The British View: Deaths shake confidence in U.S. procedures
Aviation accidents have killed 16 Britons, including two shot down by 'friendly fire'
By ALAN FREEMAN
Monday, March 24, 2003
LONDON -- The downing of a British fighter jet with the loss of two airmen has shaken confidence about the conduct of an invasion that is meeting more resistance than many expected, and raised concerns about the reliability of U.S. procedures designed to avoid "friendly-fire" incidents.
Sixteen British servicemen have been killed in the Iraqi campaign, all in aviation accidents.
The two pilots of the RAF Tornado were presumed dead yesterday after apparently being shot down by a U.S. Patriot missile; six British personnel were killed on Saturday when two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters crashed into each other over the Persian Gulf; and eight British personnel in a U.S. helicopter died on Friday when it crashed in Kuwait.
Today, two British soldiers were reported missing after an attack in southern Iraq. "There was an attack on British vehicles in southern Iraq on March 23. Two soldiers are missing and every effort is being made to find and recover them," Britain's Defence Ministry said.
Paul Beaver, an independent defence analyst in London, said the Tornado incident in particular raises concerns that the U.S. military is not teaching its airmen adequate procedures and discipline.
It is disturbing because it follows the deaths last year of four Canadian soldiers when a U.S. bomb was dropped on them in Afghanistan, he said.
"As Canadians know, [U.S.] fire discipline is not good," Mr. Beaver said in an interview yesterday. "There were 29 bombing errors in Kosovo, all American."
Mr. Beaver said U.S. forces "are completely reliant on technology, while the British are into procedure and mission command."
He recalled that nine British soldiers died at the hands of U.S. forces during the first Persian Gulf conflict, while only six were killed by the Iraqis.
He also noted, with regret, that the two U.S. pilots of the A10 aircraft who killed the Britons in 1991 were never identified.
Sir Timothy Garden, a retired Royal Air Force Air Marshal who is an analyst with the Royal Institute for International Affairs, said the Tornado incident is extremely important because it is essential to have procedures right when friendly aircraft are returning from missions and can be mistaken for incoming enemy planes.
"The causes have to be established and the procedures rectified with all haste," he said, or British service personnel will become convinced that their allies suffer from a lack of professionalism -- rightly or not.
Many procedures are designed to avoid such incidents, including the filing of friendly fighters' flight plans in a central task computer, and the presence of AWACS surveillance aircraft giving overviews of all aerial movements. The coalition has virtual free rein in the skies, opposed by virtually no Iraqi air movements.
"If there is a perception that even when you do all of those things, that you'll still get a Patriot, that's bad news," Sir Timothy said.
British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon said yesterday that there are "urgent reviews" under way to determine why the missile hit the Tornado. "There's no single technological solution to this problem. It's about having a whole set of procedures in place."
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that the war is going according to plan.
"These things are never easy," Mr. Blair said in an interview with British Forces Broadcasting. "There will be some tough times ahead, but it is going to plan, despite the tragedies that have occurred."
Mr. Blair reassured the 45,000 British troops involved in the conflict that "apart from some on the extremes, the country does come together at a time like this."
A survey in The Sunday Times yesterday indicates that public opinion is turning in favour of the war. It says that 56 per cent of respondents backed military action by Britain and the United States, while 36 per cent were opposed. That's a reversal of the views expressed in a poll prior to the start of the war.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative Leader and a former army officer, called it unfortunate that incidents such as the shooting down of the Tornado occur, but he pointed to the complexities involved.
"When you think about how much is moving at the moment on the battlefield, this is one incident, and most of these other things are going well. It is sad, but I am afraid that is the nature of modern warfare."
Dan Plesch, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said it is too soon to judge the Tornado incident.
"It's hard to see that it was a deliberate act, but it may have been an act of super carelessness. But who knows?"
globeandmail.com |
