The Daily Background
| ‘Cover up’ outrage: US & British gov’t hid 2003 friendly fire incident from family
by Arlen Parsa
British outrage is growing over the March 28 2003 death of Matty Hull, a Lance Corporal of Horse in the British Army. Headlines such as “Why won’t the US tell us how Matty died?” were read across the UK this weekend.
25 year old Hull died four years ago during the initial invasion of Iraq after two American airplanes fired on his armored vehicle. Another British soldier nearby tried to rescue Hull from the burning vehicle after the friendly fire incicident and was given the George Cross award for his bravery.
The Guardian reported Saturday that “The refusal of American authorities to discipline US servicemen who have killed British troops bolsters a perception among UK soldiers that the Pentagon has little regard for the sacrifices made by the British army in its support of the US-led coalition.”
Now the British media is accusing their own government of being complicit in a US-government coverup of the incident, during which the Hull’s widow and mother were lied to repeatedly by the British government over the course of four years. They suspected they were being mislead and given the run-around at the time, but only after recent courtroom disclosures in the investigation of Hull’s death did they learn the truth about several claims made by the British military.
One of the chief claims made by the British government was that no video footage existed of their son/husband’s death. This was untrue: video footage existed from in-plane recordings made in the American aircraft. More than that- the British Ministry of Defense has refused to allow British investigators access to the videotape, which is said to be in its possession.
A Ministry of Defense spokesperson told the press that “This recording is the property of the United States government and the MoD does not have the right to release it without their permission.”
British newspaper “The Sun” claims to have seen the tape played back, and reports that one American pilot involved exclaims “God damnit!” when he realizes that he has fired on an allied vehicle. The second pilot involved reportedly said “we’re in jail, dude.” According to The Sun, one of the two National Guard pilots “says he is going to vomit with shock” after the incident occurs.
“US and UK defence chiefs have sat on this tape for four years on grounds of security. Now they must release it for the inquest — and Matty’s grieving family — to see… This cover-up has gone on long enough,” opined The Sun today.
The most famous incident of death under friendly fire during the Iraq war happened in 2004 when former NFL player Pat Tillman was killed by his fellow American soldiers in an incident that was covered up by the military for months.
