US Whitewashes Warthogs Killing Marines

http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_friendly_fire_add.html

The US Central Command has issued its investigative report on the
attack on Marines at An Nasiriyah by 2 A-10 Warthogs on March 23, 2003.
Initially, Americans were told, and US media reported, that the Marines
died as a result of Iraqi’s pretending to surrender, and then firing on
the Marines. It was then revealed that two A-10’s had attacked the
Marines during the worst so-called ’friendly’ fire incident of the war.
18 Marines died and 17 were wounded during the engagement with Iraqi
forces and the US A-10’s. The A-10’s fired Maverick missiles at
vehicles and strafed vehicles and US Marines on the ground with 30 mm
’depleted’ uranium rounds. One Marine witnessed 9 strafing runs.
On March 19, 2004, NPR had broadcast accounts by Marines given shortly
after the battle to Marine historians. Marines described multiple
deaths from the A-10’s; a sergeant said that most of the Americans
deaths were caused by the A-10’s. Col.

Reed Bonadonna, Marine historian, described the devastating
effect of the 30 mm DU rounds and called for a legitimate investigation
of the incident:
"I think that most of the Marines felt that with the kind of price that
is being paid by this war, by a lot of people, and with the stakes
being what they are, that falling back on some kind of no comment or
bland, evasive or euphemistic language is really inadequate to the
situation. That this kind of sacrifice, only the truth is good enough.
That to try to protect somebody’s nasty little career or to try to
throw a gloss over this as if it didn’t exist. The proper function of
military history is to instruct people so we do it better next time,
save people’s lives."
(transcription from NPR broadcast.)

Yet, the Central Command report did not confirm a single death caused
by the A-10’s. It found that the cause of death for 10 Marines was
"indeterminable."
Of Marines wounded, the Central Command said in its press release: "Of
the 17 wounded, only one was conclusively determined to have been hit
by friendly fire." Further, that "three Marines were wounded while
inside vehicles that received both friendly and hostile fire, and the
exact sequence and source of their injuries could not be determined."
It is unbelievable that the military could not confirm if these Marines
were injured by an A-10’s strafing, as DU is radioactive.

There was barely a mention of ’depleted’ uranium in the report itself,
even though it played a key role. It was mentioned in connection
marking vehicles that had been hit by the 30 mm rounds as radioactive.

It seems clear that the military has minimized this deadly incident.
Why?

http://www.traprockpeace.org/du_friendly_fire_add.html covers this
controversy.

It also provides exclusive commentary by Dr. Doug Rokke (retired Major
USAR); Tedd Weyman, Iraq Field Team leader for the Uranium Medical
Research Center, and Ross Wilcock, MD., as well as links to the NPR and
Central Command original resources and media accounts.

Charles Jenks, attorney at law
President of the Core Group
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-1633; Fax 413-773-7507
charles@mtdata.com
http://traprockpeace.org