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Fratricide an Age-Old Danger of War

New technologies cannot save troops from old friendly-fire dangers

Friday, April 19, 2002
(2:19 PM ET)
The Canadian Press

Almost one-quarter of all allied casualties during the Persian Gulf War were due to friendly fire. Tank fire towards misidentified targets was responsible for most of those deaths.

WASHINGTON -- CP
A U.S. fighter pilot's mistaken decision to drop a precision-guided weapon on Canadian soldiers points out the old dangers of new weapons.

Four Canadians serving along side American troops in Afghanistan were killed and eight wounded on Wednesday.

The pilot of an American F-16 bombed the Canadians, who were on a live-fire training mission, after mistaking them for enemy forces firing on him, Pentagon officials said Thursday.

The incident illustrates that 21st century soldiers armed with near-instant intelligence, communications and ordnance guided by space-based satellites and laser beams cannot differentiate friend from foe.

Smart bombs do not prevent casualties inflicted on friendly forces by accident. The hazards are particularly extreme from the air, where pilots can't always visually distinguish allies from enemies.
(More: The Toronto Star News Source)
2002 © The Canadian Press.

Dan