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Like the Reuters story...this was another one of those tragic mistakes that happens during war. It's not something that can be easily fixed, this isn't the 41st millenium were SpecOps forces get fancy guns that literally won't fire if there's a friendly in the way. I can't really blame the soldier for her death....we can blame the establishment for not being up front about it, but no way in hell can we blame the man on the ground, risking his life, for this tragic accident.

Just my opinion but...

If you wanna blame someone - blame the bad guys who took her ! Without those idiots this situation wouldn't have occurred in the first place.

Civilian died in a combat zone - tragedy, agreed.
Taken out by friendly fire on a rescue attempt - more tragedy, no question there.

Spare a thought for the troop who tossed the grenade - he's got to live with this unexpected result of a reasonable reaction under fire.

Wanna hate on someone for this unneccessary loss of life - I repeat, blame the abductors.

Like I said, just my opinion.

(edited for more acceptable wording in line 2)

ChrisWWII wrote:Like the Reuters story...this was another one of those tragic mistakes that happens during war. It's not something that can be easily fixed, this isn't the 41st millenium were SpecOps forces get fancy guns that literally won't fire if there's a friendly in the way. I can't really blame the soldier for her death....we can blame the establishment for not being up front about it, but no way in hell can we blame the man on the ground, risking his life, for this tragic accident.

Actually, you can't blame the establishment in this case.

The incident was covered up, originally, by the soldiers on the ground. But the follow-up investigation cleared any real potential illegalities, showing that it really was just a tragic accident that was covered up by the soldiers thinking they'd get in more trouble than they did. The soldiers involved in the cover-up have been reprimanded, but I don't think it will really result in any big punishments.

After all, they have to live with themselves knowing that they accidentally killed her. That's more than any jailtime could ever hope to punish them, imo.

You're right on tha tpoint, but after rereading the article, I kind of get the feeling that even with the soldiers on the ground, it was less 'cover up' more 'omission'.

According to the story, a soldier threw a grenade into a gully where the aid worker was found, and then failed to mention it on his report. Somehow, I feel that throwing a grenade in the heat of battle might be something that could potentially slip your mind in the aftermath. I find it hard to believe that the soldiers were deliberately trying to cover up that they accidentally killed her...I mean, if they were, I'm sure they could have done a much better job of it than just omitting a mention of a thrown grenade.

But you're right in that this is just one of those many tragedies of war that has been dealt with the proper authorities, and discipline served.

Reaper6 wrote:Just my opinion but...

If you wanna blame someone - blame the bad guys who took her ! Without those idiots this situation wouldn't have occurred in the first place.

Civilian died in a combat zone - tragedy, agreed.
Taken out by friendly fire on a rescue attempt - more tragedy, no question there.

Spare a thought for the troop who tossed the grenade - he's got to live with this unexpected result of a reasonable reaction under fire.

Wanna hate on someone for this unneccessary loss of life - I repeat, blame the abductors.

Like I said, just my opinion.

(edited for more acceptable wording in line 2)

Agreed.