Gulf War lessons not learned: critics

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has pledged to examine whether changes are needed after a spate of so-called friendly-fire deaths in the Iraq war.

Analysts said the incidents suggested the United States military failed to make changes after many similar tragedies in the 1991 Gulf War.

In the latest incident a US warplane attacked a convoy of American special forces and Kurdish fighters close to an area recently captured from Iraqi forces not far from the northern town of Kalak.

"I'm sure the Pentagon is concerned," said analyst Patrick Garrett of the GlobalSecurity.org defence think-tank in Virginia. "I just don't think they've done a whole lot."

However, analyst Mark Burgess, of the Centre for Defence Information think-tank in Washington, noted: "It's not just a US problem. It's a British problem as well."

US officials defended their record on friendly fire.

"We are concerned about any incidents in which there's been a loss of life," said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman. "And we look at all of those with an eye towards whether there's something that we need to change or improve upon."

US Air Force Lieutenant General Michael "Buzz" Moseley, commander of the air war against Iraq, said: "When things like this happen, you do step back and begin to investigate the process, the procedures, the tactics and the techniques.

"You begin to look and see if we have hardware or people issues."

Whitman noted there was always the risk of "friendly fire" incidents.

"In a modern battlefield, portions of the battle space are enormously complex," he said, "and people being people, bad things can happen."

But some within the military were particularly alarmed after the 1991 Gulf War.

Of the 148 US troops killed in that war, 35 - almost one-quarter - died as a result of friendly fire.

Whitman said the Pentagon had moved since 1991 to improve "situational awareness" on the battlefield, letting troops know the location of their colleagues to avoid friendly-fire incidents. He also cited better communications and greater reliance on satellite technology.

The Pentagon in 2001 cancelled as too costly an Army programme to equip tanks and other military vehicles with electronic devices enabling troops to distinguish US vehicles from those of the enemy.

The Army is working with Nato to develop a similar system, but it is only in the testing stages.

Burgess said the Pentagon needed to examine pilots' use of energy-boosting amphetamines. These so-called "go pills" were used by the US pilots involved in last year's accidental bombing of Canadian forces in Afghanistan.

- REUTERS

Unfriendly fire

* Among the deadly incidents so far, a US Patriot missile downed a British Tornado, killing two crew members; another missile may have downed a US F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bomber, and a US F-15E Strike Eagle bombed an American artillery position, killing three soldiers.

* In addition, a US A-10 Thunderbolt strafed a convoy of British armoured vehicles; and two British soldiers died in an exchange of fire between two British Challenger tanks.

Herald Feature: Iraq war