Updated: Footage of U.S. pilots killing Britis puts the squeeze on Blair [VIDEO]

Posted by Joshua Holland at 1:20 PM on February 7, 2007.

Here's a video clip taken from a U.S. A-10 "Warthog," as the pilots get clearance to fire on a convoy in Iraq, only to discover they had targeted a British armored column, killing one soldier and wounding four others.

All that technology -- all that stuff about virtual battle-space and full-spectrum dominance we always hear about -- and yet, human errors still happen all the time. Mistakes are fatal -- it's another reason why you don't go to war for anything less than purposes of self-defense.

This is also a heated political issue in the UK; the U.S. military was less-than-forthcoming about what occurred out there.

Iraqslogger:

The Sun newspapers today: Joy at direct hit turns to horror; the full, disturbing truth about how the US pilot of an A-10 tankbuster jet broke all the rules to shoot up a British convoy in the Iraq war. The Sun has obtained the cockpit videotape at the centre of a diplomatic row between the two Allies. It shows how the pilots -- reservists who had never been in action before -- made SIX crucial errors. They left 25-year-old Lance Corporal of Horse Matty Hull dead and four comrades from the Household Cavalry Regiment seriously injured. They call it harrowing truth and a "cover up that has gone on long enough."

And in another story, from the Guardian UK: Why won't the US tell us how Matty died? Excerpt from the story: "Trooper Hull died in a hail of 'friendly fire' from our American allies in Iraq in 2003. Last week an inquest echoed to the fury of a coroner and the grief of a widow, but failed to answer why such a terrible accident happened. Here we reveal how ministers have battled for years to force the US to uncover the truth of this tragedy."

The Associated Press writes about the leaked video in which the American pilot is heard saying "we're in jail, dude," after U.S. troops killed a British soldier during a friendly fire incident in Iraq.

This is prompting Brits, not for the first time, to ask just how good that "special relationship" with the U.S. really is for Britain. Those questions are bad for one Anthony Charles Blair. The UK lost its 100th soldier recently, which hasn't made Blair's task of defending his close relationship with Bush any easier.

The Independent:

Tony Blair was accused of "delusional" behaviour after he mounted a strong defence of making Britain's special relationship with the United States the cornerstone of his foreign policy.

An unrepentant Mr Blair told MPs the relationship had given Britain more clout at the world's top table during his 10 years in power and insisted that it had resulted directly in progress on climate change, the Middle East and Africa. But his critics said little progress had been made on these issues and that Mr Blair had enjoyed little influence over President George Bush.[…]

Mr Blair expressed confidence that Gordon Brown, his most likely successor, would continue his approach to military intervention after he stands down - even though the Chancellor has hinted at a more multilateral policy with an enhanced role for the United Nations in the wake of the Iraq disaster.[…]

Watch out, here come Tony's own MPs …

Labour MPs reacted with disbelief to Mr Blair's claims about what the relationship with America had achieved since 1997. Peter Kilfoyle, a former defence minister, said: "It is delusional. It could be self-justification. It is a special relationship in one sense - it is one-way traffic. In the depths of night, he must realise how very wrong he has judged where Britain's national interests lie."

Alan Simpson, the MP for Nottingham South, said: "This is the politics of dangerous self-delusion. Even the White House laughs at the notion that Britain has influence over American foreign policy. The only door Bush opens at the moment is the one marked 'exit.' He [Mr Blair] has clearly entered the David Icke phase of his political career."

Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, said: "Tony Blair talks about his closeness with the United States with regards to climate change and poverty in Africa. But there is not much to show for it." He questioned the value of the relationship when it had taken America so long to release the video tape of the "friendly-fire" incident in which L/Cpl Matty Hull was killed in Iraq in 2003. […]

On climate change, the Prime Minister said there was a "changing mood" in the US and said it was "possible" but "not yet probable" that there would be a new global agreement when the Kyoto protocol expired in 2012.

Blair's a joke at this point, and if he genuinely thinks he's able to influence Bush's policies -- a trick that even powerful Republican legislators haven't mastered -- he truly is delusional. I love my dog, Red, and I'm sure Bush loves his poodle, but neither one of us are going to allow our pooches to tell us how to go about our business.

Update: For those who stay clear of the comments, this one, by the tantalizingly-named "Divacleavage," is worth hauling up here to the body of the post:

The video made me cry ...

I am a female, ex-military American.
I always wanted to be a pilot.
Hearing them say "orange panels" but then going for it because their intel told them there were no friendlies was bad and then their laughing at them running. I pondered on the way they must dehumanize whoever the enemy is. Then, when they realize their mistake, how they are upset - at their mistake and the loss. They would not have been upset, but instead joyful at the killing of an Iraqi or enemy.
Another example of what the soldiers have to go through psychologically in a time of war. It HAS to get incredibly confusing, and they have to be thinking these things themselves.
I am sad for all the dead and wounded. So needless, so unnecessary.

Tagged as: iraq, blair, friendly-fire

Joshua Holland is a staff writer at Alternet and a regular contributor to The Gadflyer.