Scene From Hell: John Simpson in Iraq on 6 April 2003

[javicfromsf]

it was awful

[list333ify]

Read the book "Roughneck Nine-One" by SGT. 1st Class Frank Antenori. It describes the events in detail from the perspective of a US SF Sergeant on ground. It was a tragedy, but the lives that were saved because of the ODA team's medical proficiency on the ground was very commendable. On another note, Reporter's roaming free during kinetic operations is a huge risk...for themselves and the allied forces.

[jonnyd89]

American fighter pilots were to trigger happy

[Galacticmaster]

i saw this video back in 2003, it was part of a live broadcast by simpson as the kurds and US forces rallied from the North to converge on baghdad and most of the northern cities.

you can find the original footage from google, but it will not show you when john simpson gets hit in the leg with shrapnel nor the body parts bouncing at the cameraman.

the heavily edited, original version only shows you blood on the camera and alot of smoke and fire and thats it really

[thehotwombat]

you can excuse blue on blue when it's war, when two armies are fighting.

by that point in the conflict, the pilots of those aircraft were on a jolly, and were careless and stupid.

[DJHazzard]

Friendly fire happens in a WAR ! thats the Point

[millard27]

@DJHazzard

You're clearly retarded.

[DJHazzard]

@millard27 mhh if you think so here some education for you.. Friendly fire happens in every large scale combat situations

open Wikipedia Type in search Blue on Blue or Friendly fire and you will see the long list of accidents

it is a fact thats Friendly fire Happens in a war ! if you dont can believe it count the accidents on the friendly fire list. we a human and we make mistakes.

Dead from Above ;)

[Angelvyne]

Like John Simpson says, tens killed and injured, hundreds of lives ruined and all for a little patch of earth that no one has even heard of.

[famguy231]

JIMBO and stagga = xenophobic jackasses

[happymana]

Well done plot you've killed and you probably don't have a care in the world. I hope the guilt haunts you forever.

[JIMBO5444]

When fighting with US forces remember how many GB troops they have killed

[USCFlash]

@JIMBO5444

when fighting with UK forces, remember they have had plenty of their own friendly fire incidents.

-1982 Britsh Army Gazelle Heli shot down by the HMS Cardiff in the Falkland. 4 British troops killed.

HMS Triton sunk the HMS Oxley (subs)

HMS Unbeaten, sunk by an RAF plane

HMS Sheffield, sank by the Royal Fleet Air Arm

Stop being such a xenophobe.

Friendly fire incidents are tragedies that happen during the confusion of war. It happens to all. US forces are not the only ones.

[USCFlash]

you also might want to know in the Falklands

-3rd battalion of Paras got into a firefight with Army Co.s A & C with 8 casualties

-A UK SBS commando was killed by the UK SAS.

in Afghanistan

-UK troops killed two danish troops when they mistook a Danish position to be Taliban

in Iraq

-2 Brits soldiers were killed when one British Challenger tank fired on another Challenger.

in WW2

2 days into the war RAF spitfires shot down two RAF Hurricanes

polish submarine sank by the HMS St. Albans

[JIMBO5444]

@USCFlash @USCFlash Most of the incidents refer to WW11 when IFF technology was non existant. In regard to HMS Triton the enquirey found "] A Board of Enquiry found that Oxley was some way out of position and that Triton had acted correctly and was not culpable for the sinking." You refer to me as Xenophobic yet we have a Thai Duaghter in law and grandchild and travel every year around the world in cluding USA. I notice americans manage to kill 30.000 fellow americans with firearms?

[USCFlash]

@JIMBO5444

and *MOST* of the incidents were tragic accidents...examples why should curb your obnoxious comments about our troops. You said to "remember how many GB troops they have killed". So i reminded you how many troops UK forces have killed. In other words, they are tragic *ACCIDENTS* made by all forces...yet you felt compelled to slag off the US. Most US troops are proud to serve alongside our British allies.

Keep your snarky comments to yourself

Also, your son married a Thai, not *YOU*

[USCFlash]

so it says nothing about you, other than the fact that your son is not xenophobic.

He is not here insulting us for no reason, so he is A-Ok with me.

if you have in fact traveled to the US, then you'd know that the vast majority of Americans are kind & decent people, with a warm place in their hearts for the UK, the Irish & Australia, because of our shared language & history.

So now you snarkily comment about the sad gun deaths of innocent people, by criminals to poke fun? Classy

[USCFlash]

more WW2

-RAF Typhoons attack Royal Navy. HMS Britomart, Hussar sank,  SAlamander destroyed.

The worst: You might want to read up on the Cap Arcona Incident. It involved no troops but was called "The worst friendly fire incident in history".

The RAF sank 3 ships in harbor, in 4 continuous bomb, rocket & machine gun attacks. the ships held 1000s ofjews who had survived the concentration camps, plus hundreds of allied POWs. 7,000 died.

It happens to *ALL*

get the point?

[JIMBO5444]

@USCFlash It had to happen. Not happy with shooting our valued troops the US "special forces" throw hand grenades at the hostage and kill her. SAS would have tabbed without helos and done the job but no gung ho ruled the day.

[USCFlash]

@JIMBO5444

yeah, so i guess the SAS does not make mistakes, huh? Spare me the nonsense.

and our special forces did not throw grenades at her....one SEAL *may have thrown a grenade to the back of the building, where she had been dragged by a captor, and was then huddled on the ground...not *AT* her.

Since she was a british citizen, maybe you should have sent the *SAS* instead. Take that up with Cameron who jointly approved the raid.

You & the Guardian have the same anti-american bend.

[USCFlash]

@JIMBO5444

IF the SAS would have "tabbed without helos", why didn't they? The Guardian reports:

"SAS were too far away & did not have the MH-60, a Black Hawk helicopter highly modified for special forces night operations and just about capable of functioning in such thin mountain air. "

SF could not have tabbed without helos, genius:

Guardian:

"Landing the Seals some distance away and creeping of the compound on foot was impossible. There was nowhere flat to set down for miles around."

[USCFlash]

@JIMBO5444

so knock off your anti-americanism. Maybe if your military invested more in helicopters to bring the SAS to the fight, , it would not be us you would have to rely on.

After all, in 2008, it was a brit who was the forward air controller who called down the US bombs onto the 1st Royal Anglian Regiment, by giving the planes the wrong coordinates, killing three young brits.

save your breath. 

[millard27]

@USCFlash

Bit ironic, crying over people being anti American and you are clearly anti British.

Go eat a burger tubby.

[USCFlash]

@millard27

Amusing. On the contrary... I love Britain. I just don't care for people being hypocritical. My favorite bands are British bands (Zep, Who, Floyd), my favorite comedy is British (Young Ones, Python, Bottom, Blackadder) my favorite football team is Man Utd, my favorite actor is Daniel Day Lewis.

So no, it is not ironic. It is called the truth. America has major flaws. so does Great Britain. The truth hurts.

The UK leads europe in obesity (23%) i'd hardly call anyone tubby...tubby.

[Hperman09]

@USCFlash You forget one thing on WW2 list: An airplane carrying USAF famed bandmaster Glenn Miller disappeared over the English Channel on Dec. 15, 1944 en route from UK to France. However, the UK government actually admitted that Millers aircraft was knocked out by RAF bombers returning from an aborted mission over Germany. a weary RAF bombers could not hold more bombs for landing so they decided to drop them which accidentally landed on miller aircraft. 9 US crewmen were killed as a result.

[Hperman09]

@USCFlash This is also something that Canadians forgets: In WW2 during the early stage of the bulge, A canadian battery had been rushed into placement to help counter advancing german armor. When an american column was making a hasty retreat to the north it was somehow mistaken for a German column. Canadian battery opened up on them. 30 US troops are killed as result of this. It's from a book called "when hell frozen over" by Marilyn Estes Quigley. Compare to how many Canadians we killed: 5

[USCFlash]

@Hperman09

well, i know...there are too many incidents to list completely.

but, as i said, my point was, that friendly fire incidents are always tragic, and they have happened to allies throughout history. Americans, Brits, Canadians, Australians, etc. etc...in war, bad things happen...and no country has a monopoly on tragic errors.

Thank you for your thoroughness...and RIP to all allies who have lost their lives through the tragic errors that occur in the haze & confusion of combat.

[staggabob]

"This is the sound of freedom! BOOM!" Ironic all right. John Simpson's a genuine hero, it would have been a real loss for journalism if he'd been among the dead here. Not that it wasn't tragic enough. When will US pilots learn to look before they fire?!