British Coroner Condemns American War Machine

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Saturday March 17, 2007 00:15 by Anarchy Rules - Cosantoiri Siochana

British Coroner rules a 'friendly fire' incident in Iraq as 'criminal.'

It seems that the British and the Americans are about to have at each other.

This comes after a coroner's inquest in Oxfordshire, ruled that an attack on a British convoy in Iraq nearly four years ago was 'criminal.'

This incident was also investigted by American authorities, who found that it was an understandable mistake.

Andrew Walker, assistant deputy coroner of Oxfordshire, earlier in the week described the attitude of the American authorities as 'appalling.'

Two American jets attacked the convoy and later claimed that they thought that the orange markings on the tops of vehicles that denoted they were coalition tanks were enemy rocket launchers. Walker claims that the pilots broke the rules of combat by attacking without clearence to do so.

Tapes from the cockpits of the planes which were classified by the US and then declassified later on, supported Walkers claim that the attack was illegal because the two pilots can be heard to say to one and other that they thought they might be going to jail for this attack.

Walker has also criticised the Amreicans for not releasing this tape sooner. He has also criticised the British military for failing to advance material that would have shed light on the matter sooner and eased the suffering of the dead soldier Matty Hull's grief stricken family.

Related Link: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/03/16/news/britain.php