British rules would have prevented death
13/03/2007
A British soldier would be alive today if Americans followed the same combat rules as the British, an inquest heard yesterday.
The British regulations on identifying targets are stringent and would have protected L/Cpl Matty Hull, who was the victim of a friendly fire attack by US aircraft in Iraq.
Before they can open fire, British pilots must communicate to their air controllers their direction of attack, the location of their target and its distance from any friendly forces.
Yesterday a British forward air controller in the area near Basra in southern Iraq when L/Cpl Hull was killed by A10 warplanes, said that the Americans did not have such rules in place.
The witness, Cpl Stuart Matthews, then produced a document, understood to be used in training, to show air controllers the corresponding US operating procedures.
L/Cpl Hull, from Windsor, Berkshire, was killed and four other members of his regiment were injured in the attack near Basra on March 28, 2003.
The 25-year-old was travelling with other members of the Household Cavalry Regiment on a reconnaissance mission when the American aircraft opened fire, having mistaken their convoy for enemy forces. Later Harriet Harman, the constitutional affairs minister, said that the US military's failure to help the soldier's family in their quest to find out the truth about his death was "regrettable and disappointing".
Miss Harman said: "All I can say is that I made every effort to make it clear to them how much it would be welcomed if they were prepared to come to give information to the inquest and answer relevant questions.
"Unfortunately, they have not been prepared to give this assistance and I think it's regrettable. It's disappointing."
The hearing, before Oxfordshire's assistant deputy coroner, Andrew Walker, continues.
telegraph.co.uk
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The American military will never be as good as the British.
The British would have beaten the Vietnamese.
13/03/2007
A British soldier would be alive today if Americans followed the same combat rules as the British, an inquest heard yesterday.
The British regulations on identifying targets are stringent and would have protected L/Cpl Matty Hull, who was the victim of a friendly fire attack by US aircraft in Iraq.
Before they can open fire, British pilots must communicate to their air controllers their direction of attack, the location of their target and its distance from any friendly forces.
Yesterday a British forward air controller in the area near Basra in southern Iraq when L/Cpl Hull was killed by A10 warplanes, said that the Americans did not have such rules in place.
The witness, Cpl Stuart Matthews, then produced a document, understood to be used in training, to show air controllers the corresponding US operating procedures.
L/Cpl Hull, from Windsor, Berkshire, was killed and four other members of his regiment were injured in the attack near Basra on March 28, 2003.
The 25-year-old was travelling with other members of the Household Cavalry Regiment on a reconnaissance mission when the American aircraft opened fire, having mistaken their convoy for enemy forces. Later Harriet Harman, the constitutional affairs minister, said that the US military's failure to help the soldier's family in their quest to find out the truth about his death was "regrettable and disappointing".
Miss Harman said: "All I can say is that I made every effort to make it clear to them how much it would be welcomed if they were prepared to come to give information to the inquest and answer relevant questions.
"Unfortunately, they have not been prepared to give this assistance and I think it's regrettable. It's disappointing."
The hearing, before Oxfordshire's assistant deputy coroner, Andrew Walker, continues.
telegraph.co.uk
----------
The American military will never be as good as the British.
The British would have beaten the Vietnamese.
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