ID:

474

Date:

2008-10-14

Headline:

Friendly fire in Iraq -- and a coverup

Reporter's name:

Mark Benjamin

Delay/denial:

No

Lawsuit:

No

Fees:

No

Media outlet:

Salon.com

City:

Philadelphia, PA

Summary:

An internal U.S. Army report on an incident in which two American soldiers died describes the cause as enemy fire rather than "friendly fire" from a nearby tank, contradicting multiple contemporaneous accounts and video. The video also put lie to the military's claim that one soldier was killed instantly. Two months later, Salon.com reported that on the day the original article was published, three soldiers from the same unit as the two killed were ordered to shred two boxes of documents, and eleven days after publication, an officer involved in the original inaccuracy was promoted from colonel to brigadier general (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/12/04/friendly_fire/index.html). Several weeks later, Salon.com noted that two more American soldiers were killed under eerily similar circumstances in the same town (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2009/01/15/friendly_fire/index.html).

Notes:

The Army report, which Salon.com obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, consisted of ten heavily-redacted pages, according to a follow-up article (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/12/04/friendly_fire/index.html). The report is available online at http://www.salon.com/news/primary_sources/2008/10/14/friendly_fire/index.html.

Keywords:

Iraq, Army, friendly fire, cover-up, video, tank, Albert Nelson, Roger Suarez-Gonzalez, Jean Feggins, Fort Carson, Colorado, Ramadi, Sean MacFarland

URL:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/14/friendly_fire/index.html

Agencies:

DOD

States:

CO
FL
PA
US Terr./Other

Categories:

Iraq
military