criticize the American invasion of Iraq and the death of not just her husband, Lance Corporal Hull, but more than 700,000 Iraquis, Mrs. Hull refused to do so, as if she supported the war wholeheartedly. In the middle of the BBC interview, I almost expected her to stand up and start singing the American anthem and "God Bess America". I saw no sadness, no trace of anger, no shadow of pain in her face. What a shame! Just like the reaction of so many parents here in America, who have lost their sons in Iraq. No wonder George Bush thinks he can go on killing more Iraquis with impunity because no one will complain or protest, anyway. The Pentagon reluctantly released the video only because an English soldier was killed. Had he been a Polish or Australian soldier, do you think the tape would have been released?

Yesh Prabhu, Plainsboro, NJ, USA

The US military is very well known within the US for having absolutely no fire discipline. They blow everything they see to smithereens instantly and don't stop shooting unitl they are out of ammunition.

They do usually try to figure out what it was after they stop shooting. Not until then though.

Aside from the very unfortunate consequences for Lance Corporal Hull the shoot first, ask questions later approach which continues to this day has clearly not been a successful policy in Iraq.

Andy, Sammamish, WA USA