The Error-Filled Business of War : ‘Friendly fire’ deaths point up a constant, tragic reality

The Pentagon promises that the tragic incident over northern Iraq will get the thorough investigation that it manifestly deserves, and that the White House has ordered. The investigation is likely to reveal that Thursday’s accident, in which 26 were killed when two U.S. military helicopters were shot down by American jets, could have been prevented. Equally likely is that some blue-chip board of inquiry will recommend new flight procedures and additional safety redundancies.

All this will, no doubt, prove exceedingly useful. War, especially in this highly technological age, is complex. So are police actions conducted over hostile territory, such as this one--the U.S., British and French effort, backed by U.N. resolutions, to keep the skies clear of Iraqi warplanes over Kurdish settlements in the north.

Learning from mistakes is one way to avoid repeating them. But a measure of realistic perspective is important when considering the art and science of war. Basically, it is a messy business, full of human error. On Thursday, apparently communication between the pilots was not what it should have been; and technological error seems to have come into play when a key electronic device failed to warn the F-15C pilots that the helicopters were American.

In any military operation, when anything goes precisely as planned all involved--from the generals down to the lowly grunts--breathe a huge sigh of relief. Indeed, if U.S operations over Iraq and Kuwait have been notable for anything, it has been their relative lack of mistakes.

“Friendly fire”--the phrase describing what happened Thursday when the Americans, British, French, Turks and Kurds were killed by fire from their own side--is a never-ending constant of military life. What the term means is that in wartime virtually every sword has two edges.

Friendly fire was a huge problem in the Vietnam War. In the Persian Gulf War the U.S. public was more shocked by friendly fire casualties than the minimal toll that resulted from Iraqi fire; the streamlined efficiency mustered by Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf and his comrades was no barrier to heartbreaking accidents.

Even in training exercises, when the enemy is not real, the wrong button can be pushed and lives can be lost. War is not only cruel, it is chaotic and improbable even when its justification is solid (e.g., the war against the Nazis), even when the military command is competent, even when the soldiers are well-fed, well-trained, highly motivated.

Military work is just not like any other business, and it is noteworthy that those who are often the most reluctant to commit to war are the generals who have actually had to fight one. The great World War II general Dwight David Eisenhower when he was President frequently restrained his more bellicose and intervention-oriented subordinates from pushing American troops into dangerous situations because he knew the hellishness of war. It is not something to be lightly initiated.

And so its hell came home to the families of all the victims of this latest tragedy. The Americans and the others had gone in peace, to support U.N. resolutions, to protect the Kurds from Saddam Hussein--and they died in the effort. Without the Iraqis having fired a single shot.