Trigger happy yanks

One of Saddam's strategies is to harrass US troops to the point that they will turn on the population and be less hesitant to kill civilians.

Once US soldiers start indescriminantly killing civilians, it is less likely they will be greeted as liberators.

The strategy appears to be working. A London Times reporter, with US Marines near Nasiriyah, brought us this harrowing account from the frontlines:

Amid the wreckage I counted 12 dead civilians, lying in the road or in nearby ditches. All had been trying to leave this southern town overnight, probably for fear of being killed by US helicopter attacks and heavy artillery.

Their mistake had been to flee over a bridge that is crucial to the coalition's supply lines and to run into a group of shell-shocked young American marines with orders to shoot anything that moved.

One man's body was still in flames. It gave out a hissing sound. Tucked away in his breast pocket, thick wads of banknotes were turning to ashes. His savings, perhaps.

Down the road, a little girl, no older than five and dressed in a pretty orange and gold dress, lay dead in a ditch next to the body of a man who may have been her father. Half his head was missing.

But Iraqis are not the only ones suffering from trigger-happy Americans. The Brits are, as well:

Three wounded British soldiers described yesterday how they survived a terrifying attack by an American anti-tank aircraft that killed one of their troop and destroyed two armoured vehicles.

[...]

The blunder, 35 miles north of Basra, left one soldier missing, presumed dead, and another in intensive care on the hospital ship RFA Argus. A sixth Household Cavalry soldier escaped without injury when the two Scimitar light tanks were destroyed.

[...]

LCoH Gerrard criticised the A10 for shooting when there were civilians so close to the tanks. He said: “There was a boy of about 12 years old. He was no more than 20 metres away when the Yank opened up. There were all these civilians around. He had absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy.

Once US forces start blurring the lines between the rules of engagement and deadly retribution, it signals the defeat of US efforts to win "hearts and minds".

I don't think there's any easy solution to this problem. But one thing is clear, American forces are being unwittingly drawn into the trap laid by Iraqi forces, into a battle they cannot win.

Posted March 31, 2003 08:18 AM | Comments (82)