How does the U.S. benefit from our relationship w/Israel?

[Hagbard Celine 11,159]

On 2/3/2021 at 1:59 PM, RDCanecutter said:

We avoid laser strikes.

 

On 2/3/2021 at 2:24 PM, Al Czervik said:

Tell that to California.

 

[NorthLoop 14,421]

Didn't they straight up steal a Mig from Russia?

Mossad is playing chess....

[Hagbard Celine 11,159]

i'm a supporter of israel despite a number of mutual problems we've swept under the rug for 75 years.

in their defense re: the palestinians every other arab country is just as guilty for the situation in gaza in particular.

here's a random youtube video:

 

[Hookah Horns 3,089]

14 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

i'm a supporter of israel despite a number of mutual problems we've swept under the rug for 75 years.

in their defense re: the palestinians every other arab country is just as guilty for the situation in gaza in particular.

here's a random youtube video:

 

Holy shit, I can't believe I'd never read/heard about this before. 

[Hagbard Celine 11,159]

there's more.  much more.

but now is not the time.

[Pescado_Rojo 19,558]

On 2/3/2021 at 5:41 PM, Parliament said:

Gal Gadot

Bar Rafaeli 

[C-Man 27,685]

28 minutes ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

Bar Rafaeli 

[UDontKnow 10,557]

Am I the only one here who believes that Netanyahu is the reason that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was derailed under Clinton? His rhetoric is what killed Yitzhak Rabin.

Also I felt insulted when the Republicans allowed him to address Congress and he was essentially insulting Obama for trying to make peace with Iranians. Strange that the politicians that he was appealing to back domestic terrorism directed towards Jews. But he's willing to overlook that for the supposed sake of Israel, right?

His behavior is essentially that of any radical that is adherent to an Abrahamic religion. No loyalty to the land that raised you or you live own, but alleged diehard loyalty to faith. For fuck's sake his father was so radical, that elder Netanyahu was exiled from Israel. Bibi Netanyahu grew up in NYC and Philly.

Anytime Netanyahu is confronted, all he can offer is the fatigued reply of "antisemitism" and the "Holocaust." Yes the Holocaust happened, it was absolutely horrific, and one of the lowest points in human history. It should not have ever occurred to any religious, ethnic, or whatever group - also other groups greatly suffered genocide during the Holocaust. The Poles, Gypsies, and disabled hardly receive any attention for the trauma and abuse that they suffered during WWII.

Antisemitism also happens, but any criticism of Israel and their application of Zionism does not equal antisemitism. I hope Bibi stands trial for corruption, because I am damn certain he lined his own pockets during that 11th hour Kushner-mediated Saudi-Israel deal and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

[UDontKnow 10,557]

17 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

i'm a supporter of israel despite a number of mutual problems we've swept under the rug for 75 years.

in their defense re: the palestinians every other arab country is just as guilty for the situation in gaza in particular.

here's a random youtube video:

 

 

1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:

there's more.  much more.

but now is not the time.

Not dismissing what you're providing here @Hagbard Celine, but can you offer any reports/accounts from sources that are not al-Jazeera? I hope you understand my skepticism of al-Jazeera. 

[formermav43 4,607]

4 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

His behavior is essentially that of any radical that is adherent to an Abrahamic religion. No loyalty to the land that raised you or you live own, but alleged diehard loyalty to faith. For fuck's sake his father was so radical, that elder Netanyahu was exiled from Israel. Bibi Netanyahu grew up in NYC and Philly.

I’m not disputing your take on Netanyahu in general, but I don’t know that loyalty to your religion over your country makes you “radical” in the sense it’s normally used in political discourse.

[Hagbard Celine 11,159]

8 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

 

Not dismissing what you're providing here @Hagbard Celine, but can you offer any reports/accounts from sources that are not al-Jazeera? I hope you understand my skepticism of al-Jazeera. 

how about all of the us veterans that were on the boat that are interviewed in the piece?

or how about the wiki with 116 citations?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident

[UDontKnow 10,557]

3 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

I’m not disputing your take on Netanyahu in general, but I don’t know that loyalty to your religion over your country makes you “radical” in the sense it’s normally used in political discourse.

I could have worded that better. IMO, Netanyahu is a religious extremist and a terrorist. 

[UDontKnow 10,557]

Just now, Hagbard Celine said:

how about all of the us veterans that were on the boat that are interviewed in the piece?

or how about the wiki with 116 citations?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident

I'll take the Wiki. Thanks.

[TwiceHorn 31,987]

12 minutes ago, formermav43 said:

I’m not disputing your take on Netanyahu in general, but I don’t know that loyalty to your religion over your country makes you “radical” in the sense it’s normally used in political discourse.

It is my impression that Netanyahu's policies are shaped more by his experience in Arab-Israeli conflict as a young soldier than his religion.  He's not exactly an observant Jew.

A lot of really hardcore Zionists were not that religious.  There seem to be some fanatical Israelis and some that are not, and religiosity doesn't seem to be the great divider.  

[fakebusiness 129]

On 2/4/2021 at 3:21 AM, Shady Ray said:

 

 

Exactly this.

 

Israel will "fight until the last American is dead" as is common saying, at least here in Europe. Not the other way around. The fact that anyone thinks "they fight our wars for us" while we are balls deep in Syria, Iraq and very possibly Iran in the future is absurd.

 

We fight their wars now. We have since Bush the Younger. We allow them to violate international law regularly and then give them whatever military tech they haven't already lifted from us via espionage. We pardon their spies and we allow them to flout all relevant nuclear non-proliferation regulations while throwing hissy fits when their adversaries do the same. We give them billions while idiot American evangelicals think that the right to military superiority over their neighbors is literally is a divine right of theirs that we must ensure is continued.

 

Y'all remember when the Republican Party essentially allowed this complete piece of shit speak from the floor of our Congress and then applaud him while he spoke against Obama's (tepid) plans for Mid-East peace? 

 

"I know what America is.
America is something that can be easily moved to the right direction....they won't get in our way.
They won't get in our way.
So let's say they say something. So they say it! 80% of the Americans support us...it is absurd."

 

 

 

Also in that video. "Our greatest ally":

America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won't get their way", he said, referring to his plans for a "broad attack on the Palestinian Authority ... [one which would] bring them to the point of being afraid that everything is collapsing". "They asked me before the election if I'd honour [the Oslo accords]", he went on. "I said I would, but ... I'm going to interpret the accords in such a way that would allow me to put an end to this galloping forward to the 1967 borders. How did we do it? Nobody said what defined military zones were. Defined military zones are security zones – as far as I'm concerned the entire Jordan Valley is a defined military zone. Go argue." In this way, he concluded, "I de facto put an end to the Oslo accords."

[fakebusiness 129]

12 hours ago, UDontKnow said:

 

Not dismissing what you're providing here @Hagbard Celine, but can you offer any reports/accounts from sources that are not al-Jazeera? I hope you understand my skepticism of al-Jazeera. 

The survivors that are still alive, testimony, and recordings. However, tread lightly because even speaking about this event can get you labeled an anti-Semite. It already preemptively happened in this thread. 

While you're at it look up the 'Lavon Affair'. They got caught committing a false flag so it can't be labeled an anti-Semitic conspiracy (which obviously exist, this isn't one of them though).

[Shady Ray 1,633]

13 hours ago, UDontKnow said:

Am I the only one here who believes that Netanyahu is the reason that the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was derailed under Clinton? His rhetoric is what killed Yitzhak Rabin.

Also I felt insulted when the Republicans allowed him to address Congress and he was essentially insulting Obama for trying to make peace with Iranians. Strange that the politicians that he was appealing to back domestic terrorism directed towards Jews. But he's willing to overlook that for the supposed sake of Israel, right?

His behavior is essentially that of any radical that is adherent to an Abrahamic religion. No loyalty to the land that raised you or you live own, but alleged diehard loyalty to faith. For fuck's sake his father was so radical, that elder Netanyahu was exiled from Israel. Bibi Netanyahu grew up in NYC and Philly.

Anytime Netanyahu is confronted, all he can offer is the fatigued reply of "antisemitism" and the "Holocaust." Yes the Holocaust happened, it was absolutely horrific, and one of the lowest points in human history. It should not have ever occurred to any religious, ethnic, or whatever group - also other groups greatly suffered genocide during the Holocaust. The Poles, Gypsies, and disabled hardly receive any attention for the trauma and abuse that they suffered during WWII.

Antisemitism also happens, but any criticism of Israel and their application of Zionism does not equal antisemitism. I hope Bibi stands trial for corruption, because I am damn certain he lined his own pockets during that 11th hour Kushner-mediated Saudi-Israel deal and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

While I believe all of this to be true, let's not just overlook the fact that (as proven in the last general election) the Netanyahu/Likudnik stance on the Palestinian issue is essentially either replicated (interchangeable with Gantz/Blue and White) or viewed as "too moderate" by the others (excluding Labor, which is now unfortunately essentially a non-player in Israeli politics with their barely 5% of the vote total in 2020). We will see how it goes in March now that Blue and White are essentially defunct, but I see nothing indicating a Center Left position has any chance at success in Israel. 

 

While American Jews may voice some concerns over the illegal Israeli settlements and treatment of Palestinians, the vast majority of Israeli Jews give zero fucks about how horrendous their government is on that issue. In fact, anything even remotely resembling adherence to international law is electoral suicide in Israel.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Shady Ray

[Shady Ray 1,633]

59 minutes ago, fakebusiness said:

The survivors that are still alive, testimony, and recordings. However, tread lightly because even speaking about this event can get you labeled an anti-Semite. It already preemptively happened in this thread. 

While you're at it look up the 'Lavon Affair'. They got caught committing a false flag so it can't be labeled an anti-Semitic conspiracy (which obviously exist, this isn't one of them though).

Exactly this. There is so much first-hand eye-witness material out there on this act of naked aggression against our military. But woe be unto those who bring it up, lest you be accused of being an anti-semite. The actions of the Johnson Admin throughout this entire ordeal show what anyone with a discerning eye can see. The Israeli Lobby wields massive, massive levels of power over the Executive, and even moreso the Legislative Branch. The Congress is so fucking bought and paid for by pro-Israeli interests that it would blow the minds of anyone with the intellectual honesty to actually evaluate the reality of the situation.

 

Anyone with any interest in this subject should read The Israel Lobby by Mearsheimer and Walt. It is absolutely infuriating to see what is actually going on in our Congress with respect to the transfer of funds to Israel and the open door with which we allow them vis a vis our military tech, intelligence, etc.

 

The amount of heat that this book triggered by U of Chicago and Harvard professors was unreal when it first came out. Good on Mearsheimer and Walt for staying strong, but had they not had the intellectual pedigree and backing of their respective academic institutions that they each possess, it would have been chalked up to anti-Semitism and tossed in the trash. Hell, The Atlantic commissioned the original article that inspired the book and then refused to publish it, so Mearsheimer and Walt had to come to Europe to get the damn thing published.

 

 

Quote

 

Does America’s pro-Israel lobby wield inappropriate control over US foreign policy?

This book has created a storm of controversy by bringing out into the open America’s relationship with the Israel lobby: a loose coalition of individuals and organizations that actively work to shape foreign policy in a way that is profoundly damaging both to the United States and Israel itself. 

Israel is an important, valued American ally, yet Mearsheimer and Walt show that, by encouraging unconditional US financial and diplomatic support for Israel and promoting the use of its power to remake the Middle East, the lobby has jeopardized America’s and Israel’s long-term security and put other countries – including Britain – at risk.

 

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/561/56131/the-israel-lobby-and-us-foreign-policy/9780141031231.html

 

Edit: And right on re the Lavon Affair. Was an absolute harbinger of things to come.

Edited February 6, 2021 by Shady Ray

[Parliament 14,559]

On 2/4/2021 at 9:38 PM, NorthLoop said:

 

Mossad is playing chess....

Yuuuup:

The assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh (Arabic: محمود المبحوح‎, Maḥmūd al-Mabḥūḥ; 14 February 1961 – 19 January 2010) took place on 19 January 2010, in a hotel room in Dubai. Al-Mabhouh—a co-founder of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas—was wanted by the Israeli government for the kidnapping and murder of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 as well as purchasing arms from Iran for use in Gaza; these have been cited as a possible motive for the assassination.[1]

His assassination attracted international attention in part due to allegations that it was ordered by the Israeli government and carried out by Mossad agents holding fake or fraudulently obtained passports from several European countries and Australia.

The photographs of the 26 suspects and their aliases were subsequently placed on Interpol's most-wanted list. The Dubai police found that 12 of the suspects used British passports, along with six Irish, four French, one German, and three Australian passports.[2][3][4][5][6] Interpol and the Dubai police believed that the suspects stole the identities of real people, mostly Israeli dual citizens.[2][7] Two Palestinians, believed by Hamas to be former Fatah security officers and current employees of a senior Fatah official, were taken into custody in Dubai, on suspicions that one of them provided logistical assistance to the hit team. Despite Hamas's claim, Dubai would not comment on the incident or identify the two Palestinian suspects.

According to initial reports, Al-Mabhouh was drugged,[8] then electrocuted and suffocated.[4] Lt. Gen. Dhahi Khalfan Tamim of the Dubai Police Force said the suspects tracked Al-Mabhouh to Dubai from Damascus, Syria. They arrived from different European destinations and stayed at different hotels, presumably to avoid being detected and, with the exception of three of its members suspected of "helping to facilitate" who had left on a ferry for Iran several months before the assassination, departed after the assassination to different countries.[9][4] Dubai's police chief said that he was "99% certain" that the assassination was the work of Israel's Mossad. On 1 March 2010, he stated that he was "sure" that all of the suspects are hiding in Israel.[10][11]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Mahmoud_Al-Mabhouh

[UDontKnow 10,557]

4 hours ago, fakebusiness said:

The survivors that are still alive, testimony, and recordings. However, tread lightly because even speaking about this event can get you labeled an anti-Semite. It already preemptively happened in this thread. 

While you're at it look up the 'Lavon Affair'. They got caught committing a false flag so it can't be labeled an anti-Semitic conspiracy (which obviously exist, this isn't one of them though).

 

3 hours ago, Shady Ray said:

While I believe all of this to be true, let's not just overlook the fact that (as proven in the last general election) the Netanyahu/Likudnik stance on the Palestinian issue is essentially either replicated (interchangeable with Gantz/Blue and White) or viewed as "too moderate" by the others (excluding Labor, which is now unfortunately essentially a non-player in Israeli politics with their barely 5% of the vote total in 2020). We will see how it goes in March now that Blue and White are essentially defunct, but I see nothing indicating a Center Left position has any chance at success in Israel. 

 

While American Jews may voice some concerns over the illegal Israeli settlements and treatment of Palestinians, the vast majority of Israeli Jews give zero fucks about how horrendous their government is on that issue. In fact, anything even remotely resembling adherence to international law is electoral suicide in Israel.

The Lavon Affair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavon_Affair

It's fairly sickening. They hoped to hurt to American and British establishments. It was only because of America and Britain that there was an Israel in the first damn place. That's biting the hand that fed you. No loyalty whatsoever.

Quote

The Lavon affair was a failed Israeli covert operation, codenamed Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation,[1] a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence to plant bombs inside Egyptian-, American-, and British-owned civilian targets: cinemas, libraries, and American educational centers. The bombs were timed to detonate several hours after closing time. The attacks were to be blamed on the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian Communists, "unspecified malcontents", or "local nationalists" with the aim of creating a climate of sufficient violence and instability to induce the British government to retain its occupying troops in Egypt's Suez Canal zone.[2] The operation caused no casualties among the population, but cost the lives of four operatives: two cell members who committed suicide after being captured; and two operatives who were tried, convicted, and executed by the Egyptian authorities.

Quote

Israel publicly denied any involvement in the incident until 2005, when the surviving agents were awarded certificates of appreciation by Israeli President Moshe Katsav.

 

Edited February 6, 2021 by UDontKnow

[Brisketexan 106,618]

Not dismissing what you're providing here [mention=2501]Hagbard Celine[/mention], but can you offer any reports/accounts from sources that are not al-Jazeera? I hope you understand my skepticism of al-Jazeera. 

how about all of the us veterans that were on the boat that are interviewed in the piece?
or how about the wiki with 116 citations?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident

Yeah...dude....the Liberty incident isn’t exactly a secret.

[Hagbard Celine 11,159]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_bombing

https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/node/71794

[fakebusiness 129]

On 2/3/2021 at 11:59 AM, TwiceHorn said:

I think two things underlie US support for Israel.  First was (and is) collective guilt for the Holocaust and a millenium of anti-Semitism. The second, I think, is that it was recognized that it was a force for stability and western values in the Middle East.  You implicitly recognize these factors.

Here a half-century later, those justifications are attenuated by the passage of time and actual experience.  Now, it is support from American Jewry, which is getting less uniform, and to some extent the whole eschatological fundagelical thing that holds that Israel must exist to bring about the Rapture.  But the realpolitik of having an ally, even a kind of devious one, in the region probably trumps [sic] all else, from a political standpoint.

In many ways, a religious state such as Israel is anathema to most things American.  And while a lot of formal policy of Israel is dictated by religion, I think in actuality or practice it is a pretty liberal western democracy.  Israeli non-Jews and irreligious Jews have pretty good lives there, especially for religious minorities in that part of the world, despite the many legalistic discriminations you note.  As the older generations that fought the wars of independence and preservation die off, I'd expect it to continue to liberalize and maybe to abandon a lot of the current policies that are so distasteful.

As to anti-Semitism, well, Jews are probably the single most discriminated-against group ever to walk the earth.  It may not be uniformly true today, but historically, opposition to Israel's existence was actually an expression of anti-Semitism.  So it may not be fully accurate today that opposition to Israeli policies reflects or expresses anti-Semitism, but heated topics like this draw that kind of comparison or labeling just on the historical precedent alone.

 

Can you show me any evidence of the younger generations "liberalizing"?

 

[fakebusiness 129]

5 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

 

 

 

Yeah...dude....the Liberty incident isn’t exactly a secret.

 

 

 

I didn't know about until I was in my mid-20s and it was presented as an anti-Semitic conspiracy. I bet the vast majority of college-educated Americans have no idea it happened. It sort of is held as a secret as the (inconvenient) survivors have been told to stfu and go away which is just wild.

[fakebusiness 129]

Also, two pages and not one benefit listed so far. 

[Bama Chick 28,596]

Also, two pages and not one benefit listed so far. 

Well, this board probably isn’t the place you’ll find that.

Maybe try the DT.

[washparkhorn 9,967]

3 hours ago, fakebusiness said:

I didn't know about until I was in my mid-20s and it was presented as an anti-Semitic conspiracy. I bet the vast majority of college-educated Americans have no idea it happened. It sort of is held as a secret as the (inconvenient) survivors have been told to stfu and go away which is just wild.

And now you present it again. 

You want the truth?  Friendly-fire incidents in the Fog of War happen all the fucking time. Thousands have died in friendly-fire incidents. At a minimum, 3% of casualties in battle are from friendly-fire. 

Here are a fuck-ton of friendly fire incidents in the past 100 years:

Spoiler

World War II[edit]

1939[edit]

6 September – Just days after the start of the war, in what was dubbed the Battle of Barking Creek, three Royal Air Force Spitfires from 74 Squadron shot down two Hurricanes from the RAF's 56 Squadron, killing one of the pilots. One of the Spitfires was then shot down by British anti-aircraft artillery while returning to base.[29]

10 September – The British submarine HMS Triton sank another British submarine, HMS Oxley. After making challenges which went unanswered Triton assumed it must have located a German U-boat and fired two torpedoes. Oxley was the first Royal Navy vessel to be sunk and also the first vessel to be sunk by a British vessel in the war, killing 52 with only two survivors. Both vessels were patrolling off the coast of Norway (then neutral) at the time. The incident that led to the loss of Oxley was kept in secrecy until the 1950s.[30]

3 December 1939 - British submarine HMS Snapper sustained a direct hit from a British aircraft while returning to Harwich after a patrol in the North Sea, but without taking damage.[31]

1940[edit]

19 February – During Operation Wikinger the German destroyer Z1 Leberecht Maass was sunk by Luftwaffe bombs while another destroyer, the Z3 Max Schultz, was sunk by mines in the confusion.[32]

14 April – The Dutch submarine HNLMS O 10 was bombed in error off Noordwijk by an RAF aircraft.[33]

10 May – German Luftwaffe bombers sent to bomb Dijon in France instead bombed the German city of Freiburg due to navigation errors, killing 57 people.[34]

Night of 11 May - During the Battle of Belgium the British 3rd Infantry Division, commanded by General Bernard Law Montgomery were sent to take their pre-arranged position on the River Dyle near Leuven when they were fired on in mistake for German paratroopers by the Belgian 10th Infantry Division who were holding the position. They gave way when Montgomery (own claim) approached and offered to place himself under Belgian command.[35]

Battle of the Grebbeberg, Holland - The 2nd Battalion of the Dutch 19th Infantry Regiment, ordered to make a night counterattack against positions newly seized by the Germans on 11 May, were fired on at the stopline by other Dutch troops who had been uninformed of the counterattack, causing it to be called off at dawn when order had been restored. (Fortunately for the Dutch a planned German night attack at that point had been called off because of their deterring supporting artillery fire.) They were ordered to counterattack again, after 1600 hours the following day, when, reaching the frontline, fellow troops again fired on them, causing the counterattack to peter out and be abandoned.

14 May - At midday German Luftwaffe fighters attacked at French town of Chemery-sur-Bar as the 1st Panzer Division were holding a victory parade following the battle of Bulsen, causing a few casualties.[36]

21 May – A Bristol Blenheim L9325 of No. 18 Squadron RAF was shot down by RAF Hurricane and crashed near Arras, France. Three crewmen were killed.[37]

22 May – A Bristol Blenheim L9266 of No. 59 Squadron RAF was shot down by RAF Spitfire and crashed near Fricourt, France. Three crewmen were killed.[37]

1 June - A Bristol Blenheim Piloted by Alastair Panton was shot down by Northumberland Fusiliers while flying low over the beaches of Dunkirk in order let the soldiers see the RAF was involved.[38]

28 June – Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo and his crew were killed when Italian anti-aircraft guns at Tobruk shot down their Savoia-Marchetti SM.79.[39]

6 October – The Italian submarine Gemma was sunk in error by the Italian submarine Tricheco while on patrol in the Mediterranean.[40]

1941[edit]

January, New Fourth Army incident, Chinese Red Army commander Xiang Ying was killed by one of his subordinates over the gold resources of the rival National Revolutionary Army's New Fourth Army

5 January – While flying an Airspeed Oxford for the ATA from Blackpool to RAF Kidlington near Oxford, Amy Johnson went off course in adverse weather conditions. Reportedly out of fuel, she bailed out as her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary but her body was never recovered. In 1999 it was reported that Tom Mitchell, at the time a RAF fighter pilot, claimed to have shot Johnson down when she twice failed to give the correct identification code during the flight. He said: "The reason Amy was shot down was because she gave the wrong colour of the day [a signal to identify aircraft known by all British forces] over radio." Mitchell explained how the aircraft was sighted and contacted by radio. A request was made for the signal. She gave the wrong one twice. "Sixteen rounds of shells were fired and the plane dived into the Thames Estuary. We all thought it was an enemy plane until the next day when we read the papers and discovered it was Amy. The officers told us never to tell anyone what happened."[41]

21 January - German army general Karl Eibl was killed NW of Stalingrad during a chaotic retreat in the wake of Soviet Operation Little Saturn when Italian soldiers mistaking his command vehicle for a Soviet armoured car blew it up with hand grenades.[42]

Bardia raid (1941): On the night of 19/20 April, 450 British commandos conducted an amphibious raid against Axis forces in Bardia, Libya, to destroy an Italian supply dump and a coastal artillery battery (which were successful). While most men were successfully evacuated after the raid, one was killed by friendly fire from an overalert British commando soldier and 67 became prisoners of war after getting lost and going to the wrong beach.[43]

In May, a Fleet Air Arm torpedo attack was erroneously carried out against HMS Sheffield during the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck. Fortunately all eleven torpedoes missed.[44]

5 July 1941 - An Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V bomber aircraft, Z6667 of No. 10 Operational Training Unit RAF based at Abingdon,[45] was on a night training flight when it broke up over Oxfordshire, crashed on Chiselhampton Hill and caught fire on impact. The crash was variously attributed to either interception by a Luftwaffe night fighter or friendly fire by a local anti-aircraft unit. All six crewmen were killed.[46]

9 August – RAF fighter ace Wing Commander Douglas Bader was shot down in what recent research suggests was a friendly fire incident.[47]

29 August – A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 plane was shot down in error by a German 8.8 cm FlaK 18/36/37/41 near the French coast and crashed on the beach south of Dunkirk. Leutnant Heinz Schenk was the first Focke-Wulf 190 pilot to be killed in action.[48]

26 November – A RAF aircraft bombed the 1st Essex Regiment during Operation Crusader, causing about 40 casualties.[citation needed]

7 December – During the Attack on Pearl Harbor confused and inexperienced naval gunners downed several US fighter aircraft that were sent from USS Enterprise to bolster the harbor defenses.[49] Army pilot Lieutenant John L. Dains was also killed by friendly fire just after having shot down the first Japanese aircraft of the war.[50][51]

1942[edit]

31 January – The German blockade runner Spreewald was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-333, captained by U-boat ace Peter-Erich Cremer off Bordeaux.[52]

20 February – British Commonwealth forces during the Burma Campaign were repeatedly bombed and strafed by RAF Blenheims during a break-out attempt by a battalion surrounded by Japanese troops in Sittaung River, Burma. More than 170 British Commonwealth lives were lost due to RAF air-strikes.[53]

21 February – Pilots of the 1st American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) strafed retreating Commonwealth forces who were mistaken for an advancing Japanese column during the Burma Campaign, resulting in more than 100 casualties.[54] Around the same day, retreating British Commonwealth forces with 300 vehicles were bombed and strafed by RAF Blenheims near Mokpalin, Burma, resulting more than 110 casualties and 159 vehicles destroyed.[53]

1 March before dawn - At the naval Battle of Sunda Strait, Japanese cruisers and destroyers fired Long Lance torpedoes against the Allied squadron. Many travelled too far and unexpectedly hit four Japanese auxiliary ships and sunk all (one re-floated later). Many soldiers were rescued from the sea, including the 16th Army Commander Hitoshi Imamura. Note: The English article is incorrect in many respects.

14 April - RAF fighter pilot fires on the audience during a demonstration of ground attack tactics at Imber training ground, Wiltshire, after mistaking them for dummy targets in mist. 25 killed and 71 wounded.

2 May – The Polish submarine ORP Jastrząb was mistakenly sunk by the British destroyer HMS St Albans and minesweeper HMS Seagull while on a convoy to Murmansk. She was attacked with depth charges and made to surface, there she was strafed with the loss of five crew and six injured, including the commander, despite lighting yellow recognition smoke candles. The ship was damaged and had to be scuttled.[55]

During the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign in May–September 1942, around 1,700 Japanese troops died out of a total 10,000 Japanese soldiers who fell ill with disease when their own biological weapons attack intended for Chinese civilians and soldiers rebounded on their own forces.[56][57]

7 May: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, TF 44, a joint Australia–U.S. warship force, was mistakenly bombed by three U.S. Army B-17s, but fortunately sustained no damage.

8 June – The Italian submarine Alagi sank the Italian destroyer Antoniotto Usodimare.[58]

27 June – A group of RAF Vickers Wellington aircraft bombed the units of 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), British 7th Armoured Division and the British 3rd Hussars during a two-hour raid near Mersa Matruh, Egypt, killing over 359 troops and wounding 560.[59] The aftermath of RAF raids at this time were also seen by the Germans: "... The RAF had bombed their own troops, and with tracer flying in all directions, German units fired on each other. At 0500 hours next morning 28 June, I drove up to the breakout area where we had spent such a disturbed night. There we found a number of lorries filled with the mangled corpses of New Zealanders who had been killed by the British bombs ...[60]

Laconia incident – there were three elements of friendly fire:

* RMS Laconia, a British naval transport ship, sunk by the German submarine U-156 in the Atlantic Ocean off west Africa on 12 September, was carrying 1,793 Italian prisoners-of-war among its passengers, of whom 1,420 ultimately died.[61] Italy was then Germany's ally.

On 16 September, during the mass rescue of survivors by German vessels, a USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber under orders attacked U-156 despite the pilot having earlier received a signal conveyed by a RAF officer from the U-boat that indicated Allied passengers were on board, and the submarine bearing the Red Cross flag. This caused the U-boat to cast off its passengers in order to Crash dive to avoid destruction, and to abandon rescue attempts. (U-156 was wrongly reported sunk in the action.)

* On 17 September, another U-boat involved in rescue, U-506, carrying 151 survivors, was attacked by a USAAF North American B-25 Mitchell bomber, although it failed to disable the vessel.

23 October – During the 2nd Battle of El Alamein, at 2140 hours under the cover of a barrage of 1000 guns, British infantry of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division advanced towards the enemy lines. However, they advanced too fast into the area of fire from British artillery, causing over 60 casualties.[29]

During the 2nd Battle of El Alamein, RAF fighters bombed British troops during a four-hour raid, causing 56 casualties. The British 10th Royal Hussars were among the victims; they did not know the proper signals to call off their planes.[29]

26 October — During the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, USS Porter was forced to be scuttled after an errant torpedo from a friendly Grumman TBF Avenger that had been damaged and forced to ditch nearby. Ironically, the torpedo came from the very aircraft that they were going to rescue.

British submarine HMS Unbeaten completed Operation Bluestone, landing an agent in Spain near Bayona, then completed her patrol in the Bay of Biscay and was returning to the UK when she went missing. It is believed that she was probably attacked and sunk in error by an RAF Wellington bomber of No. 172 Squadron, Coastal Command in the Bay of Biscay on 11 November 1942 . She was lost with all hands.[62]

During the night attack of 12/13 November in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the already damaged light cruiser USS Atlanta was fired on by the cruiser USS San Francisco, causing several deaths.

20 November – Numerous Allied pilots reported being shot at by friendly naval forces during the Torch landings in North Africa. In one such incident, a 202 Squadron Catalina flying boat was shot down with the loss of all 10 aircrew.[63]

1943[edit]

3 March – The German blockade runner and minelayer Doggerbank was mistaken for a British freighter and sunk by the submarine U-43 in the mid-Atlantic. (It was a British made merchant vessel that had been captured in 1941 and impressed into German service.) Of the 365 men on board (the greater part Allied prisoners-of-war), only one German crewman survived.[64]

9 May – The destroyers HMS Bicester and HMS Oakley, on deployment in the Mediterranean found themselves under air attack by Spitfire aircraft; Bicester sustained extensive damage from a near miss, with the bomb exploding alongside causing major flooding. Bicester was taken in tow to Malta for temporary repairs, and required permanent repairs in the United Kingdom, which were carried out between August and September.

Operation Chastise: On 16–17 May, nineteen RAF Lancaster bombers of No. 617 Squadron were dispatched to attack dams in Eder, Möhne and Sorpe (Röhr) rivers near Germany, using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis. Möhne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley. An estimated 1,600 people were killed by the floods; 1,519 of them were Allied prisoners of war.

During Operation Husky, codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily, on the night of 11 July 1943, American paratroopers of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, together with the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and Company 'C' of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion (making a total of some 1,900 parachutists), part of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, traveling in 144 C-47 transport planes, passed over Allied lines shortly after a German air raid, and were mistakenly fired upon by American ground and naval forces. 23 planes were shot down and 37 damaged, resulting in 318 casualties, with 60 airmen and 81 paratroopers killed.[65]

Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, commander of the U.S. II Corps, recalled that his column was attacked by American A-36s in Sicily. The tanks lit yellow smoke flares to identify themselves to their own aircraft but the attacks continued, forcing the column to return fire which resulted in the downing of one aircraft. A parachuting pilot from the downed A-36 was brought before Bradley. 'You stupid sonofabitch!!' Bradley fumed. 'Didn't you see our yellow recognition signals!?' The pilot replied 'Oh, is that what that was?'.[66]

12 August – RAF Flight Sergeant Arthur Louis Aaron was fatally wounded when the Short Stirling bomber he piloted during an air raid on Turin was reportedly (according to his posthumous Victoria Cross citation) hit by machine gun fire from an enemy night fighter, which killed his navigator and wounded other crew members, although it is believed it may have been friendly fire from another Stirling.[67] He died, after successfully landing the plane in Algeria, nine hours later.

17-18 August - Local German anti-aircraft batteries were ordered to fire on 200 Luftwaffe planes observed flying over Berlin during the night which had been mistaken for British bombers that had become detached from the concurrent major air raid on Peenemunde (Operation Hydra). The responsible Luftwaffe general, Hans Jeschonnek, subsequently committed suicide after the error was revealed.[68][69]

During Operation Cottage after Allied forces occupied Kiska Island, U.S. and Canadian forces mistook each other as Japanese and engaged each other in a deadly firefight. As a result, 28 Americans and 4 Canadians were killed with 50 more wounded. There were no Japanese troops on the island two weeks before U.S. and Canadian forces landed. Meanwhile, thinking they were engaging Americans, Imperial Japanese Navy battleships shelled and attempted to torpedo neighbouring Little Kiska Island where Japanese soldiers were waiting to embark.[70]

26 November - Medal of Honor recipient Edward O'Hare went missing during a nighttime mission. O'Hare was caught in the crossfire between a friendly Grumman TBF Avenger and a Japanese Mitsubishi G4M bomber. It was thought that O'Hare was indeed a victim of friendly fire, however several historians have argued that it was in fact the Japanese fire that shot him down.

1944[edit]

28 January –

A train carrying 800 Allied prisoners of war was bombed when it crossed a bridge on the Ponte Paglia in Allerona, Italy, approximately 400 British, U.S. and South African prisoners being killed. In anticipation of the Allied advance, the POWs had been evacuated from PG Campo 54 at Fara-in-Sabina outside of Rome, and were being transported to Germany in unmarked cattle cars. The prisoners of war had been padlocked in the cars and were crossing the bridge when B-26s of the 320th Bombardment Group arrived to blow up the bridge. The driver stopped the train on the span, leaving the prisoners locked inside to their fate. While many escaped, approximately 400 were killed, according to local records, and witness testimony. The mass graves were later destroyed by subsequent bombardments.[71][72]

Early in the morning a U.S. Navy PT boat carrying U.S. Fifth Army commander General Mark Clark to the Anzio beachhead, six days after the Anzio landings, was mistakenly fired on by sister U.S. naval vessels. Several sailors were killed and wounded around him.[73]

15 February - During the Battle of Monte Cassino the USAAF, under orders from the Allied commander-in-chief, General Sir Harold Alexander via General Mark Clark, air raided the hilltop Cassino abbey which was suspected to be used as a German observation post. It killed 230 Italian civilians, whose country by then was 'co-belligerent' with the Allies, who had sought shelter in the monastery but no Germans (whose troops subsequently occupied and made the evacuated ruins a stronghold).[74] Bombs that fell short of site killed some Allied troops on ground below, while 16 bombs were mistakenly dropped at the Fifth Army headquarter compound 17 miles (27 km) away, exploding yards from General Clark's trailer while he was at his desk inside.[75]

25 March - a USAAF C-54 flying from the Azores to the U.K. was misidentified as a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor and shot down by a Fleet Air Arm Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter. All 6 crew were killed.[76]

On the morning of 27 March, two US Motor Torpedo Boats (PT-121 and PT-353) were destroyed in error by P-40 Kittyhawks of No. 78 Squadron RAAF, along with an RAAF Bristol Beaufighter of No. 30 Squadron RAAF. A second Beaufighter crew recognized the vessels as PTs and tried to stop the attack, but not before both boats exploded and sank off the coast of New Britain. Eight American sailors were killed, with 12 others wounded. Survivors were rescued by PT-346, which itself became a friendly fire victim the following month.

29 April – US Navy PT-346 itself became the victim of friendly fire, when sent to the aid of PT-347, which had become stuck on a reef during a night patrol to intercept enemy barges and destroy shore installations off the coast of Rabaul in Lassul Bay, located off the northwest corner of New Britain Island in New Guinea. At 0700, PT-350 was attempting to dislodge PT-347 from the reef, when two American Marine Corsair planes mistook the PT boats for Japanese gunboats and attacked. Taking heavy fire from the planes, PT-350 shot down one of the two attacking fighters, believing them to be A6M Zeros. With three dead and four wounded and serious mechanical problems, PT-350 headed back to base. PT-347 remained stuck on the reef. When PT-350 could not be boarded because of extensive damage, PT-346 headed out to PT-347 to provide assistance. PT-346 arrived at 1230, and at 1400 was still attempting to dislodge PT-347 from the coral heads when planes appeared. The Corsair plane from the morning run brought back an entire squadron of 21 planes (four Corsairs, six Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, four Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters, and eight Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers). Recognizing the planes as American and thinking they were the air cover he had ordered, the squadron commander ordered the men to keep working; however, the planes attacked the two boats, still mistaking them for Japanese gunboats. PT-346 did not respond defensively until it was too late, and took heavy casualties. The skipper of PT-347, Lieutenant Williams, who had experienced the earlier attack, ordered his men into the water and to stay dispersed, but two men were killed and three wounded. PT-346 and PT-347 were completely destroyed by bombs, and the men were strafed in the water for approximately one hour.

5–6 June – Several RAF Avro Lancasters attempting to bomb the German artillery battery at Merville-Franceville-Plage attacked instead friendly positions, killing 186 soldiers of the British Reconnaissance Corps and devastating the town. They also mistakenly bombed Drop Zone 'V ' of the 6th Airborne Division, killing 78 and injuring 65.[77]

6 June – RAF fighters bombed and strafed the HQ entourage of 3rd Parachute Brigade (British 6th Airborne Division) near Pegasus Bridge after mistaking them for a German column. At least 15 men were killed and many others were wounded.[78]

8 June – a group of RAF Hawker Typhoons attacked the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th U.S. Infantry Division on the Isigny Highway, France, causing 24 casualties.[79]

During Operation Cobra, the American offensive push south from western Normandy, bombs from the U.S. Eighth Air Force landed on American troops on two separate occasions.

24 July – Some 1,600 bombers flew in support of the opening bombardment for Cobra. Due to bad weather they were unable to see their targets. Although some were recalled, and others declined to bomb without visibility, a number did, which hit U.S. positions. Twenty-five were killed and 131 wounded in this incident.

The following day, on 25 July, the operation was repeated by 1,800 bombers of 8th Air Force. On this occasion, the weather was clear, but despite requests by First Army commander Gen. Omar Bradley to bomb east to west, along the front in order to avoid creepback, the air commanders made their attack north to south, over Allied lines. As more and more bombs fell short, and U.S. positions again were hit, 111 were killed and 490 wounded. Lieutenant General Lesley McNair was among the dead, the highest-ranking victim of American friendly fire.

26 July – USAAF P-47s mistakenly strafed the US 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion near Perrières, France. 20 men were badly injured, but there were no fatalities.[80]

27 July – The former HMS Sunfish was sunk by a British RAF Coastal Command aircraft in the Norwegian Sea during the beginning of its process of being transferred to the Soviet Navy. The Captain, Israel Fisanovich, supposedly had taken her out of her assigned area and was diving the sub when the aircraft came in sight instead of staying on the surface and firing signal flares as instructed. All crew, including the British liaison staff, were lost. Later investigation revealed that the RAF crew were at fault.[81]

4 August - The crew of a de Havilland Mosquito from 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron, RCAF, mistook a Westland Lysander for a Henschel Hs 126 during a night interception, shooting it down.[82]

7 August – A RAF Hawker Typhoon strafed a squad from 'F' Company/US 120th Infantry Regiment, near Hill 314, France, killing two men.[83] Around noon on the same day, RAF Hawker Typhoon of the 2TAF was called in to assist the US 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion in stopping an attack by the 2nd SS Panzer Division between Sourdeval and Mortain but instead fired its rockets at two US 3-inch guns near L'Abbaye Blanche, killing one man and wounding several others even after the yellow smoke (which was to identify friendlies) was put out. Two hours later, an RAF Typhoon shot up the Service Company of the 120th Infantry Regiment, US 30th Division, causing several casualties, including Major James Bynum who was killed near Mortain. The officer who replaced him was strafed by another Typhoon a few minutes later and seriously wounded. Around the same time, a Hawker Typhoon attacked the Cannon Company of 120th Infantry Regiment, US 30th Division, near Mortain, killing 15 men.[83] An hour later, RAF Typhoons strafed 'B' Company/US 120th Infantry Regiment on Hill 285, killing a driver of a weapons carrier.[84]

Two battalions of the 77th Infantry on Guam exchanged prolonged fire on 8 August 1944, the incident possibly started with the firing of mortars for range-finding and angle calibration purposes. Small arms and then armour fire was exchanged. The mistake was realized when both units tried to call in the same artillery battalion to bombard the other.[85]

8 August –

8th USAAF heavy bombers bombed the headquarters of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Polish Armoured Division during Operation Totalize, killing 65 and wounding 250 Allied soldiers.[86]

Near Mortain, France, RAF Hawker Typhoon aircraft attacked two Sherman tanks of 'C' Company, US 743rd Tank Battalion with rockets, killing five tank crewmen and wounding ten soldiers. Later that day, two Shermans from 'A' Company, US 743rd Tank Battalion were destroyed and set ablaze by RAF Typhoons near Mortain. One tank crewman was killed and 12 others wounded.[87]

9 August – A RAF Hawker Typhoon strafed units of the British Columbia Regiment and the Algonquin Regiment, 4th Canadian Armoured Division, near Quesnay Wood during Operation Totalize, causing several casualties. Later that day, the same units were mistakenly fired upon by tanks and artillery of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, resulting in more casualties.

12 August – RAF Hawker Typhoons fired rockets at Sherman tanks of 'A' Company, US 743rd Tank Battalion, near Mortain, France, causing damage to one tank and badly injuring two tank crewmen.[88]

13 August – 12 British soldiers of 'B' Company, 4th Wiltshires, 43rd Wessex Division, were killed and 25 others wounded when they were hit by rockets and machine gun attacks by RAF Typhoons near La Villette, Calvados, France.[89]

14 August – RAF heavy bombers hit Allied troops in error during Operation Tractable causing about 490 casualties including 112 dead. The bombings also destroyed 265 Allied vehicles, 30 field guns and two tanks. British anti-aircraft guns opened fire on the RAF bombers and some may have been hit.

17 August – RAF fighters attacked the soldiers of the British 7th Armoured Division, resulting in 20 casualties, including the intelligence officer of 8th Hussars who was badly injured. The colonel riding along was badly shaken when their jeep crashed off the road.[90]

14–18 August – The South Alberta Regiment of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division came under fire six times by RAF Spitfires, resulting in over 57 casualties. Many vehicles were also set on fire and the yellow smoke used for signalling friendlies was ignored by Spitfire pilots. An officer of the South Alberta demanded that he wanted his Crusader AA tanks to shoot at the Spitfires attacking his Headquarters.[91]

27 August – A minesweeping flotilla of Royal Navy ships came under fire near Le Havre. At about noon on 27 August, HMS Britomart, Salamander, Hussar and Jason came under rocket and cannon attacks by Hawker Typhoon aircraft of No. 263 Squadron RAF and No. 266 Squadron RAF. HMS Britomart and HMS Hussar took direct hits and were sunk. HMS Salamander had her stern blown off and sustained heavy damage. HMS Jason was raked by machine gun fire, killing and wounding several of her crew. Two of the accompanying trawlers were also hit. The total loss of life was 117 sailors killed and 153 wounded. The attack had continued despite the attempts by the ships to signal that they were friendly and radio requests by the commander of the aircraft for clarification of his target. In the aftermath the surviving sailors were told to keep quiet about the attack. The subsequent court of enquiry identified the fault as lying with the Navy, which had requested the attack on what they thought were enemy vessels entering or leaving Le Havre, and three RN officers were put before a court martial. The commander of Jason and his crew were decorated for their part in rescuing their comrades. At the time reporting of the incident was suppressed with information not fully released until 1994.[92][93][94]

9 September - On third day of the Battle of Arnhem, a German SS battalion's pursuit of landed Allied paratroopers was halted at the village of Wolfheze, Netherlands, when Luftwaffe planes mistakenly strafed it.[95]

12 September:

A group of RAF Hawker Typhoon aircraft destroyed two Sherman tanks of the Governor General's Foot Guards, 4th Canadian Armoured Division in the vicinity of Maldegem, Belgium, killing three men and injuring four. One Canadian soldier from the 4th Canadian Armored Division wounded recalled this incident saying "... while so deployed the tanks were suddenly attacked, in mistake, by several Typhoon aircraft. Lt. Middleton-Hope's tank was badly hit, killing the gunner Guardsman Hughes, and the tank was set on fire. Almost immediately Sgt. Jenning's tank was similarly knocked out by Typhoon rockets. Meanwhile the Typhoons continued to press home their attack with machine guns and rockets, and, while trying to extricate the gunner, Lt. Middleton-Hope was killed after his tank was blown off. In this tragic encounter, Guardsman Scott was also killed and Baker, Barter, and Cheal were seriously wounded."[96]

The Japanese transport ship Rakuyō Maru, carrying 1,317 Australian and British prisoners-of-war in convoy from Singapore to Formosa (Taiwan), was sunk in the Luzon Strait by the submarine USS Sealion, whose commanders were unaware until after the sinking that allied prisoners had been on board. Ultimately 1,159 POWs died,[97] only 50 rescued by the Sealion and sister submarines in her pack lived to make landfall.

18 September – The Japanese cargo ship Junyō Maru was packed with 1,377 Dutch, 64 British and Australian, and 8 American[98] prisoners of war along with 4,200 Javanese slave labourers (Romushas) bound for work on a railway line being built in Sumatra when she was attacked and sunk by British submarine HMS Tradewind, whose commander, Lt. Cdr Lynch Maydon did not know there were Allied prisoners of war on board.[99] At that time it was the world's greatest sea disaster with 5,620 dead[100] as well as the worst single friendly fire loss (surpassed by the Cap Arcona disaster next year) and highest death toll inflicted in a single action by British forces. 680 survivors were rescued, the prisoners of whom went on to their intended destination.

19 September – RAF Sergeant Bernard McCormack, a gunner in a Lancaster bomber, was returning along with other RAF aircrews from a night time raid over Nazi Germany. As they returned to RAF Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire, Sgt McCormack saw a plane flying in the same formation as he was. Believing that it was a German Junkers Ju 88, he attacked the plane, bringing it down over the Dutch town of Steenbergen. Two of the occupants were killed. It was found out by RAF intelligence officers that it was actually a British Mosquito flown by CO Guy Gibson, who previously took part in Operation Chastise, and his navigator Jim Warwick. Wracked with guilt, McCormack taped a confession, which he entrusted to his wife Eunice when he died in 1992.[citation needed]

24 October - the Japanese transport Arisan Maru was carrying 1,784 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) from Manila to Manchuria when it was sunk by a torpedo from USS Sharkk. All but nine of the POWs are reported to have died in the incident mainly through the Japanese escort ships not rescuing them when they had all evacuated ship.[101]

In October, Soviet troops liberated the city of Niš from occupying German forces and advanced on Belgrade. At the same time, the U.S. Army Air Forces was bombing German-Albanian units entering from Kosovo. The U.S. planes mistook the advancing Soviet tanks as enemies (probably due to a lack of communications) and began attacking them, whereupon the Soviets then called in for air support from Niš airport and a five-minute dogfight ensued, ending after both the U.S. and Soviet commanders ordered the planes to retreat.[citation needed]

Canadian artillery units were rushed in to support the retreating American forces as a counterattack against the advancing German Army during the early stages of the Ardennes Offensive. When American troops were making a retreat north of the Ardennes, the Canadians mistook them for a German column. The Canadian artillery guns opened fire on them, resulting in 76 American deaths and many as 138 wounded.[102]

25 December 1944 – Major George E. Preddy, commander of the USAAF 328th Fighter Squadron, was the highest-scoring U.S. ace still in combat in the European Theater at the time when he died on Christmas Day near Liege in Belgium. Preddy was chasing a German fighter over an American anti-aircraft battery and was hit by their fire aimed at his intended target.

Operation Wintergewitter (Winter Storm) – Italian Front:[103] American forward observer John R. Fox called down fire on his own position to stop a German advance on the town of Sommocolonia, Italy. In 1997 he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for this action.

1945[edit]

1 January - Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate): 900 German fighters and fighter-bombers launched a surprise attack on Allied airfields. Approximately 300 aircraft were lost, 237 pilots killed, missing, or captured, and 18 pilots wounded – the largest single-day loss for the Luftwaffe. Many losses were due to fire from Luftwaffe anti-aircraft batteries, whose crew members had not been informed of the attack.

5 January - USS Colorado friendly gun fire hit superstructure while at Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, killing 18 wounding 51 others.

16 January - During the South China Sea raid, U.S. Navy bombers targeting transport and harbor facilities in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong mistakenly bombed the nearby village of Hung Hom, killing and wounding many civilians,[104] and dropped one bomb in Stanley Internment Camp, killing 14 Allied civilian internees.[105]

23 January – A group of RAF fighters strafed the assault gun platoon (105mm Sherman tanks) of US 743rd Tank Battalion, near Sart-Lez-St.Vith, Belgium, killing 6 men and wounding 15.[106]

10 February - Lieutenant Louis Edward Curdes, a USAAF P-51 pilot, shot down a USAAF C-47 about to land by mistake on a Japanese held airstrip. All personal on board the Skytrain survived.

17 February - In Caen, an RAF plane fired on misidentified French military commandos; the plane crashed after running out of fuel and was eventually found partially scrapped a day after the incident.

27 February – Calais suffered its last bombing raid by Royal Air Force bombers who mistook the by-now liberated town for Dunkirk, which was at that time still occupied by German forces.[107]

14 April - German submarine U-235 is sunk by a German torpedo boat.[108]

April 24 – The Royal Air Force, carrying out an air raid on Rangoon in Burma, bombed a jail in the belief that it was a command center for the Japanese Army. Unfortunately, the jail was actually not a Japanese command center but was the incarceration site of Allied prisoners of war. Over 30 Allied POWs were killed.[109]

The March (1945) – On 19 April, at a village called Gresse, a flight of RAF Typhoons strafed a column of Allied POWs during the death march after mistaking them as retreating German troops, killing 30 and fatally injuring 30 more.

Cap Arcona incident – Although it did not involve troops in combat, this incident has been referred to as "the worst friendly-fire incident in history".[110] On 3 May, the three ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek, and the SS Deutschland in Lübeck Harbour were sunk in four separate, but synchronized attacks with bombs, rockets, and cannons by the Royal Air Force, resulting in the death of over 7,000 Jewish concentration camp survivors and Russian prisoners of war, along with POWs from several other allied nations.[110][111] The British pilots were unaware that these ships carried POWs and concentration camp survivors,[112] although British documents were released in the 1970s that state the Swedish government had informed the RAF command of the risk prior to the attack.[113][114]

14 May – Several days after the German surrender, U-boat ace Wolfgang Luth was shot and killed by a sentry while walking after dark at the German naval base at Flensburg-Marwik.

3 July 1945 - While covering the invasion of Balikpapan in Borneo, Australian war correspondents John Elliot and William Smith, went ahead of the advancing Australian troops; a Bren gunner in the latter, believing them to be Japanese troops, shot and killed them both.[115]

6 and 9 August – 20 Allied POWs died in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947[edit]

It was rumoured that on one occasion during the revolts, Afghan aircraft accidentally bombed and machine gunned government troops or allied tribal levies, causing 40 casualties.[116]

Palestine Emergency (1945–48)[edit]

In 1946, Lieutenant (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Colin Campbell Mitchell of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was deployed with his battalion in a crackdown on Jewish militants. On one personal reconnaissance mission he was shot and wounded by one of his own Bren gunners when he was mistaken for a guerilla, but subsequently recovered.[117]

During the Acre Prison break, a 1947 raid on Acre Prison by the Irgun to free imprisoned Irgun and Lehi members, Lehi fighter and escaped prisoner Shimshon Vilner was accidentally killed by Bren gun fire from the Irgun commander of the operation, Dov Cohen, during a firefight with British troops.[118]

1948 Arab–Israeli War[edit]

10 June 1948: Mickey Marcus, the Israel Defense Forces' first general, was shot and killed by a sentry while returning at night to his headquarters.

Korean War[edit]

3 July 1950 – Eight F-51 Mustangs of No. 77 Squadron RAAF strafed and destroyed a train carrying thousands of American and South Korean soldiers who were mistaken for a North Korean convoy in the main highway between Suwon and P'yongtaek, resulting more than 700 casualties. Before the attack, the Australian pilots had been assured by the United States 5th Air Force Tactical Control Centre that the area under attack was in North Korean hands. However, 20 minutes prior to an attack, the 5th Air Force Tactical Control Centre received intelligence that the area might be under American hands and told the Australian pilots to hold their fire. One Australian pilot ignored the order, believing the train was indeed carrying North Korean forces. The pilot then strafed the train and his squadron followed the lead as well.[119][120]

23 September 1950 – Hill 282 was attacked by 1st Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, part of the British 27th Infantry Brigade in the United Nations Command. Having captured it and facing strong Korean People's Army counter-attacks, the Argylls, devoid of artillery support, called in a UN air-strike. A group of United States Air Force F-51 Mustangs of the 18th Fighter Bomber Wing circled the hill. The Argylls had laid down white air-recognition panels, but the North Koreans imitated similar panels on their own positions in white as well. It was later found out that several British air controllers mistakenly did not inform the pilots of proper air-recognition panels and the Argylls Captain was unable to contact the F-51s due to his defective radio. As a result, the planes mistakenly napalm-bombed and strafed the Argylls' hill-top positions. Despite a desperate counter-attack by the Argylls to regain the hill, for which Major Kenneth Muir was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the Argylls, much reduced in numbers, were forced to relinquish the position. Over 60 of the Argylls' casualties were caused by friendly air-strike.[121]

During the Battle of Wawon, fleeing soldiers of the Republic of Korea Army II Corps were mistaken by the Turkish Brigade as Chinese which led to an exchange of fire. As a result, 20 South Korean soldiers were killed and four others wounded with 14 Turkish deaths and six wounded.[122]

5 December 1952 - RCAF Squadron Leader Andy MacKenzie (a World War II ace) was shot down by his own squadron mate during a dogfight. Captured by Chinese forces, he was kept prisoner for two years, being released in December 1954.[123]

Cyprus Emergency[edit]

12 December 1955: On the Troodos mountains near the village of Spilia during the Battle of Spilia, British units from the north and ones from the south, unable to see in the fog and in the belief that they were surrounded by EOKA fighters, engaged each other in an eight-hour firefight involving airstrikes, artillery bombardments, and heavy weapons. This firefight caused 250 casualties, including 127 deaths, 102 injuries, and 21 missing, making it the deadliest friendly fire incident of the war.[124][125]

On 15 October 1958, 23 British soldiers of 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles, were killed and 35 others injured while walking near the Kyrenia Mountains when two British machine gunners mistook them for EOKA fighters and opened fire on them for at least 15 minutes. Some British soldiers yelled multiple times at the machine gunners that they were friendlies and the group they belonged to, but the gunners kept on firing.[124]

Vietnam War[edit]

Aft view of the bridge of USCGC Point Welcome after the friendly fire incident of 11 August 1966.[126]

It has been estimated that there may have been as many as 8,000 friendly fire incidents in the Vietnam War;[127][128][129][130] one was the inspiration for the book and film Friendly Fire.

2 January 1966, in Bao Trai in the Mekong Delta during joint Australian/American forces fighting the Viet Cong, a USAF Cessna O-1 Bird Dog flying at low level accidentally flew through Australian and New Zealand artillery fire. The aircraft tail was blown off and the aircraft dived into the ground, killing the pilot instantly.[131]

3 January 1966, near Bao Trai, at midnight, Sergeant Jerry Morton from 'C' Company, the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment had called in marker white phosphorus rounds ahead of the company from the supporting New Zealand gun battery on a suspected enemy position. However, due to the bad coordinates given by Morton, the rounds instead landed on the Australian forces. Morton along with another Australian soldier were killed and several others wounded.[131]

3 January 1966, two rounds fired by 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery accidentally landed on C Company, 2/503rd Regiment, US 173rd Airborne Brigade, killing three paratroopers and wounding seven during Operation Marauder.[131][132] The short rounds were found to have happened due to damp powder.[133]

11 August 1966, while supporting Operation Market Time, USCGC Point Welcome was attacked by USAF aircraft, resulting in the deaths of two Coast Guardsmen.[134]

29 December 1966, a premature burst of a 105mm round from an LVTH-6 killed five Marines and wounded two more east of Dong Ha in Quang Tri.[135][136]

6 February 1967, twelve rounds from New Zealand artillery accidentally landed on the Australian 'D' Company 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, killing four and thirteen injured in west of Song Rai river between Nui Dat and Xuyên Mộc District.[137]

3 August 1967, a C-7 Caribou transport plane was approaching the special forces camp at Đức Phổ when it flew into line of fire from a U.S. Army 155 mm howitzer. The tail section separated and the airplane fell down, killing the crew. A cease fire had been issued but failed to reach the gun crew in time. The Caribou was photographed just before it hit the ground.[138]

19 November 1967, during the Battle of Dak To a U.S. Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk aircraft flown by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Taber dropped two 250 lb (110 kg) bombs on the command post of the 2nd Battalion (Airborne) 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade while they were in heavy contact with a numerically superior People's Army of Vietnam force. At least 45 paratroopers were killed and another 45 wounded. Also killed was the Battalion Chaplain Major Charles J. Watters, who was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor.[139]

16–17 June 1968, HMAS Hobart, USS Boston and USS Edson were attacked by US aircraft. At 03:09, Hobart's radar picked up an aircraft approaching with no IFF transponder active. At 03:14, the aircraft fired a single missile at the ship which killed one sailor, wounded two others and damaged the ship. Two minutes later, the aircraft made a second pass and fired two missiles which caused further damage, killed another sailor and wounded six others. The aircraft came around for a third attack run, but was scared off when Hobart's forward gun turret, under independent control, fired five rounds at it. At 03:30, USS Edson, in company with Hobart, reported coming under fire, and Hobart's captain ordered both destroyers and USS Theodore E. Chandler to take up anti-aircraft formation. At 05:15, the three destroyers linked up with the cruiser USS Boston (which had been hit by a missile from another aircraft) and the escorting destroyer USS Blandy, and continued anti-aircraft manoeuvring. Debris collected from Hobart and the other ships indicated that the missiles were of United States Air Force (USAF) origin. The attacks on Hobart and the other ships were the capstone of a series of firing incidents between 15 and 17 June, and an inquiry was held by the USN into the incidents, with three RAN personnel attending as technical advisors. The inquiry found that a few hours before the attack on Hobart, Swift boats PCF-12 and PCF-19, along with USCGC Point Dume, were attacked by what they identified at the time as hovering enemy aircraft, but were believed to be friendly planes; PCF-19 was sunk in the attack. F-4 Phantoms of the USAF Seventh Air Force, responding several hours after the attack on the Swift boats, were unable to distinguish between the radar signature of surface ships and airborne helicopters, and instead opened fire on Hobart, Boston, and Edson.

11 May 1969, during the Battle of Hamburger Hill, Lieutenant Colonel Weldon Honeycutt directed helicopter gunships, from an Aerial Rocket Artillery (ARA) battery, to support an infantry assault. In the heavy jungle, the helicopters mistook the command post of the 3/187th battalion for a Vietnamese unit and attacked, killing two and wounding thirty-five, including Honeycutt. This incident disrupted battalion command and control and forced 3/187th to withdraw into night defensive positions.

1 May 1970, on military operations in Phước Tuy Province a burst of machine gun fire followed by a calls for the medic split the night, an Australian machine gunner opened fire on soldiers of the 8th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment without warning, killing two and wounded two other soldiers.[140]

20 July 1970, patrol units of 'D' Company 8th Battalion, 1st Australian Task Force outside the wire at Nui Dat called in a New Zealand battery fire mission as part of a training exercise. However, there was confusion at the gun position about the fire corrections issued by the inexperienced Australian officer with the patrol. The result was two rounds fell upon the patrol, killing two and wounding several others.[141]

24 July 1970, New Zealand artillery guns accidentally shelled an Australian platoon, 1 Australian Reinforcement Unit, (1 ARU), killing two and wounding another four soldiers.[142]

10 May 1972, a VPAF MiG-21 was shot down in error by a North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile near Tuyen Quang, killing a pilot.[143]

2 June 1972, a VPAF MiG-19 was shot down in error by a North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile near Kep Province, killing a pilot.[144]

1967 Six-Day War[edit]

On the fourth day of the Six-Day War (8 Jun 1967), at about 2 PM Sinai time (then, GMT+2), Israeli defense forces attacked USS Liberty in International waters about 14 miles off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula, near El Arish, killing 34 Americans and wounding (naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship. At the time, the ship was in international waters. Though controversially disputed by the survivors of the attack, both countries officially consider it to be a case of mistaken identity.[145]

The Troubles[edit]

On 13 September 1969, British Lance Corporal Michael Spurway, of 24 Airportable HQ and Signal Squadron, was accidentally shot dead by a fellow British soldier while he was on the telephone to his wife, shortly after returning to his base at Gosford Castle after manning a rebroadcast station supporting 3 LI rear link communications.[146][147]

On 3 September 1972, two Royal Marines on patrol in Stratheden Street in New Lodge, Belfast, came into contact from separate directions and in the confusion, shot and killed a fellow Royal Marine, 18 year old Gunner Robert S. Cutting. At the time of Cutting's death, he had been on foot patrol in the New Lodge Road approaching Stratheden Street. A Royal Marine saw whom he thought was an enemy sniper and fired at him, injuring him. However, the Royal Marine shot him a second time as he attempted to crawl away, killing him instantly.[148][149] There was no investigation into his death until 40 years later, when the MoD found out that the soldier who shot him did not observe the correct procedure for engagement. No charges were filed against the soldier who shot him.[150]

On January 1, 1980, Lieutenant Simon Bates, of 2 PARA, was commanding an ambush at Tullydonnell, near Forkhill. A cardinal principle of ambush orders was to never leave the position. However, for some reason, Bates and his radio operator, Private Gerald Hardy, left the ambush and were mistakenly killed by fellow British paratroopers while returning to their positions.[151]

1974 the Turkish invasion of Cyprus[edit]

The Turkish Naval Forces destroyer Kocatepe was sunk by Turkish Air Force warplanes after being mistaken for a greek ship.

A fleet of Hellenic Air Force Nord Noratlas transport aircraft carrying reinforcements from Greece (Operation Niki) was mistaken for a flight of Turkish aircraft by Cypriot National Guard anti-aircraft gunners defending Nicosia International Airport, who opened fire. Of the 13 planes that came flew in, 1 was shot down and 3 more written off and later destroyed. Greek casualties were at least 33 dead including both commandos and aircrew and another 10 wounded.

During the Battle of Pentemili beachhead, Colonel Karaoglanoglu, the commander of the Turkish Army's 50th Infantry Regiment, was killed in a villa near the beachhead. Although the official cause of his death was enemy mortar or artillery fire, another Turkish General claimed that he was actually killed by friendly M20 Super Bazooka fire.[152]

Rhodesian Bush War[edit]

On November 7, 1976, Canadian spree killer Mathew Charles Lamb was fatally shot by one of his own men in the Rhodesian Special Air Service while carrying out an operation to destroy militants in the Mutema Tribal Trade Lands, Manicaland province, Rhodesia.

1982 Falklands War[edit]

A Dassault Mirage III was shot down by Argentine Anti-Aircraft and small arms fire at Port Stanley while an A-4 Skyhawk was downed by a 35 mm antiaircraft battery near Goose Green. Both aircraft belonged to the Argentine Air Force.

Companies A and C of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army engaged each other in an hour-long firefight in the Falkland Islands involving heavy weapons and artillery strikes, resulting in eight casualties, including five deaths and three injuries.

2 June – A friendly fire incident took place between the SAS and the Special Boat Squadron (SBS). An SBS patrol had apparently strayed into the SAS patrol's designated area and were mistaken for Argentine forces. A brief firefight was initiated during which one of the SBS patrol, Sergeant Ian Hunt, was killed.[153]

1982 British Army Gazelle friendly fire incident – Due to a lack of communication between the Army and the Navy, the destroyer HMS Cardiff shot down a British Gazelle helicopter over the Falkland Islands, killing four British soldiers. The MoD immediately covered up the incident, saying that the soldiers were killed by enemy fire. However, four years later, under intense pressure and scrutiny, the MoD finally admitted that they were killed by friendly fire.

11 June - Just before the Battle of Two Sisters, British units of 45 Commando Royal Marines on reconnaissance patrol were mistaken for Argentine units in the dark and the British mortar group opened up on them, only to be met with a withering hail of fire from the 45 Commando in return. In the confusion, five British troops died, including the mortar troop sergeant, and two were wounded. Among the dead from 45 Commando were Sergeant Robert Leeming, Corporal Peter Fitton, Corporal Andy Uren, and Royal Marine Keith Phillips.[154]

11 June – A British Royal Navy frigate, HMS Avenger (F185), fired a 4.5 inch explosive shell into a house while shelling a port in Stanley, killing three British women and wounding several others. They remained the only British civilian casualties of the war.[155][156]

1991 Persian Gulf War[edit]

Main article: Persian Gulf War § Friendly fire

During the Battle of Khafji, 11 American Marines were killed in two major incidents when their light armored vehicles (LAV's) were hit by missiles fired by a USAF A-10.

Two soldiers of the U.S. Army were killed and a further six wounded when an American Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fired upon and destroyed a U.S. Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle and an M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier (in the same incident) during night operations.

A British officer was severely injured when his FV510 Warrior vehicle was attacked by a Challenger 1 tank of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

An U.S. Air Force A-10 during Operation Desert Storm attacked British Warrior MICVs, resulting in nine British dead and numerous casualties.

During the Battle of Phase Line Bullet, American M1 Abrams tanks in the rear fired in support of American troops facing dug-in Iraqi Army troops. American Infantry Fighting Vehicles were hit by fire from the tanks, resulting in two fatalities.

Several friendly fire incidents took place during the Battle of 73 Easting, wounding 57 American soldiers, but causing no fatalities.

One American soldier was killed by friendly fire during the Battle of Medina Ridge.

Two soldiers from 10 Air Defence Battery, Royal Artillery, were badly injured when two FV103 Spartan from which they had dismounted were fired upon by Challenger 1 tanks from 14th/20th King's Hussars with thermal sights beyond the range of unaided visibility (about 1500 m). The rearmost vehicle was hit and burst into flames. The other vehicle was also damaged in the ensuing fire.

A large number of friendly fire incidents took place during the Battle of Norfolk, resulting in 5 American casualties.

A Challenger 1 tank fired several rounds at a British artillery position, resulting in at least 4 casualties.

War in Afghanistan (2001–2016)[edit]

In the Tarnak Farm incident of 18 April 2002, four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others injured when U.S. Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt, dropped a laser-guided 500 lb (230 kg) bomb from his F-16 jet fighter on the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry regiment which was conducting a night firing exercise near Kandahar. Schmidt was charged with negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, and dereliction of duty. He was found guilty of the latter charge. During testimony Schmidt blamed the incident on his use of "go pills" (authorized mild stimulants), combined with the 'fog of war'.[157] The Canadian dead received US medals for bravery, along with an apology.

Pat Tillman, a former professional American football player, was shot and killed by American fire on 22 April 2004. An Army Special Operations Command investigation was conducted by Brigadier General Jones and the U.S. Department of Defense concluded that Tillman's death was due to friendly fire aggravated by the intensity of the firefight. A more thorough investigation concluded that no hostile forces were involved in the firefight and that two allied groups fired on each other in confusion after a nearby improvised explosive device was detonated.

On 6 April 2006, a British convoy in Afghanistan wounded 13 Afghan police officers and killed seven, after calling in a US airstrike on what they thought was a Taliban attack.[158]

In Sangin Province, a RAF Harrier pilot allegedly mistakenly strafed British troops missing the enemy by 200 metres during a firefight with the Taliban on 20 August 2006.[clarification needed] This angered British Major James Loden of 3 PARA, who in a leaked email called the RAF, "Completely incompetent and utterly, utterly useless in protecting ground troops in Afghanistan". This allegation is despite the RAF Harrier GR7 not being fitted with guns.[clarification needed]

Canadian soldiers opened fire on a white pickup truck, about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar, killing an Afghan officer with 6 others injured on 26 August 2006.[159]

Operation Medusa (2006): One–two[vague] U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts mistakenly strafed NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, killing Canadian Private Mark Anthony Graham.

On 5 December 2006, an F/A-18C on a Close Air Support mission in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, mistakenly attacked a trench where British Royal Marines were dug-in during a 10-hour battle with Taliban fighters, killing one Royal Marine.[160]

Lance Corporal Matthew Ford, from Zulu Company of 45 Commando Royal Marines, died after receiving a gunshot wound in Afghanistan on 15 January 2007, which was later found to be due to friendly fire. The final inquest ruled he died from NATO rounds from a fellow Royal Marine's machine gun. The report added there was no "negligence" by the other Marine, who had made a "momentary error of judgment".[161][162]

Canadian troops mistakenly killed an Afghan National Police officer and a homeless beggar after their convoy was ambushed in Kandahar City.[163]

Of two helicopters called in to support operations by the British Grenadier Guards and Afghan National Army forces in Helmand, the British Westland WAH-64 Apache engaged enemy forces, while the accompanying American AH-64D Apache opened fire on the Grenadiers and Afghan troops.[citation needed]

23 August 2007: A USAF F-15 called in to support British ground forces in Afghanistan dropped a bomb on those forces. Three privates of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, were killed and two others were severely injured. The coroner at the soldiers' inquest stated that the incident was due to "flawed application of procedures" rather than individual errors or "recklessness".[164]

On 26 September 2007, British soldiers in operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, fired Javelin anti-tank missiles at Danish soldiers from the Royal Life Guards, killing two.[165] It is also confirmed from Danish forces that the British fired a total of 6–8 Javelin missiles, over a 1 1⁄2 hour period and only after the attack was completed did they realize that the missiles were British, based upon the fragments found after the incident.[166]

On 12 January 2008, two Dutch soldiers and two allied Afghan soldiers were shot dead by fellow Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan, Afghanistan.[167]

In the night on 14 January 2008 in Helmand Province, British troops saw a bunch of Afghans "conducting suspicious activities". Visibility was too bad for rifle-fire and they were too far away to call in mortar strikes. The squad decided to use a Javelin anti-tank missile they were carrying. British soldiers fired their missile on the nearby roof but the victims were their own Afghan army sentries. 15 Afghan soldiers were killed.[168]

Between January 2008 and June 2009, Afghan military, police, and security personnel came under fire by British troops at least 10 times, resulting in seven deaths. The most serious incident occurred in the Lashkargah District of Helmand Province in October 2008, in which British troops opened fire on Afghan National Police officers that killed three and injured another.[169]

On 9 July 2008, nine British soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment were injured after being fired upon by a British Army Apache helicopter while on patrol in Afghanistan.[170]

A statement issued jointly by the American and the Afghan military commands said a contingent of Afghan police officers fired on United States forces on 10 December 2008 after the Americans had successfully overrun the hide-out, killing the suspected Taliban commander and detaining another man. The US forces after securing the hideout came under heavy small arms fire and explosive grenades from the Afghan Police forces. "Multiple attempts to deter the engagement were unsuccessful," and the US forces returned fire. Afghan police have stated that they came under fire first and that the initial firing on the US forces came from the building next to the police station. This has led the US forces to conclude that the Afghan police forces might have been compromised. Initial reports indicate that this was a tragic case of mistaken identity on both parts.[171]

Captain Tom Sawyer, aged 26, 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, and Corporal Danny Winter, aged 28, Zulu Company 45 Commando Royal Marines, were killed by an explosion on 14 January 2009 from a Javelin missile fired by British troops acting on the orders of a Danish officer. Both men were taking part in a joint operation with a Danish Battle Group and the Afghan National Army in a location north east of Gereshk in central Helmand Province.[172][173]

On 9 September 2009, British Special Boat Service forces were sent to rescue New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell and his Afghan translator Sultan Munadi who were kidnapped by Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan near Kunduz four days earlier. During the raid, Farrell was rescued, but Munadi was shot and killed in the firefight between the Taliban and British forces. It is later found out that Munadi was running towards the helicopter when he was shot in the front by a British soldier, in addition to being shot in the back by the Taliban, after the British mistook him for the Taliban. Two Afghan civilians also died from the hail of bullets by British and Taliban forces.

A British Military Police officer was shot dead by a fellow British soldier while on patrol.[174] It was reported that no charges are to be brought against a British army sniper who killed a British Military Policeman because he was allowed to open fire if he believed that his life was in danger.[175]

In December 2009, British commanders called upon a U.S. airstrike which killed Lance Corporal Christopher Roney from 3rd Battalion The Rifles who was engaging along with his comrades with the Taliban. The incident happened when a firefight was going on between British soldiers of 3rd Battalion The Rifles and the insurgents in Sangin Province. Senior British officers were watching a drone's grainy images of the fight from Camp Bastion, about 30 miles from the battle at Patrol Base Almas. The officers mistook the soldiers' mud-walled compound for an enemy position and called down a U.S. Apache airstrike on the base. Roney was fatally shot in the head after a helicopter gunship opened fire on the base. He died later the next day after being taken to Camp Bastion. Eleven other British soldiers were wounded in the attack.[176]

German soldiers killed six Afghan soldiers in a friendly fire incident on their way to attack a group of Taliban. Afghan soldiers were traveling in support of other Afghan troops in the area.[citation needed]

Sapper Mark Antony Smith, age 26, of the 36 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, was killed by a smoke shell fired upon by British troops in Sangin Province, Afghanistan. The MoD is investigating his death and said a smoke shell, designed to provide cover for soldiers working on the ground, may have fallen short of its intended target.[177][178]

Friendly fire between ISAF and Pakistan on 26 November 2011. ISAF forces opened fire on Pakistan Army forces killing 24 Pakistani soldiers and causing a great diplomatic standoff between U.S. and Pakistan. ISAF forces argue they were there to hunt down militants at the AF-PAK border. Pakistan had stopped transit of goods through its territory to ISAF in Afghanistan because of the incident. After an official apology by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on 3 July 2012 the NATO supply routes were restored.

Two New Zealand soldiers were wounded by friendly fire from a 25mm gun mounted on an armored New Zealand LAV during a 12-minute firefight with insurgents in Bamyan Province on 4 August 2012.[179]

A British female soldier and a Royal Marine man were mistakenly killed by another British unit on patrol after her unit opened fire on an Afghan policeman assuming he was a Taliban insurgent. The British unit who killed a female soldier and a Royal Marine assumed they were under attack after the firing happened.[180]

Five United States Special forces operatives, and an Afghan Army counterpart were killed by friendly fire in Southern Zabul Province on June 9, 2014. Whilst on patrol, and coming under heavy Taliban fire, an air-strike was called in and a B-1 Lancer bomber misdirected its payload killing the six military personnel amongst others.[181]

Iraq War (2003–2011)[edit]

Video of the 28 March 2003 friendly fire incident, showing errors of identification

In the Battle of Nasiriyah, an American force of Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs) and infantry under intense enemy fire were misidentified as an Iraqi armored column by two U.S. Air Force A-10s who carried out bombing and strafing runs on them. One Marine died as a result.

A U.S. Patriot missile shot down a British Panavia Tornado GR.4A of No. 13 Squadron RAF, killing the pilot and navigator. Investigations showed that the Tornado's identification friend or foe indicator had malfunctioned and hence it was not identified as a friendly aircraft.[182][183]

Sgt Steven Roberts, a tank commander of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was killed when a fellow British soldier manning a tank-mounted machine gun mistakenly hit him while firing at a stone wielding Iraqi protester at a roadblock in Az Zubayr near Basra on 24 March 2003.[184] It was reported that no British soldiers were to be charged for his death.[185]

A British Challenger 2 tank came under fire from another British tank in a nighttime firefight. The turret was blown off and two of the crewmembers were killed.[186][187]

190th Fighter Squadron/Blues and Royals friendly fire incident – 28 March 2003. A pair of American A-10s from the 190th attacked four British armoured reconnaissance vehicles of the Blues and Royals, killing L/CoH. Matty Hull and injuring five others.

British Royal Marine Christopher Maddison was killed when his river patrol boat was hit by missiles after being wrongly identified as an enemy vessel approaching a Royal Engineers checkpoint on the Al-Faw Peninsula, Iraq.[188]

U.S. Patriot missile batteries fired two missiles on a U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornet 50 mi (80 km) from Karbala, Iraq.[189] One missile hit the aircraft of pilot Lieutenant Nathan Dennis White of VFA-195, Carrier Air Wing Five, killing him. This was the result of the missile design flaw in identifying hostile aircraft.[190]

American aircraft attacked a friendly Kurdish & U.S. Special Forces convoy, killing 15. BBC translator Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed was killed and BBC reporter Tom Giles and World Affairs Editor John Simpson were injured. The incident was filmed.[191]

Fusilier Kelan Turrington, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was killed by machine-gun fire from a British tank.[192]

American soldier Mario Lozano killed an Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari and is suspected of wounding Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena in Baghdad. Sgrena was rescued from a kidnapping by Calipari, and it was claimed that the car they were escaping in failed to stop at an American checkpoint, whereupon U.S. soldiers opened fire. Video evidence shows the car was respecting speed limits and proceeding with its headlights on. The shooting commenced well before 50 meters, in contrast with what Lozano and other soldiers testified.[193]

During a raid on 16 July 2006 to apprehend a key terrorist leader and accomplice in a suburb of North Basra, Cpl John Cosby, of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, was killed by a 5.56 mm round from a British-issued SA80. It was ruled to be a case of friendly fire by the coroner. It was reported that the British forces who shot him were unclear about the rules of engagement.[194][195]

An American airstrike killed eight Kurdish Iraqi soldiers. Kurdish officials advised U.S. helicopters hit the men who were guarding a branch of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Mosul. The U.S. military said the attack was launched after soldiers identified armed men in a bunker near a building reportedly used for bomb-making, and that American troops called for the men to put down their weapons in Arabic and Kurdish before launching the strike.[196]

Dave Sharrett, II was shot and killed in a firefight with insurgents near the village of Bichigan, north of Baghdad in January 2008, during Operation Hood Harvest. The incident has since been described as friendly fire.[197]

[198]SPC Donald Oaks, SGT Todd Robbins,[199] and SFC Randall Rehn[200] of D Battery, 1st Battalion, 39th Field Artillery Regiment (MLRS, M270 A1), 3rd Infantry Division Artillery [201](Previously C Battery 3-13 FA [202]), were killed when a US fighter jet mistook the rocket artillery from US MLRS as enemy targets on 3 April 2003 while 3rd ID DIVARTY conducted a counter fire battle with Iraqi positions along the Euphrates River.[202] The ordnance struck the vehicles of the soldiers killing SFC Rehn instantly, while SGT Robbins[203] and SPC Oaks[204] died shortly after from their wounds. 5 other soldiers were WIA from the event.[205][206]

Gaza War[edit]

On 1 June 2009 an Israeli tank fired on a building in Jabalia occupied by Golani Brigade troops after mistaking them for Hamas fighters, killing three soldiers and wounding 20.[207]

On 2 June 2009, an Israeli officer was killed when an Israeli tank fired at a building he was positioned in, causing a wall to collapse on him.[208]

2014 Israel-Gaza conflict[edit]

On 14 July 2014, an Israeli soldier, Staff Sergeant Eitan Barak, was killed during operational activity in the northern Gaza Strip, becoming the first Israeli fatality of the war. The Israeli military announced that he had probably been killed by errant Israeli tank fire.[209]

Other incidents[edit]

1565 – Great Siege of Malta: According to some sources, Ottoman Army general Turgut Reis was mortally wounded by friendly fire from Turkish cannons.[210][211]

1788 – Battle of Karánsebes: Drunken soldiers instigate panic in a multi-national army and cause at least one thousand wounded.

1956 – Suez Crisis: Attacks from British Royal Navy carrier-borne aircraft caused heavy casualties to 45 Commando and HQ.

1994 – 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident: Two USAF F-15s involved with Operation Provide Comfort shot down two U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters over northern Iraq, killing 26 Coalition military and civilian personnel.

2000 – Grozny OMON fratricide incident. 20 Russian OMON policemen died.

2006 – Ingush–Chechen fratricide incident

2011 – 2011 Libyan civil war: A MiG-23BN flying for the Free Libyan Air Force was shot down over Benghazi when it was mistaken for a Libyan Air Force fighter. The pilot was killed after he ejected too late.

2015 – Operation Impact: A Canadian Special Operations Regiment team returning to an Observation post were mistakenly engaged by Iraqi Kurdish forces, killing sergeant Andrew Joseph Doiron and wounding three others.

2017 – Syrian Civil War: While fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Syria, a United States Air Force aircraft was provided with incorrect coordinates, leading to an accidental airstrike on Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) troops. 18 SDF soldiers were killed.[212]

2017 – On 31 May during the Marawi crisis in the Philippines, the military's SIAI-Marchetti S.211 was on a bombing run over Maute Group positions when one bomb accidentally hit an army position locked in close-range with the ISIS-backed militants, killing 11 soldiers and wounding seven others.

2019 – On 27 February 2019, an Indian Mil Mi-17 helicopter was shot down by Indian air defense forces after being misidentified as a Pakistani military jet.[213] Five Indian officers were found guilty of various charges relating to the incident, which killed all six Indian Air Force personnel on board the helicopter.[214]

2020 - On 11 May, Iranian support vessel Konarak was hit reportedly by a missile fired from Iranian frigate Jamaran. Officials stated that 19 were killed and 15 others injured.[215][216]

 

[Cacti 191]

4 hours ago, fakebusiness said:

Also, two pages and not one benefit listed so far. 

Two benefits have already been given:

On 2/3/2021 at 1:49 PM, Leeroy Jenkins said:

They have and get intel that we can't 

As long as we are involved in the M.E., it’s a great benefit to us to have access to Israel’s unmatched field intelligence. Several years ago, the late Senator Daniel Inouye, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that "The intelligence received from Israel exceeds the intelligence received from all NATO countries combined.”

On 2/3/2021 at 2:01 PM, Neonmoon said:

It has also prevented the further proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the region by thwarting Iraq and Syria's nuclear programs.

Keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of adversarial dictators has always benefited us.

BTW, I’m not sure what you mean by “unquestioned” aid. Israel signed off on an Obama administration stipulation that Israel has to spend the vast majority of the aid on American military goods. Of course, this benefits Israel but it also benefits those employed by our defense contractors.

 

[fakebusiness 129]

9 hours ago, Cacti said:

Two benefits have already been given:

As long as we are involved in the M.E., it’s a great benefit to us to have access to Israel’s unmatched field intelligence. Several years ago, the late Senator Daniel Inouye, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said that "The intelligence received from Israel exceeds the intelligence received from all NATO countries combined.”

Keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of adversarial dictators has always benefited us.

BTW, I’m not sure what you mean by “unquestioned” aid. Israel signed off on an Obama administration stipulation that Israel has to spend the vast majority of the aid on American military goods. Of course, this benefits Israel but it also benefits those employed by our defense contractors.

 

"As long as we're involved in the Middle East"

Why are we involved in the Middle East?

And we've given them aid since they were established as a nation. But hey they buy our weapons with the money they recieved from U.S. taxpayers so it's all good.

[Shady Ray 1,633]

50 minutes ago, fakebusiness said:

"As long as we're involved in the Middle East"

Why are we involved in the Middle East?

And we've given them aid since they were established as a nation. But hey they buy our weapons with the money they recieved from U.S. taxpayers so it's all good.

Exactly this...the whole argument of "well, hey, the Israelis just send cash this back to our Defense Contractors, so its all good" is absolutely fucking insane.

 

If our government is hellbent on getting that 40 billion every decade into the pockets of the US arms industry, how 'bout we just parlay that ridiculous grift into the arsenal of - oh, you know - the American people who are paying for it in the first place. Of course, its not like we don't already have a massively bloated defense budget...but how about we add that 4 billion annually to our own arsenal instead of arming the Mid-East to the hilt with WMD.

 

And my actual opinion on this is "fuck the arms industry" ... we should cut that bloat from Israel AND massively reduce our own military budget as a good start.

 

But fuck this idea that Israel needs our taxpayer subsidies in the first place. But hell, at least they are smart enough to provide universal healthcare and subsidized university tuition to each and every Israeli, while at the same time using AIPAC to con the same idiot Christian zionist Americans preaching of the holiness of subsidizing Israel's war machine, while simultaneously living uninsured/paying absurd healthcare amounts and bloated college tuition. Suckers born every day.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Shady Ray

[kevwun 16,269]

We benefit from it because they are the world's best manufacturer of catapults.  I would think you would know this, Linux.

Edited February 7, 2021 by kevwun

[Onboard 2.0 9,083]

 

 

2 hours ago, Shady Ray said:

Exactly this...the whole argument of "well, hey, the Israelis just send cash this back to our Defense Contractors, so its all good" is absolutely fucking insane.

 

If our government is hellbent on getting that 40 billion every decade into the pockets of the US arms industry, how 'bout we just parlay that ridiculous grift into the arsenal of - oh, you know - the American people who are paying for it in the first place. Of course, its not like we don't already have a massively bloated defense budget...but how about we add that 4 billion annually to our own arsenal instead of arming the Mid-East to the hilt with WMD.

 

And my actual opinion on this is "fuck the arms industry" ... we should cut that bloat from Israel AND massively reduce our own military budget as a good start.

 

But fuck this idea that Israel needs our taxpayer subsidies in the first place. But hell, at least they are smart enough to provide universal healthcare and subsidized university tuition to each and every Israeli, while at the same time using AIPAC to con the same idiot Christian zionist Americans preaching of the holiness of subsidizing Israel's war machine, while simultaneously living uninsured/paying absurd healthcare amounts and bloated college tuition. Suckers born every day.

Eisenhowers Nostradomus like words ring in my ears every time I read about our defense industry.  My question is always, what happens if we step back our military production ?  We're often called worlds police (which I hate for lots of reasons). Is the world a safer or less safe place if we don't have the retaliatory  presence we currently have ? What or who fills the vacuum left by a country stepping back from its military dominance in the world ?  

Israel is a dirty little secret keeper, and creator. They use the US to their benefit, not ours (just as we do with every other nation, like they do in turn as well).

Edited February 7, 2021 by Onboard 2.0

[horn4life 3,829]

Israel used to be a VERY important ally in the middle east.  But we have proven ourselves in the Middle East to be complete and total whores.  I think the fact we send a shit ton of cash to Israel, rather than to South Texas or West Virginia... is not an excellent investment.

I am also one of those folks who view the goodness of a person by their mercy as much as their strength.  While I am sympathetic to Israel being surrounded by Arab  states, I have a very difficult time seeing Israel as a victim in the Palestinian issue.  Simply because every time Israel is attacked by Palestinians, the body count and collateral damage seems to make the assertions of victimhood hard for me to rationalize.

Ultimately we get a LOT less than what we pay for.  A LOT!

 

[Cacti 191]

4 hours ago, fakebusiness said:

Why are we involved in the Middle East?

That’s a separate question from “How does the U.S. benefit from our relationship w/Israel?” Examples of the latter have been given.

3 hours ago, Shady Ray said:

Exactly this...the whole argument of "well, hey, the Israelis just send cash this back to our Defense Contractors, so its all good" is absolutely fucking insane.

“It’s all good” is your choice of words, not mine. And you’re ignoring my narrow and specific point, which is: the aid to Israel is not “unquestioned”, as the OP claimed.

[Shady Ray 1,633]

32 minutes ago, Cacti said:

That’s a separate question from “How does the U.S. benefit from our relationship w/Israel?” Examples of the latter have been given.

“It’s all good” is your choice of words, not mine. And you’re ignoring my narrow and specific point, which is: the aid to Israel is not “unquestioned”, as the OP claimed.

Actually, "its all good" were the words of the post I to which I was actually responding, as evidenced by my utilization of the quote function indicating the post to which I was, in fact, responding.

 

But my point remains...and it really doesn't matter to me what Daniel Inouye said about fuck all. Perhaps he was a fair dealing Senator wrt Israel...perhaps he wasn't...but he sure as fuck was one of the post bought-and-paid for Senators out there when it came to Israel from as far back as the 80s, so his opinion as to the value of Israeli intel by no means is some type of conclusive proof to me. Hell, AIPAC literally said he was one of -if not the- top appropriators to Israel during his time in government and the Israelis have a fucking military installation named after the guy in honor of how blatantly pro-Israel he was.

 

Quote

 

Members of the congressional select committees investigating the Iran- Contra affair received $280,000 from pro-Israel PACs.

In closed-door meetings last winter with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the chairmen of the two select committees, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D- Hawaii, and Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., agreed not to subpoena any Israeli documents or citizens.

Both chairmen have received far more from pro-Israeli PACs than from all other ideological PACs combined. The chairmen also agreed any investigation of Israel's role in the Iran-Contra affair will be conducted by the government of Israel.

When asked whether select committee members who took pro-Israel money might have conflicts of interests, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said, "I don't intend to be critical of my colleagues, but I think 'who eats my bread sings my song' is a perfectly valid analysis of substantial contributions."

 

PRO-ISRAEL PACS GIVE MOST FUNDS

Actually just opted to spoiler the whole damn article, as it is actually fascinating to see how journalism used to look when digging into this shit back in the 80s.

 

Spoiler

 

WASHINGTON -- More than 100 political action committees (PACs) set up to support policies, spending and candidates favorable to Israel have quietly become the dominant ideological force financing U.S. congressional elections.

These PACs showed their power and influence in 1985-86 by pouring money into congressional campaigns at a rate far exceeding that of the "New Right" PACs, which became powerful in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Pro-Israel PACs gave more campaign cash to members of the 100th Congress in 1985-86 than PACs of all other American ideological interests combined. That includes domestic and international PACS advocating left, right, and centrist politics, including all other ethnic and nationalist PACs.

Millions in pro-Israel PAC money was intended to influence elections of senators and representatives on committees with jurisdiction over American foreign and military policy and appropriations of vital interest to Israel. The pro-Israel PACs also have given hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign gifts to members of committees that could -- but thus far have not begun to -- hold hearings on the role of Israelis in the Iran-Contra affair, or on recent Israeli espionage directed against the United States.

 

Members of the congressional select committees investigating the Iran- Contra affair received $280,000 from pro-Israel PACs.

In closed-door meetings last winter with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, the chairmen of the two select committees, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D- Hawaii, and Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Ind., agreed not to subpoena any Israeli documents or citizens.

Both chairmen have received far more from pro-Israeli PACs than from all other ideological PACs combined. The chairmen also agreed any investigation of Israel's role in the Iran-Contra affair will be conducted by the government of Israel.

When asked whether select committee members who took pro-Israel money might have conflicts of interests, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said, "I don't intend to be critical of my colleagues, but I think 'who eats my bread sings my song' is a perfectly valid analysis of substantial contributions."

 

Hyde, the administration's most fervent defender on the committee, added, "I'm not accusing anyone of selling out to Israel or anyone else, and I don't want to be reported as having said so."

The Senate's top recipient of pro-Israel PAC money in 1985-86, Tom Daschle, D-S.D., explained his fund-raising without apology. "The whole idea in the campaign reform movement of the early '70s was to encourage broad-based involvement," he said. "I think the Jewish community has taken advantage of that opportunity more than most. We've encouraged that involvement and they've responded."

The rising influence of pro-Israel PACs has not been widely covered in news accounts of campaign finances, in part because it's difficult to identify pro-Israel PACs. The Federal Election Commission makes no effort to disclose PACs' political interests, except to require that a PAC name refers to the PAC "sponsor" or parent organization, if any. No pro-Israel PAC has a sponsor. All have been formed within the past eight years.

Officials at some of these PACs have declined to disclose their true purposes to reporters. All of the larger pro-Israel PACs have innocuous names that make no mention of Israel, Jewry, Zionism, or the Middle East, and do not otherwise even hint at their purpose. Several have changed their names or use acronyms, which further complicate efforts to identify them in campaign finance reports.

Seeking to influence American policies and spending in ways favorable to Israel, these PACs primarily raise money from sympathetic American Jews and contribute it to congressional campaigns. Pro-Israel PACs began forming after the 1978 successes of "New Right" PACs in defeating liberal pro-Israel senators. To date, at least 108 pro-Israel PACs have been formed, including five now defunct.

Most of the pro-Israel PACs are single-issue groups and support conservatives as well as liberals. A few have a broader agenda, favoring candidates with liberal positions on social issues generally, or on issues of particular importance to Jews, such as prayer in public schools.

Nearly all the pro-Israel PAC money went to members of Congress with perfect or near-perfect records of voting for legislation advocated by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the principal pro-Israel lobby in Washington. AIPAC is not a PAC and does not give money to candidates, but it monitors Congress and provides reports on members' actions and campaigns to officials of most of the pro-Israel PACs, many of which are affiliated with AIPAC.

A comparison of voting records and contribution records shows that senators who voted with the pro-Israel lobby on three key votes in 1985-86 received an average of $54,223 from pro-Israel PACs, while those who voted the other way received an average of $166 apiece.

Congressional pressure led by Larry Smith, D-Hollywood, this month forced the Reagan administration to withdraw a proposal to upgrade Maverick air-to- ground missles the U.S. has agreed to sell Saudi Arabia.

Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger was said to be "infuriated" by the action, at a time when the U.S. is seeking Saudi help in providing air cover for Navy ships in the Persian Gulf.

Smith received $54,800 from pro-Israel PACs in 1985-86, five times what he obtained from all other ideological PACs, and more than any other member of the House.

"There's nothing wrong with it," Smith said in an interview last week. "There's nothing illegal. That's the system."

Smith said he believes "There is an anti-Israel bent in many of the (government) agencies that relate to the Middle East," and that what the pro-Israel PACs get for their money is "candidates who want to find a peaceful solution in the Mideast, who look at all the issues in a fair and objective fashion. By donating to people's campaigns, they're able to ensure that (the recipients) will have a fair and open mind."

Asked if he had ever cast a vote contrary to the wishes of AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby, Smith said,"I vote on issues without consulting AIPAC." But as to ever voting against an AIPAC position, Smith said, "I really don't recall. I really don't . . . I would have to say that their interests and mine generally coincide."

That view is held by another South Floridian, Rep. Dan Mica, D-Lake Worth, who received $10,500 from pro-Israel PACs for his last campaign.

Mica, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of its International Operations Subcommittee, said, "I have concerns with all of the PACs and their power. But as long as they exist, if members of Congress are aware and try to balance their approach to fund raising, it shouldn't be a problem.

"My bottom line," he said, is that "I have openly been a supporter of Israel and I've tried to make my judgments on what I think is best for the United States and its allies. Most of the time that agrees with what AIPAC has come to ask for."

Morris Amitay, a Washington corporate lobbyist, runs the second-largest pro-Israel PAC, Washington PAC or WASH-PAC. He sees the PAC money as healthy.

"The Constitution doesn't stop at the water's edge," Amitay said. "We are a nation of immigrants. People who care very passionately about the country of their birth or their forefathers' births have every right to contribute to the foreign policy debate, as long as they can justify their positions on the basis of the national interests of the United States. And that's where pro- Israel PACs have a great advantage, because of Israel's alliance with the United States and shared values."

For this report, a computer-assisted study identified the interests behind all PAC gifts to members of Congress, comparing the relative power of ideological interests. PACs representing business, labor, entitlements such as Social Security, and those formed by candidates or party organizations were excluded.

The remaining PACs were divided into four categories: liberal, conservative, pro-Israel and other ethnic or nationalist groups.

Of the 25 ideological PACs contributing $100,000 or more to federal candidates in 1985-86, more than half are pro-Israel. Four represent conservative ideological interests (anti-gun control, anti-abortion, anti- union, and "New Right"). Eight represent liberal ideological interests (anti-nuclear weapons, abortion rights, children's rights, environmentalist, gay rights, and general liberal).

The remaining 13 are pro-Israel PACs.

Pro-Israel PACs contributed more than $4.1 million to influence federal elections in 1985-86, of which $3.3 million went to the campaign coffers of current members of Congress from both parties and from every state. Conservative PACs not connected to candidates or party organizations gave $1.26 million, while liberal ideological PACs gave $1.33 million to members of Congress now in office.

Looking at six-year figures for senators, who serve six-year terms of office, and the past two years for House members, who serve two-year terms, congressional Democrats were given $3.6 million in pro-Israel PAC funds, nearly three times as much as the $1.3 million contributed to Republicans.

Senators have raised $3.5 million from pro-Israel PACs during and since their last elections, more than twice as much as the $1.5 million raised by representatives in 1985-86.

Under the U.S. Constitution, presidential power to enter treaties and appoint ambassadors and top government officials can be exercised only "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate," which gives senators considerably more influence in foreign affairs than representatives.

Senators elected or re-elected last fall raised $1.9 million from pro- Israel PACs in 1985-86, almost three times as much cash as they raised from PACs of all other American ideological causes over the same period.

Daschle, the former representative and current senator from South Dakota, received some $230,000 by pro-Israel PACs in his successful bid to unseat Republican Sen. Jim Abdnor. In 1980, with help from "New Right" PACs, Abdnor defeated liberal Sen. George McGovern, whose campaign also was largely funded by out-of-state interests, primarily labor PACs and liberals.

Amitay of WASH-PAC observed that the effects of pro-Israel PAC money are multiplied by supplementary giving from individuals in the American Jewish community and by the efficiency of the pro-Israel PACs at directing money to candidates. The PAC operations, he said, are "part of the democratic process." Compared to the far larger amounts contributed by business and labor PACs, "It's still pretty small potatoes," he added.

Unlike many liberal and conservative PACs, pro-Israel PACs tend to give a very high proportion of their money to candidates. "I do this as a hobby," Amitay said.

Other ideological PACs "raise money by direct mail and they have high overhead," he said. "I write letters to people I know around the country."

As result, WASH-PAC directly contributed to candidates some $310,000 of the $341,000 it spent in 1985-86. Other ideological PACs, with large Washington operations for direct mail, lobbying and organizing, generally give a small percentage of their total revenue to candidates. For example, the National Conservative Political Action Committee contributed to federal candidates only $81,303 in 1985-86, or less than 1 percent of its total expenditures of $9.3 million.

All but six of the 19 members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have raised at least $15,000 from pro-Israel PACs during or since their last campaigns, an aggregate $998,893 over the past 6 years.

Sen. Paul Simon, D-Ill., holds the record for obtaining pro-Israel PAC money, having raised $292,683 in his 1984 defeat of Republican Charles Percy, then chairman of the committee. Percy had offended pro-Israel forces by supporting the sale of AWACS surveillance planes to Saudi Arabia.

On the House Foreign Affairs Committee, 19 representatives received more than $5,000 from pro-Israel PACs.

Smith, the top recipient in the House, was followed by Edward Feighan, D- Ohio, with $50,250. Altogether, members of the committee raised $354,429 from the pro-Israel PACs. Eight other members of the committee received more than $15,000 from pro-Israel PACs, including committee Chairman Dante Fascell, D-Miami, who obtained $17,000.

Most members of other key committees concerned with spending policy and national security also benefited from pro-Israel PAC funds. Senate Appropriations members received $990,000. Senators on Armed Services raised $637,000 from pro-Israel PACs, and those on the Intelligence Committee raised $536,000.

The pro-Israel PAC gifts to members of Congress were 30 times greater than all other American ethnic and nationalist groups combined.

The other ethnic and nationalist PACs include those representing blacks, American Indians, Hispanics and Americans with ancestry in Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, China, the Philippines, India, Lebanon, Armenia, Turkey, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean. Together, they contributed $110,650 to members of the current Congress.

Four PACs representing Arab Americans have been formed, but only one, NAAA PAC, affiliated with the National Association of Arab Americans, contributed to federal candidates. Members of this Congress received $33,344 from NAAA PAC, mostly in the form of $250 checks. None received more than $4,000.

Few Capitol Hill observers subscribe to the notions, suggested by critics of PAC campaign financing, that PACs in effect bribe members of Congress, directly swapping cash for legislative action. But most would concede that the correlation between money and votes shows that PACs do at least accomplish what they say they intend -- to help elect candidates whose support the PACs can count on, and help defeat the PACs' opponents.

 

 

Edit: And sorry if the link doesn't work...Sun Sentinel is blocked for European users so I had to use the google cache...not sure if it will work as I am technologically regarded.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Shady Ray

[Cacti 191]

1 hour ago, Shady Ray said:

Actually just opted to spoiler the whole damn article

From the last sentence in the article:

Quote

Few (emphasis mine) Capitol Hill observers subscribe to the notions…that PACs in effect bribe members of Congress, directly swapping cash for legislative action.

It’s telling that—in the same sentence—you say “perhaps he (Inouye) was a fair dealing Senator wrt Israel...perhaps he wasn't” and go on to say “but he sure as fuck was one of the post bought-and-paid for Senators out there when it came to Israel…” 

You must be one of the few who believe that Inouye accepted bribes to support Israel.

[Shady Ray 1,633]

11 minutes ago, Cacti said:

From the last sentence in the article:

It’s telling that—in the same sentence—you say “perhaps he (Inouye) was a fair dealing Senator wrt Israel...perhaps he wasn't” and go on to say “but he sure as fuck was one of the post bought-and-paid for Senators out there when it came to Israel…” 

You must be one of the few who believe that Inouye accepted bribes to support Israel.

So you don't think massive levels of PAC contributions (over a period running from 1985 to 2012 for Inouye) impact how our oh-so-noble political betters cast votes?

 

 

[washparkhorn 9,967]

 

4 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

My question is always, what happens if we step back our military production ?

Deep economic contraction (deep recession/depression) for the US.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2015/08/19/dollars-at-work-what-defense-spending-means-for-the-u-s-economy/

 

[Cacti 191]

1 hour ago, Shady Ray said:

So you don't think massive levels of PAC contributions (over a period running from 1985 to 2012 for Inouye) impact how our oh-so-noble political betters cast votes?

 

Impact? Sure. But I think there is a lot of space between “impact” and “bought-and-paid for.”

Big PAC contributors can have an impact simply because they usually can get a face-to-face meeting with law makers to make their case for their cause. But even if an elected official supports the PAC’s cause, that doesn’t mean that they were bribed to do so. Only a cynic would make such a generalization.

And in Inouye’s case, it doesn’t make sense that he was bribed to support Israel. He easily won every election in Hawaii and could have done so without pro-Israel PACs.

If money was the only consideration in determining how politicians vote; if most of them have no firmly-held views and can be bribed; then pro-Israel PACs need to contribute to Ilhan Omar’s campaign, thereby flipping her anti-Israel stance to pro-Israel.  

 

[Shady Ray 1,633]

36 minutes ago, Cacti said:

 

Impact? Sure. But I think there is a lot of space between “impact” and “bought-and-paid for.”

Big PAC contributors can have an impact simply because they usually can get a face-to-face meeting with law makers to make their case for their cause. But even if an elected official supports the PAC’s cause, that doesn’t mean that they were bribed to do so. Only a cynic would make such a generalization.

And in Inouye’s case, it doesn’t make sense that he was bribed to support Israel. He easily won every election in Hawaii and could have done so without pro-Israel PACs.

If money was the only consideration in determining how politicians vote; if most of them have no firmly-held views and can be bribed; then pro-Israel PACs need to contribute to Ilhan Omar’s campaign, thereby flipping her anti-Israel stance to pro-Israel.  

 

Without running down a rabbit trail on the motivations of Inouye's unwavering support for Israel - an unwavering support which I believe was to the detriment of our own position in the Middle East - my point remains: I don't put much stock in his analysis of Israeli issues based solely on his over-the-top support on every single Israeli issue that ever came through the US Senate. He was not an objective politician in this regard, as evidenced by his on-the-record suggestion throughout the 80s and 90s that any Israeli government that agrees to land-for-peace should be toppled. This is not impartiality...this is advocacy for the Likudnik/Netanyahu line of thinking from the sidelines in Washington.

 

While I certainly acknowledge that in other areas he seemed to be a good man with a very inspiring story and personal history that should be respected, he never once showed even-handedness when it came to the Palestinian issue and he was a significant architect of the current corrupt system that we have in place with Israel. He was the one who initially pushed for modifying the funding regime re arming Israel from loans to grants and he was the sole driver of the concept of de-linking foreign aid to Israel with them making objective and significant progress on the Palestinian issue. Prior to this, we were at least going through the motions of encouraging fair dealing and "sticks and carrots" to each side. 

 

Regardless whether that commitment to Israel was one of genuine conviction or whether it was bolstered by financial incentives from AIPAC...or even a mixture of the two...it is not the job of a US Senator to advocate so ardently for a foreign power, so his position to me on the value of Israeli intel is of no interest.

Edited February 7, 2021 by Shady Ray

[fakebusiness 129]

6 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

 

Deep economic contraction (deep recession/depression) for the US.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2015/08/19/dollars-at-work-what-defense-spending-means-for-the-u-s-economy/

 

 

23 hours ago, washparkhorn said:

And now you present it again. 

You want the truth?  Friendly-fire incidents in the Fog of War happen all the fucking time. Thousands have died in friendly-fire incidents. At a minimum, 3% of casualties in battle are from friendly-fire. 

Here are a fuck-ton of friendly fire incidents in the past 100 years:

  Reveal hidden contents

World War II[edit]

1939[edit]

6 September – Just days after the start of the war, in what was dubbed the Battle of Barking Creek, three Royal Air Force Spitfires from 74 Squadron shot down two Hurricanes from the RAF's 56 Squadron, killing one of the pilots. One of the Spitfires was then shot down by British anti-aircraft artillery while returning to base.[29]

10 September – The British submarine HMS Triton sank another British submarine, HMS Oxley. After making challenges which went unanswered Triton assumed it must have located a German U-boat and fired two torpedoes. Oxley was the first Royal Navy vessel to be sunk and also the first vessel to be sunk by a British vessel in the war, killing 52 with only two survivors. Both vessels were patrolling off the coast of Norway (then neutral) at the time. The incident that led to the loss of Oxley was kept in secrecy until the 1950s.[30]

3 December 1939 - British submarine HMS Snapper sustained a direct hit from a British aircraft while returning to Harwich after a patrol in the North Sea, but without taking damage.[31]

1940[edit]

19 February – During Operation Wikinger the German destroyer Z1 Leberecht Maass was sunk by Luftwaffe bombs while another destroyer, the Z3 Max Schultz, was sunk by mines in the confusion.[32]

14 April – The Dutch submarine HNLMS O 10 was bombed in error off Noordwijk by an RAF aircraft.[33]

10 May – German Luftwaffe bombers sent to bomb Dijon in France instead bombed the German city of Freiburg due to navigation errors, killing 57 people.[34]

Night of 11 May - During the Battle of Belgium the British 3rd Infantry Division, commanded by General Bernard Law Montgomery were sent to take their pre-arranged position on the River Dyle near Leuven when they were fired on in mistake for German paratroopers by the Belgian 10th Infantry Division who were holding the position. They gave way when Montgomery (own claim) approached and offered to place himself under Belgian command.[35]

Battle of the Grebbeberg, Holland - The 2nd Battalion of the Dutch 19th Infantry Regiment, ordered to make a night counterattack against positions newly seized by the Germans on 11 May, were fired on at the stopline by other Dutch troops who had been uninformed of the counterattack, causing it to be called off at dawn when order had been restored. (Fortunately for the Dutch a planned German night attack at that point had been called off because of their deterring supporting artillery fire.) They were ordered to counterattack again, after 1600 hours the following day, when, reaching the frontline, fellow troops again fired on them, causing the counterattack to peter out and be abandoned.

14 May - At midday German Luftwaffe fighters attacked at French town of Chemery-sur-Bar as the 1st Panzer Division were holding a victory parade following the battle of Bulsen, causing a few casualties.[36]

21 May – A Bristol Blenheim L9325 of No. 18 Squadron RAF was shot down by RAF Hurricane and crashed near Arras, France. Three crewmen were killed.[37]

22 May – A Bristol Blenheim L9266 of No. 59 Squadron RAF was shot down by RAF Spitfire and crashed near Fricourt, France. Three crewmen were killed.[37]

1 June - A Bristol Blenheim Piloted by Alastair Panton was shot down by Northumberland Fusiliers while flying low over the beaches of Dunkirk in order let the soldiers see the RAF was involved.[38]

28 June – Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo and his crew were killed when Italian anti-aircraft guns at Tobruk shot down their Savoia-Marchetti SM.79.[39]

6 October – The Italian submarine Gemma was sunk in error by the Italian submarine Tricheco while on patrol in the Mediterranean.[40]

1941[edit]

January, New Fourth Army incident, Chinese Red Army commander Xiang Ying was killed by one of his subordinates over the gold resources of the rival National Revolutionary Army's New Fourth Army

5 January – While flying an Airspeed Oxford for the ATA from Blackpool to RAF Kidlington near Oxford, Amy Johnson went off course in adverse weather conditions. Reportedly out of fuel, she bailed out as her aircraft crashed into the Thames Estuary but her body was never recovered. In 1999 it was reported that Tom Mitchell, at the time a RAF fighter pilot, claimed to have shot Johnson down when she twice failed to give the correct identification code during the flight. He said: "The reason Amy was shot down was because she gave the wrong colour of the day [a signal to identify aircraft known by all British forces] over radio." Mitchell explained how the aircraft was sighted and contacted by radio. A request was made for the signal. She gave the wrong one twice. "Sixteen rounds of shells were fired and the plane dived into the Thames Estuary. We all thought it was an enemy plane until the next day when we read the papers and discovered it was Amy. The officers told us never to tell anyone what happened."[41]

21 January - German army general Karl Eibl was killed NW of Stalingrad during a chaotic retreat in the wake of Soviet Operation Little Saturn when Italian soldiers mistaking his command vehicle for a Soviet armoured car blew it up with hand grenades.[42]

Bardia raid (1941): On the night of 19/20 April, 450 British commandos conducted an amphibious raid against Axis forces in Bardia, Libya, to destroy an Italian supply dump and a coastal artillery battery (which were successful). While most men were successfully evacuated after the raid, one was killed by friendly fire from an overalert British commando soldier and 67 became prisoners of war after getting lost and going to the wrong beach.[43]

In May, a Fleet Air Arm torpedo attack was erroneously carried out against HMS Sheffield during the hunt for the German battleship Bismarck. Fortunately all eleven torpedoes missed.[44]

5 July 1941 - An Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V bomber aircraft, Z6667 of No. 10 Operational Training Unit RAF based at Abingdon,[45] was on a night training flight when it broke up over Oxfordshire, crashed on Chiselhampton Hill and caught fire on impact. The crash was variously attributed to either interception by a Luftwaffe night fighter or friendly fire by a local anti-aircraft unit. All six crewmen were killed.[46]

9 August – RAF fighter ace Wing Commander Douglas Bader was shot down in what recent research suggests was a friendly fire incident.[47]

29 August – A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 plane was shot down in error by a German 8.8 cm FlaK 18/36/37/41 near the French coast and crashed on the beach south of Dunkirk. Leutnant Heinz Schenk was the first Focke-Wulf 190 pilot to be killed in action.[48]

26 November – A RAF aircraft bombed the 1st Essex Regiment during Operation Crusader, causing about 40 casualties.[citation needed]

7 December – During the Attack on Pearl Harbor confused and inexperienced naval gunners downed several US fighter aircraft that were sent from USS Enterprise to bolster the harbor defenses.[49] Army pilot Lieutenant John L. Dains was also killed by friendly fire just after having shot down the first Japanese aircraft of the war.[50][51]

1942[edit]

31 January – The German blockade runner Spreewald was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-333, captained by U-boat ace Peter-Erich Cremer off Bordeaux.[52]

20 February – British Commonwealth forces during the Burma Campaign were repeatedly bombed and strafed by RAF Blenheims during a break-out attempt by a battalion surrounded by Japanese troops in Sittaung River, Burma. More than 170 British Commonwealth lives were lost due to RAF air-strikes.[53]

21 February – Pilots of the 1st American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) strafed retreating Commonwealth forces who were mistaken for an advancing Japanese column during the Burma Campaign, resulting in more than 100 casualties.[54] Around the same day, retreating British Commonwealth forces with 300 vehicles were bombed and strafed by RAF Blenheims near Mokpalin, Burma, resulting more than 110 casualties and 159 vehicles destroyed.[53]

1 March before dawn - At the naval Battle of Sunda Strait, Japanese cruisers and destroyers fired Long Lance torpedoes against the Allied squadron. Many travelled too far and unexpectedly hit four Japanese auxiliary ships and sunk all (one re-floated later). Many soldiers were rescued from the sea, including the 16th Army Commander Hitoshi Imamura. Note: The English article is incorrect in many respects.

14 April - RAF fighter pilot fires on the audience during a demonstration of ground attack tactics at Imber training ground, Wiltshire, after mistaking them for dummy targets in mist. 25 killed and 71 wounded.

2 May – The Polish submarine ORP Jastrząb was mistakenly sunk by the British destroyer HMS St Albans and minesweeper HMS Seagull while on a convoy to Murmansk. She was attacked with depth charges and made to surface, there she was strafed with the loss of five crew and six injured, including the commander, despite lighting yellow recognition smoke candles. The ship was damaged and had to be scuttled.[55]

During the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign in May–September 1942, around 1,700 Japanese troops died out of a total 10,000 Japanese soldiers who fell ill with disease when their own biological weapons attack intended for Chinese civilians and soldiers rebounded on their own forces.[56][57]

7 May: During the Battle of the Coral Sea, TF 44, a joint Australia–U.S. warship force, was mistakenly bombed by three U.S. Army B-17s, but fortunately sustained no damage.

8 June – The Italian submarine Alagi sank the Italian destroyer Antoniotto Usodimare.[58]

27 June – A group of RAF Vickers Wellington aircraft bombed the units of 4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), British 7th Armoured Division and the British 3rd Hussars during a two-hour raid near Mersa Matruh, Egypt, killing over 359 troops and wounding 560.[59] The aftermath of RAF raids at this time were also seen by the Germans: "... The RAF had bombed their own troops, and with tracer flying in all directions, German units fired on each other. At 0500 hours next morning 28 June, I drove up to the breakout area where we had spent such a disturbed night. There we found a number of lorries filled with the mangled corpses of New Zealanders who had been killed by the British bombs ...[60]

Laconia incident – there were three elements of friendly fire:

* RMS Laconia, a British naval transport ship, sunk by the German submarine U-156 in the Atlantic Ocean off west Africa on 12 September, was carrying 1,793 Italian prisoners-of-war among its passengers, of whom 1,420 ultimately died.[61] Italy was then Germany's ally.

On 16 September, during the mass rescue of survivors by German vessels, a USAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber under orders attacked U-156 despite the pilot having earlier received a signal conveyed by a RAF officer from the U-boat that indicated Allied passengers were on board, and the submarine bearing the Red Cross flag. This caused the U-boat to cast off its passengers in order to Crash dive to avoid destruction, and to abandon rescue attempts. (U-156 was wrongly reported sunk in the action.)

* On 17 September, another U-boat involved in rescue, U-506, carrying 151 survivors, was attacked by a USAAF North American B-25 Mitchell bomber, although it failed to disable the vessel.

23 October – During the 2nd Battle of El Alamein, at 2140 hours under the cover of a barrage of 1000 guns, British infantry of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division advanced towards the enemy lines. However, they advanced too fast into the area of fire from British artillery, causing over 60 casualties.[29]

During the 2nd Battle of El Alamein, RAF fighters bombed British troops during a four-hour raid, causing 56 casualties. The British 10th Royal Hussars were among the victims; they did not know the proper signals to call off their planes.[29]

26 October — During the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, USS Porter was forced to be scuttled after an errant torpedo from a friendly Grumman TBF Avenger that had been damaged and forced to ditch nearby. Ironically, the torpedo came from the very aircraft that they were going to rescue.

British submarine HMS Unbeaten completed Operation Bluestone, landing an agent in Spain near Bayona, then completed her patrol in the Bay of Biscay and was returning to the UK when she went missing. It is believed that she was probably attacked and sunk in error by an RAF Wellington bomber of No. 172 Squadron, Coastal Command in the Bay of Biscay on 11 November 1942 . She was lost with all hands.[62]

During the night attack of 12/13 November in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the already damaged light cruiser USS Atlanta was fired on by the cruiser USS San Francisco, causing several deaths.

20 November – Numerous Allied pilots reported being shot at by friendly naval forces during the Torch landings in North Africa. In one such incident, a 202 Squadron Catalina flying boat was shot down with the loss of all 10 aircrew.[63]

1943[edit]

3 March – The German blockade runner and minelayer Doggerbank was mistaken for a British freighter and sunk by the submarine U-43 in the mid-Atlantic. (It was a British made merchant vessel that had been captured in 1941 and impressed into German service.) Of the 365 men on board (the greater part Allied prisoners-of-war), only one German crewman survived.[64]

9 May – The destroyers HMS Bicester and HMS Oakley, on deployment in the Mediterranean found themselves under air attack by Spitfire aircraft; Bicester sustained extensive damage from a near miss, with the bomb exploding alongside causing major flooding. Bicester was taken in tow to Malta for temporary repairs, and required permanent repairs in the United Kingdom, which were carried out between August and September.

Operation Chastise: On 16–17 May, nineteen RAF Lancaster bombers of No. 617 Squadron were dispatched to attack dams in Eder, Möhne and Sorpe (Röhr) rivers near Germany, using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis. Möhne and Edersee Dams were breached, causing catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr valley and of villages in the Eder valley. An estimated 1,600 people were killed by the floods; 1,519 of them were Allied prisoners of war.

During Operation Husky, codename for the Allied invasion of Sicily, on the night of 11 July 1943, American paratroopers of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, together with the 376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion and Company 'C' of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion (making a total of some 1,900 parachutists), part of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division, traveling in 144 C-47 transport planes, passed over Allied lines shortly after a German air raid, and were mistakenly fired upon by American ground and naval forces. 23 planes were shot down and 37 damaged, resulting in 318 casualties, with 60 airmen and 81 paratroopers killed.[65]

Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, commander of the U.S. II Corps, recalled that his column was attacked by American A-36s in Sicily. The tanks lit yellow smoke flares to identify themselves to their own aircraft but the attacks continued, forcing the column to return fire which resulted in the downing of one aircraft. A parachuting pilot from the downed A-36 was brought before Bradley. 'You stupid sonofabitch!!' Bradley fumed. 'Didn't you see our yellow recognition signals!?' The pilot replied 'Oh, is that what that was?'.[66]

12 August – RAF Flight Sergeant Arthur Louis Aaron was fatally wounded when the Short Stirling bomber he piloted during an air raid on Turin was reportedly (according to his posthumous Victoria Cross citation) hit by machine gun fire from an enemy night fighter, which killed his navigator and wounded other crew members, although it is believed it may have been friendly fire from another Stirling.[67] He died, after successfully landing the plane in Algeria, nine hours later.

17-18 August - Local German anti-aircraft batteries were ordered to fire on 200 Luftwaffe planes observed flying over Berlin during the night which had been mistaken for British bombers that had become detached from the concurrent major air raid on Peenemunde (Operation Hydra). The responsible Luftwaffe general, Hans Jeschonnek, subsequently committed suicide after the error was revealed.[68][69]

During Operation Cottage after Allied forces occupied Kiska Island, U.S. and Canadian forces mistook each other as Japanese and engaged each other in a deadly firefight. As a result, 28 Americans and 4 Canadians were killed with 50 more wounded. There were no Japanese troops on the island two weeks before U.S. and Canadian forces landed. Meanwhile, thinking they were engaging Americans, Imperial Japanese Navy battleships shelled and attempted to torpedo neighbouring Little Kiska Island where Japanese soldiers were waiting to embark.[70]

26 November - Medal of Honor recipient Edward O'Hare went missing during a nighttime mission. O'Hare was caught in the crossfire between a friendly Grumman TBF Avenger and a Japanese Mitsubishi G4M bomber. It was thought that O'Hare was indeed a victim of friendly fire, however several historians have argued that it was in fact the Japanese fire that shot him down.

1944[edit]

28 January –

A train carrying 800 Allied prisoners of war was bombed when it crossed a bridge on the Ponte Paglia in Allerona, Italy, approximately 400 British, U.S. and South African prisoners being killed. In anticipation of the Allied advance, the POWs had been evacuated from PG Campo 54 at Fara-in-Sabina outside of Rome, and were being transported to Germany in unmarked cattle cars. The prisoners of war had been padlocked in the cars and were crossing the bridge when B-26s of the 320th Bombardment Group arrived to blow up the bridge. The driver stopped the train on the span, leaving the prisoners locked inside to their fate. While many escaped, approximately 400 were killed, according to local records, and witness testimony. The mass graves were later destroyed by subsequent bombardments.[71][72]

Early in the morning a U.S. Navy PT boat carrying U.S. Fifth Army commander General Mark Clark to the Anzio beachhead, six days after the Anzio landings, was mistakenly fired on by sister U.S. naval vessels. Several sailors were killed and wounded around him.[73]

15 February - During the Battle of Monte Cassino the USAAF, under orders from the Allied commander-in-chief, General Sir Harold Alexander via General Mark Clark, air raided the hilltop Cassino abbey which was suspected to be used as a German observation post. It killed 230 Italian civilians, whose country by then was 'co-belligerent' with the Allies, who had sought shelter in the monastery but no Germans (whose troops subsequently occupied and made the evacuated ruins a stronghold).[74] Bombs that fell short of site killed some Allied troops on ground below, while 16 bombs were mistakenly dropped at the Fifth Army headquarter compound 17 miles (27 km) away, exploding yards from General Clark's trailer while he was at his desk inside.[75]

25 March - a USAAF C-54 flying from the Azores to the U.K. was misidentified as a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor and shot down by a Fleet Air Arm Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter. All 6 crew were killed.[76]

On the morning of 27 March, two US Motor Torpedo Boats (PT-121 and PT-353) were destroyed in error by P-40 Kittyhawks of No. 78 Squadron RAAF, along with an RAAF Bristol Beaufighter of No. 30 Squadron RAAF. A second Beaufighter crew recognized the vessels as PTs and tried to stop the attack, but not before both boats exploded and sank off the coast of New Britain. Eight American sailors were killed, with 12 others wounded. Survivors were rescued by PT-346, which itself became a friendly fire victim the following month.

29 April – US Navy PT-346 itself became the victim of friendly fire, when sent to the aid of PT-347, which had become stuck on a reef during a night patrol to intercept enemy barges and destroy shore installations off the coast of Rabaul in Lassul Bay, located off the northwest corner of New Britain Island in New Guinea. At 0700, PT-350 was attempting to dislodge PT-347 from the reef, when two American Marine Corsair planes mistook the PT boats for Japanese gunboats and attacked. Taking heavy fire from the planes, PT-350 shot down one of the two attacking fighters, believing them to be A6M Zeros. With three dead and four wounded and serious mechanical problems, PT-350 headed back to base. PT-347 remained stuck on the reef. When PT-350 could not be boarded because of extensive damage, PT-346 headed out to PT-347 to provide assistance. PT-346 arrived at 1230, and at 1400 was still attempting to dislodge PT-347 from the coral heads when planes appeared. The Corsair plane from the morning run brought back an entire squadron of 21 planes (four Corsairs, six Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, four Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters, and eight Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers). Recognizing the planes as American and thinking they were the air cover he had ordered, the squadron commander ordered the men to keep working; however, the planes attacked the two boats, still mistaking them for Japanese gunboats. PT-346 did not respond defensively until it was too late, and took heavy casualties. The skipper of PT-347, Lieutenant Williams, who had experienced the earlier attack, ordered his men into the water and to stay dispersed, but two men were killed and three wounded. PT-346 and PT-347 were completely destroyed by bombs, and the men were strafed in the water for approximately one hour.

5–6 June – Several RAF Avro Lancasters attempting to bomb the German artillery battery at Merville-Franceville-Plage attacked instead friendly positions, killing 186 soldiers of the British Reconnaissance Corps and devastating the town. They also mistakenly bombed Drop Zone 'V ' of the 6th Airborne Division, killing 78 and injuring 65.[77]

6 June – RAF fighters bombed and strafed the HQ entourage of 3rd Parachute Brigade (British 6th Airborne Division) near Pegasus Bridge after mistaking them for a German column. At least 15 men were killed and many others were wounded.[78]

8 June – a group of RAF Hawker Typhoons attacked the 175th Infantry Regiment, 29th U.S. Infantry Division on the Isigny Highway, France, causing 24 casualties.[79]

During Operation Cobra, the American offensive push south from western Normandy, bombs from the U.S. Eighth Air Force landed on American troops on two separate occasions.

24 July – Some 1,600 bombers flew in support of the opening bombardment for Cobra. Due to bad weather they were unable to see their targets. Although some were recalled, and others declined to bomb without visibility, a number did, which hit U.S. positions. Twenty-five were killed and 131 wounded in this incident.

The following day, on 25 July, the operation was repeated by 1,800 bombers of 8th Air Force. On this occasion, the weather was clear, but despite requests by First Army commander Gen. Omar Bradley to bomb east to west, along the front in order to avoid creepback, the air commanders made their attack north to south, over Allied lines. As more and more bombs fell short, and U.S. positions again were hit, 111 were killed and 490 wounded. Lieutenant General Lesley McNair was among the dead, the highest-ranking victim of American friendly fire.

26 July – USAAF P-47s mistakenly strafed the US 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion near Perrières, France. 20 men were badly injured, but there were no fatalities.[80]

27 July – The former HMS Sunfish was sunk by a British RAF Coastal Command aircraft in the Norwegian Sea during the beginning of its process of being transferred to the Soviet Navy. The Captain, Israel Fisanovich, supposedly had taken her out of her assigned area and was diving the sub when the aircraft came in sight instead of staying on the surface and firing signal flares as instructed. All crew, including the British liaison staff, were lost. Later investigation revealed that the RAF crew were at fault.[81]

4 August - The crew of a de Havilland Mosquito from 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron, RCAF, mistook a Westland Lysander for a Henschel Hs 126 during a night interception, shooting it down.[82]

7 August – A RAF Hawker Typhoon strafed a squad from 'F' Company/US 120th Infantry Regiment, near Hill 314, France, killing two men.[83] Around noon on the same day, RAF Hawker Typhoon of the 2TAF was called in to assist the US 823rd Tank Destroyer Battalion in stopping an attack by the 2nd SS Panzer Division between Sourdeval and Mortain but instead fired its rockets at two US 3-inch guns near L'Abbaye Blanche, killing one man and wounding several others even after the yellow smoke (which was to identify friendlies) was put out. Two hours later, an RAF Typhoon shot up the Service Company of the 120th Infantry Regiment, US 30th Division, causing several casualties, including Major James Bynum who was killed near Mortain. The officer who replaced him was strafed by another Typhoon a few minutes later and seriously wounded. Around the same time, a Hawker Typhoon attacked the Cannon Company of 120th Infantry Regiment, US 30th Division, near Mortain, killing 15 men.[83] An hour later, RAF Typhoons strafed 'B' Company/US 120th Infantry Regiment on Hill 285, killing a driver of a weapons carrier.[84]

Two battalions of the 77th Infantry on Guam exchanged prolonged fire on 8 August 1944, the incident possibly started with the firing of mortars for range-finding and angle calibration purposes. Small arms and then armour fire was exchanged. The mistake was realized when both units tried to call in the same artillery battalion to bombard the other.[85]

8 August –

8th USAAF heavy bombers bombed the headquarters of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and 1st Polish Armoured Division during Operation Totalize, killing 65 and wounding 250 Allied soldiers.[86]

Near Mortain, France, RAF Hawker Typhoon aircraft attacked two Sherman tanks of 'C' Company, US 743rd Tank Battalion with rockets, killing five tank crewmen and wounding ten soldiers. Later that day, two Shermans from 'A' Company, US 743rd Tank Battalion were destroyed and set ablaze by RAF Typhoons near Mortain. One tank crewman was killed and 12 others wounded.[87]

9 August – A RAF Hawker Typhoon strafed units of the British Columbia Regiment and the Algonquin Regiment, 4th Canadian Armoured Division, near Quesnay Wood during Operation Totalize, causing several casualties. Later that day, the same units were mistakenly fired upon by tanks and artillery of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, resulting in more casualties.

12 August – RAF Hawker Typhoons fired rockets at Sherman tanks of 'A' Company, US 743rd Tank Battalion, near Mortain, France, causing damage to one tank and badly injuring two tank crewmen.[88]

13 August – 12 British soldiers of 'B' Company, 4th Wiltshires, 43rd Wessex Division, were killed and 25 others wounded when they were hit by rockets and machine gun attacks by RAF Typhoons near La Villette, Calvados, France.[89]

14 August – RAF heavy bombers hit Allied troops in error during Operation Tractable causing about 490 casualties including 112 dead. The bombings also destroyed 265 Allied vehicles, 30 field guns and two tanks. British anti-aircraft guns opened fire on the RAF bombers and some may have been hit.

17 August – RAF fighters attacked the soldiers of the British 7th Armoured Division, resulting in 20 casualties, including the intelligence officer of 8th Hussars who was badly injured. The colonel riding along was badly shaken when their jeep crashed off the road.[90]

14–18 August – The South Alberta Regiment of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division came under fire six times by RAF Spitfires, resulting in over 57 casualties. Many vehicles were also set on fire and the yellow smoke used for signalling friendlies was ignored by Spitfire pilots. An officer of the South Alberta demanded that he wanted his Crusader AA tanks to shoot at the Spitfires attacking his Headquarters.[91]

27 August – A minesweeping flotilla of Royal Navy ships came under fire near Le Havre. At about noon on 27 August, HMS Britomart, Salamander, Hussar and Jason came under rocket and cannon attacks by Hawker Typhoon aircraft of No. 263 Squadron RAF and No. 266 Squadron RAF. HMS Britomart and HMS Hussar took direct hits and were sunk. HMS Salamander had her stern blown off and sustained heavy damage. HMS Jason was raked by machine gun fire, killing and wounding several of her crew. Two of the accompanying trawlers were also hit. The total loss of life was 117 sailors killed and 153 wounded. The attack had continued despite the attempts by the ships to signal that they were friendly and radio requests by the commander of the aircraft for clarification of his target. In the aftermath the surviving sailors were told to keep quiet about the attack. The subsequent court of enquiry identified the fault as lying with the Navy, which had requested the attack on what they thought were enemy vessels entering or leaving Le Havre, and three RN officers were put before a court martial. The commander of Jason and his crew were decorated for their part in rescuing their comrades. At the time reporting of the incident was suppressed with information not fully released until 1994.[92][93][94]

9 September - On third day of the Battle of Arnhem, a German SS battalion's pursuit of landed Allied paratroopers was halted at the village of Wolfheze, Netherlands, when Luftwaffe planes mistakenly strafed it.[95]

12 September:

A group of RAF Hawker Typhoon aircraft destroyed two Sherman tanks of the Governor General's Foot Guards, 4th Canadian Armoured Division in the vicinity of Maldegem, Belgium, killing three men and injuring four. One Canadian soldier from the 4th Canadian Armored Division wounded recalled this incident saying "... while so deployed the tanks were suddenly attacked, in mistake, by several Typhoon aircraft. Lt. Middleton-Hope's tank was badly hit, killing the gunner Guardsman Hughes, and the tank was set on fire. Almost immediately Sgt. Jenning's tank was similarly knocked out by Typhoon rockets. Meanwhile the Typhoons continued to press home their attack with machine guns and rockets, and, while trying to extricate the gunner, Lt. Middleton-Hope was killed after his tank was blown off. In this tragic encounter, Guardsman Scott was also killed and Baker, Barter, and Cheal were seriously wounded."[96]

The Japanese transport ship Rakuyō Maru, carrying 1,317 Australian and British prisoners-of-war in convoy from Singapore to Formosa (Taiwan), was sunk in the Luzon Strait by the submarine USS Sealion, whose commanders were unaware until after the sinking that allied prisoners had been on board. Ultimately 1,159 POWs died,[97] only 50 rescued by the Sealion and sister submarines in her pack lived to make landfall.

18 September – The Japanese cargo ship Junyō Maru was packed with 1,377 Dutch, 64 British and Australian, and 8 American[98] prisoners of war along with 4,200 Javanese slave labourers (Romushas) bound for work on a railway line being built in Sumatra when she was attacked and sunk by British submarine HMS Tradewind, whose commander, Lt. Cdr Lynch Maydon did not know there were Allied prisoners of war on board.[99] At that time it was the world's greatest sea disaster with 5,620 dead[100] as well as the worst single friendly fire loss (surpassed by the Cap Arcona disaster next year) and highest death toll inflicted in a single action by British forces. 680 survivors were rescued, the prisoners of whom went on to their intended destination.

19 September – RAF Sergeant Bernard McCormack, a gunner in a Lancaster bomber, was returning along with other RAF aircrews from a night time raid over Nazi Germany. As they returned to RAF Woodhall Spa in Lincolnshire, Sgt McCormack saw a plane flying in the same formation as he was. Believing that it was a German Junkers Ju 88, he attacked the plane, bringing it down over the Dutch town of Steenbergen. Two of the occupants were killed. It was found out by RAF intelligence officers that it was actually a British Mosquito flown by CO Guy Gibson, who previously took part in Operation Chastise, and his navigator Jim Warwick. Wracked with guilt, McCormack taped a confession, which he entrusted to his wife Eunice when he died in 1992.[citation needed]

24 October - the Japanese transport Arisan Maru was carrying 1,784 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) from Manila to Manchuria when it was sunk by a torpedo from USS Sharkk. All but nine of the POWs are reported to have died in the incident mainly through the Japanese escort ships not rescuing them when they had all evacuated ship.[101]

In October, Soviet troops liberated the city of Niš from occupying German forces and advanced on Belgrade. At the same time, the U.S. Army Air Forces was bombing German-Albanian units entering from Kosovo. The U.S. planes mistook the advancing Soviet tanks as enemies (probably due to a lack of communications) and began attacking them, whereupon the Soviets then called in for air support from Niš airport and a five-minute dogfight ensued, ending after both the U.S. and Soviet commanders ordered the planes to retreat.[citation needed]

Canadian artillery units were rushed in to support the retreating American forces as a counterattack against the advancing German Army during the early stages of the Ardennes Offensive. When American troops were making a retreat north of the Ardennes, the Canadians mistook them for a German column. The Canadian artillery guns opened fire on them, resulting in 76 American deaths and many as 138 wounded.[102]

25 December 1944 – Major George E. Preddy, commander of the USAAF 328th Fighter Squadron, was the highest-scoring U.S. ace still in combat in the European Theater at the time when he died on Christmas Day near Liege in Belgium. Preddy was chasing a German fighter over an American anti-aircraft battery and was hit by their fire aimed at his intended target.

Operation Wintergewitter (Winter Storm) – Italian Front:[103] American forward observer John R. Fox called down fire on his own position to stop a German advance on the town of Sommocolonia, Italy. In 1997 he was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for this action.

1945[edit]

1 January - Operation Bodenplatte (Baseplate): 900 German fighters and fighter-bombers launched a surprise attack on Allied airfields. Approximately 300 aircraft were lost, 237 pilots killed, missing, or captured, and 18 pilots wounded – the largest single-day loss for the Luftwaffe. Many losses were due to fire from Luftwaffe anti-aircraft batteries, whose crew members had not been informed of the attack.

5 January - USS Colorado friendly gun fire hit superstructure while at Lingayen Gulf, Philippines, killing 18 wounding 51 others.

16 January - During the South China Sea raid, U.S. Navy bombers targeting transport and harbor facilities in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong mistakenly bombed the nearby village of Hung Hom, killing and wounding many civilians,[104] and dropped one bomb in Stanley Internment Camp, killing 14 Allied civilian internees.[105]

23 January – A group of RAF fighters strafed the assault gun platoon (105mm Sherman tanks) of US 743rd Tank Battalion, near Sart-Lez-St.Vith, Belgium, killing 6 men and wounding 15.[106]

10 February - Lieutenant Louis Edward Curdes, a USAAF P-51 pilot, shot down a USAAF C-47 about to land by mistake on a Japanese held airstrip. All personal on board the Skytrain survived.

17 February - In Caen, an RAF plane fired on misidentified French military commandos; the plane crashed after running out of fuel and was eventually found partially scrapped a day after the incident.

27 February – Calais suffered its last bombing raid by Royal Air Force bombers who mistook the by-now liberated town for Dunkirk, which was at that time still occupied by German forces.[107]

14 April - German submarine U-235 is sunk by a German torpedo boat.[108]

April 24 – The Royal Air Force, carrying out an air raid on Rangoon in Burma, bombed a jail in the belief that it was a command center for the Japanese Army. Unfortunately, the jail was actually not a Japanese command center but was the incarceration site of Allied prisoners of war. Over 30 Allied POWs were killed.[109]

The March (1945) – On 19 April, at a village called Gresse, a flight of RAF Typhoons strafed a column of Allied POWs during the death march after mistaking them as retreating German troops, killing 30 and fatally injuring 30 more.

Cap Arcona incident – Although it did not involve troops in combat, this incident has been referred to as "the worst friendly-fire incident in history".[110] On 3 May, the three ships Cap Arcona, Thielbek, and the SS Deutschland in Lübeck Harbour were sunk in four separate, but synchronized attacks with bombs, rockets, and cannons by the Royal Air Force, resulting in the death of over 7,000 Jewish concentration camp survivors and Russian prisoners of war, along with POWs from several other allied nations.[110][111] The British pilots were unaware that these ships carried POWs and concentration camp survivors,[112] although British documents were released in the 1970s that state the Swedish government had informed the RAF command of the risk prior to the attack.[113][114]

14 May – Several days after the German surrender, U-boat ace Wolfgang Luth was shot and killed by a sentry while walking after dark at the German naval base at Flensburg-Marwik.

3 July 1945 - While covering the invasion of Balikpapan in Borneo, Australian war correspondents John Elliot and William Smith, went ahead of the advancing Australian troops; a Bren gunner in the latter, believing them to be Japanese troops, shot and killed them both.[115]

6 and 9 August – 20 Allied POWs died in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947[edit]

It was rumoured that on one occasion during the revolts, Afghan aircraft accidentally bombed and machine gunned government troops or allied tribal levies, causing 40 casualties.[116]

Palestine Emergency (1945–48)[edit]

In 1946, Lieutenant (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Colin Campbell Mitchell of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was deployed with his battalion in a crackdown on Jewish militants. On one personal reconnaissance mission he was shot and wounded by one of his own Bren gunners when he was mistaken for a guerilla, but subsequently recovered.[117]

During the Acre Prison break, a 1947 raid on Acre Prison by the Irgun to free imprisoned Irgun and Lehi members, Lehi fighter and escaped prisoner Shimshon Vilner was accidentally killed by Bren gun fire from the Irgun commander of the operation, Dov Cohen, during a firefight with British troops.[118]

1948 Arab–Israeli War[edit]

10 June 1948: Mickey Marcus, the Israel Defense Forces' first general, was shot and killed by a sentry while returning at night to his headquarters.

Korean War[edit]

3 July 1950 – Eight F-51 Mustangs of No. 77 Squadron RAAF strafed and destroyed a train carrying thousands of American and South Korean soldiers who were mistaken for a North Korean convoy in the main highway between Suwon and P'yongtaek, resulting more than 700 casualties. Before the attack, the Australian pilots had been assured by the United States 5th Air Force Tactical Control Centre that the area under attack was in North Korean hands. However, 20 minutes prior to an attack, the 5th Air Force Tactical Control Centre received intelligence that the area might be under American hands and told the Australian pilots to hold their fire. One Australian pilot ignored the order, believing the train was indeed carrying North Korean forces. The pilot then strafed the train and his squadron followed the lead as well.[119][120]

23 September 1950 – Hill 282 was attacked by 1st Battalion, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, part of the British 27th Infantry Brigade in the United Nations Command. Having captured it and facing strong Korean People's Army counter-attacks, the Argylls, devoid of artillery support, called in a UN air-strike. A group of United States Air Force F-51 Mustangs of the 18th Fighter Bomber Wing circled the hill. The Argylls had laid down white air-recognition panels, but the North Koreans imitated similar panels on their own positions in white as well. It was later found out that several British air controllers mistakenly did not inform the pilots of proper air-recognition panels and the Argylls Captain was unable to contact the F-51s due to his defective radio. As a result, the planes mistakenly napalm-bombed and strafed the Argylls' hill-top positions. Despite a desperate counter-attack by the Argylls to regain the hill, for which Major Kenneth Muir was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross, the Argylls, much reduced in numbers, were forced to relinquish the position. Over 60 of the Argylls' casualties were caused by friendly air-strike.[121]

During the Battle of Wawon, fleeing soldiers of the Republic of Korea Army II Corps were mistaken by the Turkish Brigade as Chinese which led to an exchange of fire. As a result, 20 South Korean soldiers were killed and four others wounded with 14 Turkish deaths and six wounded.[122]

5 December 1952 - RCAF Squadron Leader Andy MacKenzie (a World War II ace) was shot down by his own squadron mate during a dogfight. Captured by Chinese forces, he was kept prisoner for two years, being released in December 1954.[123]

Cyprus Emergency[edit]

12 December 1955: On the Troodos mountains near the village of Spilia during the Battle of Spilia, British units from the north and ones from the south, unable to see in the fog and in the belief that they were surrounded by EOKA fighters, engaged each other in an eight-hour firefight involving airstrikes, artillery bombardments, and heavy weapons. This firefight caused 250 casualties, including 127 deaths, 102 injuries, and 21 missing, making it the deadliest friendly fire incident of the war.[124][125]

On 15 October 1958, 23 British soldiers of 1st Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles, were killed and 35 others injured while walking near the Kyrenia Mountains when two British machine gunners mistook them for EOKA fighters and opened fire on them for at least 15 minutes. Some British soldiers yelled multiple times at the machine gunners that they were friendlies and the group they belonged to, but the gunners kept on firing.[124]

Vietnam War[edit]

Aft view of the bridge of USCGC Point Welcome after the friendly fire incident of 11 August 1966.[126]

It has been estimated that there may have been as many as 8,000 friendly fire incidents in the Vietnam War;[127][128][129][130] one was the inspiration for the book and film Friendly Fire.

2 January 1966, in Bao Trai in the Mekong Delta during joint Australian/American forces fighting the Viet Cong, a USAF Cessna O-1 Bird Dog flying at low level accidentally flew through Australian and New Zealand artillery fire. The aircraft tail was blown off and the aircraft dived into the ground, killing the pilot instantly.[131]

3 January 1966, near Bao Trai, at midnight, Sergeant Jerry Morton from 'C' Company, the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment had called in marker white phosphorus rounds ahead of the company from the supporting New Zealand gun battery on a suspected enemy position. However, due to the bad coordinates given by Morton, the rounds instead landed on the Australian forces. Morton along with another Australian soldier were killed and several others wounded.[131]

3 January 1966, two rounds fired by 161 Battery, Royal New Zealand Artillery accidentally landed on C Company, 2/503rd Regiment, US 173rd Airborne Brigade, killing three paratroopers and wounding seven during Operation Marauder.[131][132] The short rounds were found to have happened due to damp powder.[133]

11 August 1966, while supporting Operation Market Time, USCGC Point Welcome was attacked by USAF aircraft, resulting in the deaths of two Coast Guardsmen.[134]

29 December 1966, a premature burst of a 105mm round from an LVTH-6 killed five Marines and wounded two more east of Dong Ha in Quang Tri.[135][136]

6 February 1967, twelve rounds from New Zealand artillery accidentally landed on the Australian 'D' Company 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, killing four and thirteen injured in west of Song Rai river between Nui Dat and Xuyên Mộc District.[137]

3 August 1967, a C-7 Caribou transport plane was approaching the special forces camp at Đức Phổ when it flew into line of fire from a U.S. Army 155 mm howitzer. The tail section separated and the airplane fell down, killing the crew. A cease fire had been issued but failed to reach the gun crew in time. The Caribou was photographed just before it hit the ground.[138]

19 November 1967, during the Battle of Dak To a U.S. Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk aircraft flown by Lieutenant Colonel Richard Taber dropped two 250 lb (110 kg) bombs on the command post of the 2nd Battalion (Airborne) 503d Infantry, 173d Airborne Brigade while they were in heavy contact with a numerically superior People's Army of Vietnam force. At least 45 paratroopers were killed and another 45 wounded. Also killed was the Battalion Chaplain Major Charles J. Watters, who was subsequently awarded the Medal of Honor.[139]

16–17 June 1968, HMAS Hobart, USS Boston and USS Edson were attacked by US aircraft. At 03:09, Hobart's radar picked up an aircraft approaching with no IFF transponder active. At 03:14, the aircraft fired a single missile at the ship which killed one sailor, wounded two others and damaged the ship. Two minutes later, the aircraft made a second pass and fired two missiles which caused further damage, killed another sailor and wounded six others. The aircraft came around for a third attack run, but was scared off when Hobart's forward gun turret, under independent control, fired five rounds at it. At 03:30, USS Edson, in company with Hobart, reported coming under fire, and Hobart's captain ordered both destroyers and USS Theodore E. Chandler to take up anti-aircraft formation. At 05:15, the three destroyers linked up with the cruiser USS Boston (which had been hit by a missile from another aircraft) and the escorting destroyer USS Blandy, and continued anti-aircraft manoeuvring. Debris collected from Hobart and the other ships indicated that the missiles were of United States Air Force (USAF) origin. The attacks on Hobart and the other ships were the capstone of a series of firing incidents between 15 and 17 June, and an inquiry was held by the USN into the incidents, with three RAN personnel attending as technical advisors. The inquiry found that a few hours before the attack on Hobart, Swift boats PCF-12 and PCF-19, along with USCGC Point Dume, were attacked by what they identified at the time as hovering enemy aircraft, but were believed to be friendly planes; PCF-19 was sunk in the attack. F-4 Phantoms of the USAF Seventh Air Force, responding several hours after the attack on the Swift boats, were unable to distinguish between the radar signature of surface ships and airborne helicopters, and instead opened fire on Hobart, Boston, and Edson.

11 May 1969, during the Battle of Hamburger Hill, Lieutenant Colonel Weldon Honeycutt directed helicopter gunships, from an Aerial Rocket Artillery (ARA) battery, to support an infantry assault. In the heavy jungle, the helicopters mistook the command post of the 3/187th battalion for a Vietnamese unit and attacked, killing two and wounding thirty-five, including Honeycutt. This incident disrupted battalion command and control and forced 3/187th to withdraw into night defensive positions.

1 May 1970, on military operations in Phước Tuy Province a burst of machine gun fire followed by a calls for the medic split the night, an Australian machine gunner opened fire on soldiers of the 8th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment without warning, killing two and wounded two other soldiers.[140]

20 July 1970, patrol units of 'D' Company 8th Battalion, 1st Australian Task Force outside the wire at Nui Dat called in a New Zealand battery fire mission as part of a training exercise. However, there was confusion at the gun position about the fire corrections issued by the inexperienced Australian officer with the patrol. The result was two rounds fell upon the patrol, killing two and wounding several others.[141]

24 July 1970, New Zealand artillery guns accidentally shelled an Australian platoon, 1 Australian Reinforcement Unit, (1 ARU), killing two and wounding another four soldiers.[142]

10 May 1972, a VPAF MiG-21 was shot down in error by a North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile near Tuyen Quang, killing a pilot.[143]

2 June 1972, a VPAF MiG-19 was shot down in error by a North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile near Kep Province, killing a pilot.[144]

1967 Six-Day War[edit]

On the fourth day of the Six-Day War (8 Jun 1967), at about 2 PM Sinai time (then, GMT+2), Israeli defense forces attacked USS Liberty in International waters about 14 miles off the coast of the Sinai Peninsula, near El Arish, killing 34 Americans and wounding (naval officers, seamen, two marines, and one civilian), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship. At the time, the ship was in international waters. Though controversially disputed by the survivors of the attack, both countries officially consider it to be a case of mistaken identity.[145]

The Troubles[edit]

On 13 September 1969, British Lance Corporal Michael Spurway, of 24 Airportable HQ and Signal Squadron, was accidentally shot dead by a fellow British soldier while he was on the telephone to his wife, shortly after returning to his base at Gosford Castle after manning a rebroadcast station supporting 3 LI rear link communications.[146][147]

On 3 September 1972, two Royal Marines on patrol in Stratheden Street in New Lodge, Belfast, came into contact from separate directions and in the confusion, shot and killed a fellow Royal Marine, 18 year old Gunner Robert S. Cutting. At the time of Cutting's death, he had been on foot patrol in the New Lodge Road approaching Stratheden Street. A Royal Marine saw whom he thought was an enemy sniper and fired at him, injuring him. However, the Royal Marine shot him a second time as he attempted to crawl away, killing him instantly.[148][149] There was no investigation into his death until 40 years later, when the MoD found out that the soldier who shot him did not observe the correct procedure for engagement. No charges were filed against the soldier who shot him.[150]

On January 1, 1980, Lieutenant Simon Bates, of 2 PARA, was commanding an ambush at Tullydonnell, near Forkhill. A cardinal principle of ambush orders was to never leave the position. However, for some reason, Bates and his radio operator, Private Gerald Hardy, left the ambush and were mistakenly killed by fellow British paratroopers while returning to their positions.[151]

1974 the Turkish invasion of Cyprus[edit]

The Turkish Naval Forces destroyer Kocatepe was sunk by Turkish Air Force warplanes after being mistaken for a greek ship.

A fleet of Hellenic Air Force Nord Noratlas transport aircraft carrying reinforcements from Greece (Operation Niki) was mistaken for a flight of Turkish aircraft by Cypriot National Guard anti-aircraft gunners defending Nicosia International Airport, who opened fire. Of the 13 planes that came flew in, 1 was shot down and 3 more written off and later destroyed. Greek casualties were at least 33 dead including both commandos and aircrew and another 10 wounded.

During the Battle of Pentemili beachhead, Colonel Karaoglanoglu, the commander of the Turkish Army's 50th Infantry Regiment, was killed in a villa near the beachhead. Although the official cause of his death was enemy mortar or artillery fire, another Turkish General claimed that he was actually killed by friendly M20 Super Bazooka fire.[152]

Rhodesian Bush War[edit]

On November 7, 1976, Canadian spree killer Mathew Charles Lamb was fatally shot by one of his own men in the Rhodesian Special Air Service while carrying out an operation to destroy militants in the Mutema Tribal Trade Lands, Manicaland province, Rhodesia.

1982 Falklands War[edit]

A Dassault Mirage III was shot down by Argentine Anti-Aircraft and small arms fire at Port Stanley while an A-4 Skyhawk was downed by a 35 mm antiaircraft battery near Goose Green. Both aircraft belonged to the Argentine Air Force.

Companies A and C of the 3rd Battalion, Parachute Regiment, British Army engaged each other in an hour-long firefight in the Falkland Islands involving heavy weapons and artillery strikes, resulting in eight casualties, including five deaths and three injuries.

2 June – A friendly fire incident took place between the SAS and the Special Boat Squadron (SBS). An SBS patrol had apparently strayed into the SAS patrol's designated area and were mistaken for Argentine forces. A brief firefight was initiated during which one of the SBS patrol, Sergeant Ian Hunt, was killed.[153]

1982 British Army Gazelle friendly fire incident – Due to a lack of communication between the Army and the Navy, the destroyer HMS Cardiff shot down a British Gazelle helicopter over the Falkland Islands, killing four British soldiers. The MoD immediately covered up the incident, saying that the soldiers were killed by enemy fire. However, four years later, under intense pressure and scrutiny, the MoD finally admitted that they were killed by friendly fire.

11 June - Just before the Battle of Two Sisters, British units of 45 Commando Royal Marines on reconnaissance patrol were mistaken for Argentine units in the dark and the British mortar group opened up on them, only to be met with a withering hail of fire from the 45 Commando in return. In the confusion, five British troops died, including the mortar troop sergeant, and two were wounded. Among the dead from 45 Commando were Sergeant Robert Leeming, Corporal Peter Fitton, Corporal Andy Uren, and Royal Marine Keith Phillips.[154]

11 June – A British Royal Navy frigate, HMS Avenger (F185), fired a 4.5 inch explosive shell into a house while shelling a port in Stanley, killing three British women and wounding several others. They remained the only British civilian casualties of the war.[155][156]

1991 Persian Gulf War[edit]

Main article: Persian Gulf War § Friendly fire

During the Battle of Khafji, 11 American Marines were killed in two major incidents when their light armored vehicles (LAV's) were hit by missiles fired by a USAF A-10.

Two soldiers of the U.S. Army were killed and a further six wounded when an American Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter fired upon and destroyed a U.S. Army Bradley Fighting Vehicle and an M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier (in the same incident) during night operations.

A British officer was severely injured when his FV510 Warrior vehicle was attacked by a Challenger 1 tank of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

An U.S. Air Force A-10 during Operation Desert Storm attacked British Warrior MICVs, resulting in nine British dead and numerous casualties.

During the Battle of Phase Line Bullet, American M1 Abrams tanks in the rear fired in support of American troops facing dug-in Iraqi Army troops. American Infantry Fighting Vehicles were hit by fire from the tanks, resulting in two fatalities.

Several friendly fire incidents took place during the Battle of 73 Easting, wounding 57 American soldiers, but causing no fatalities.

One American soldier was killed by friendly fire during the Battle of Medina Ridge.

Two soldiers from 10 Air Defence Battery, Royal Artillery, were badly injured when two FV103 Spartan from which they had dismounted were fired upon by Challenger 1 tanks from 14th/20th King's Hussars with thermal sights beyond the range of unaided visibility (about 1500 m). The rearmost vehicle was hit and burst into flames. The other vehicle was also damaged in the ensuing fire.

A large number of friendly fire incidents took place during the Battle of Norfolk, resulting in 5 American casualties.

A Challenger 1 tank fired several rounds at a British artillery position, resulting in at least 4 casualties.

War in Afghanistan (2001–2016)[edit]

In the Tarnak Farm incident of 18 April 2002, four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others injured when U.S. Air National Guard Major Harry Schmidt, dropped a laser-guided 500 lb (230 kg) bomb from his F-16 jet fighter on the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry regiment which was conducting a night firing exercise near Kandahar. Schmidt was charged with negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, and dereliction of duty. He was found guilty of the latter charge. During testimony Schmidt blamed the incident on his use of "go pills" (authorized mild stimulants), combined with the 'fog of war'.[157] The Canadian dead received US medals for bravery, along with an apology.

Pat Tillman, a former professional American football player, was shot and killed by American fire on 22 April 2004. An Army Special Operations Command investigation was conducted by Brigadier General Jones and the U.S. Department of Defense concluded that Tillman's death was due to friendly fire aggravated by the intensity of the firefight. A more thorough investigation concluded that no hostile forces were involved in the firefight and that two allied groups fired on each other in confusion after a nearby improvised explosive device was detonated.

On 6 April 2006, a British convoy in Afghanistan wounded 13 Afghan police officers and killed seven, after calling in a US airstrike on what they thought was a Taliban attack.[158]

In Sangin Province, a RAF Harrier pilot allegedly mistakenly strafed British troops missing the enemy by 200 metres during a firefight with the Taliban on 20 August 2006.[clarification needed] This angered British Major James Loden of 3 PARA, who in a leaked email called the RAF, "Completely incompetent and utterly, utterly useless in protecting ground troops in Afghanistan". This allegation is despite the RAF Harrier GR7 not being fitted with guns.[clarification needed]

Canadian soldiers opened fire on a white pickup truck, about 25 kilometres west of Kandahar, killing an Afghan officer with 6 others injured on 26 August 2006.[159]

Operation Medusa (2006): One–two[vague] U.S. A-10 Thunderbolts mistakenly strafed NATO forces in southern Afghanistan, killing Canadian Private Mark Anthony Graham.

On 5 December 2006, an F/A-18C on a Close Air Support mission in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, mistakenly attacked a trench where British Royal Marines were dug-in during a 10-hour battle with Taliban fighters, killing one Royal Marine.[160]

Lance Corporal Matthew Ford, from Zulu Company of 45 Commando Royal Marines, died after receiving a gunshot wound in Afghanistan on 15 January 2007, which was later found to be due to friendly fire. The final inquest ruled he died from NATO rounds from a fellow Royal Marine's machine gun. The report added there was no "negligence" by the other Marine, who had made a "momentary error of judgment".[161][162]

Canadian troops mistakenly killed an Afghan National Police officer and a homeless beggar after their convoy was ambushed in Kandahar City.[163]

Of two helicopters called in to support operations by the British Grenadier Guards and Afghan National Army forces in Helmand, the British Westland WAH-64 Apache engaged enemy forces, while the accompanying American AH-64D Apache opened fire on the Grenadiers and Afghan troops.[citation needed]

23 August 2007: A USAF F-15 called in to support British ground forces in Afghanistan dropped a bomb on those forces. Three privates of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment, were killed and two others were severely injured. The coroner at the soldiers' inquest stated that the incident was due to "flawed application of procedures" rather than individual errors or "recklessness".[164]

On 26 September 2007, British soldiers in operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, fired Javelin anti-tank missiles at Danish soldiers from the Royal Life Guards, killing two.[165] It is also confirmed from Danish forces that the British fired a total of 6–8 Javelin missiles, over a 1 1⁄2 hour period and only after the attack was completed did they realize that the missiles were British, based upon the fragments found after the incident.[166]

On 12 January 2008, two Dutch soldiers and two allied Afghan soldiers were shot dead by fellow Dutch soldiers in Uruzgan, Afghanistan.[167]

In the night on 14 January 2008 in Helmand Province, British troops saw a bunch of Afghans "conducting suspicious activities". Visibility was too bad for rifle-fire and they were too far away to call in mortar strikes. The squad decided to use a Javelin anti-tank missile they were carrying. British soldiers fired their missile on the nearby roof but the victims were their own Afghan army sentries. 15 Afghan soldiers were killed.[168]

Between January 2008 and June 2009, Afghan military, police, and security personnel came under fire by British troops at least 10 times, resulting in seven deaths. The most serious incident occurred in the Lashkargah District of Helmand Province in October 2008, in which British troops opened fire on Afghan National Police officers that killed three and injured another.[169]

On 9 July 2008, nine British soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment were injured after being fired upon by a British Army Apache helicopter while on patrol in Afghanistan.[170]

A statement issued jointly by the American and the Afghan military commands said a contingent of Afghan police officers fired on United States forces on 10 December 2008 after the Americans had successfully overrun the hide-out, killing the suspected Taliban commander and detaining another man. The US forces after securing the hideout came under heavy small arms fire and explosive grenades from the Afghan Police forces. "Multiple attempts to deter the engagement were unsuccessful," and the US forces returned fire. Afghan police have stated that they came under fire first and that the initial firing on the US forces came from the building next to the police station. This has led the US forces to conclude that the Afghan police forces might have been compromised. Initial reports indicate that this was a tragic case of mistaken identity on both parts.[171]

Captain Tom Sawyer, aged 26, 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, and Corporal Danny Winter, aged 28, Zulu Company 45 Commando Royal Marines, were killed by an explosion on 14 January 2009 from a Javelin missile fired by British troops acting on the orders of a Danish officer. Both men were taking part in a joint operation with a Danish Battle Group and the Afghan National Army in a location north east of Gereshk in central Helmand Province.[172][173]

On 9 September 2009, British Special Boat Service forces were sent to rescue New York Times journalist Stephen Farrell and his Afghan translator Sultan Munadi who were kidnapped by Taliban forces in northern Afghanistan near Kunduz four days earlier. During the raid, Farrell was rescued, but Munadi was shot and killed in the firefight between the Taliban and British forces. It is later found out that Munadi was running towards the helicopter when he was shot in the front by a British soldier, in addition to being shot in the back by the Taliban, after the British mistook him for the Taliban. Two Afghan civilians also died from the hail of bullets by British and Taliban forces.

A British Military Police officer was shot dead by a fellow British soldier while on patrol.[174] It was reported that no charges are to be brought against a British army sniper who killed a British Military Policeman because he was allowed to open fire if he believed that his life was in danger.[175]

In December 2009, British commanders called upon a U.S. airstrike which killed Lance Corporal Christopher Roney from 3rd Battalion The Rifles who was engaging along with his comrades with the Taliban. The incident happened when a firefight was going on between British soldiers of 3rd Battalion The Rifles and the insurgents in Sangin Province. Senior British officers were watching a drone's grainy images of the fight from Camp Bastion, about 30 miles from the battle at Patrol Base Almas. The officers mistook the soldiers' mud-walled compound for an enemy position and called down a U.S. Apache airstrike on the base. Roney was fatally shot in the head after a helicopter gunship opened fire on the base. He died later the next day after being taken to Camp Bastion. Eleven other British soldiers were wounded in the attack.[176]

German soldiers killed six Afghan soldiers in a friendly fire incident on their way to attack a group of Taliban. Afghan soldiers were traveling in support of other Afghan troops in the area.[citation needed]

Sapper Mark Antony Smith, age 26, of the 36 Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, was killed by a smoke shell fired upon by British troops in Sangin Province, Afghanistan. The MoD is investigating his death and said a smoke shell, designed to provide cover for soldiers working on the ground, may have fallen short of its intended target.[177][178]

Friendly fire between ISAF and Pakistan on 26 November 2011. ISAF forces opened fire on Pakistan Army forces killing 24 Pakistani soldiers and causing a great diplomatic standoff between U.S. and Pakistan. ISAF forces argue they were there to hunt down militants at the AF-PAK border. Pakistan had stopped transit of goods through its territory to ISAF in Afghanistan because of the incident. After an official apology by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on 3 July 2012 the NATO supply routes were restored.

Two New Zealand soldiers were wounded by friendly fire from a 25mm gun mounted on an armored New Zealand LAV during a 12-minute firefight with insurgents in Bamyan Province on 4 August 2012.[179]

A British female soldier and a Royal Marine man were mistakenly killed by another British unit on patrol after her unit opened fire on an Afghan policeman assuming he was a Taliban insurgent. The British unit who killed a female soldier and a Royal Marine assumed they were under attack after the firing happened.[180]

Five United States Special forces operatives, and an Afghan Army counterpart were killed by friendly fire in Southern Zabul Province on June 9, 2014. Whilst on patrol, and coming under heavy Taliban fire, an air-strike was called in and a B-1 Lancer bomber misdirected its payload killing the six military personnel amongst others.[181]

Iraq War (2003–2011)[edit]

Video of the 28 March 2003 friendly fire incident, showing errors of identification

In the Battle of Nasiriyah, an American force of Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs) and infantry under intense enemy fire were misidentified as an Iraqi armored column by two U.S. Air Force A-10s who carried out bombing and strafing runs on them. One Marine died as a result.

A U.S. Patriot missile shot down a British Panavia Tornado GR.4A of No. 13 Squadron RAF, killing the pilot and navigator. Investigations showed that the Tornado's identification friend or foe indicator had malfunctioned and hence it was not identified as a friendly aircraft.[182][183]

Sgt Steven Roberts, a tank commander of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, was killed when a fellow British soldier manning a tank-mounted machine gun mistakenly hit him while firing at a stone wielding Iraqi protester at a roadblock in Az Zubayr near Basra on 24 March 2003.[184] It was reported that no British soldiers were to be charged for his death.[185]

A British Challenger 2 tank came under fire from another British tank in a nighttime firefight. The turret was blown off and two of the crewmembers were killed.[186][187]

190th Fighter Squadron/Blues and Royals friendly fire incident – 28 March 2003. A pair of American A-10s from the 190th attacked four British armoured reconnaissance vehicles of the Blues and Royals, killing L/CoH. Matty Hull and injuring five others.

British Royal Marine Christopher Maddison was killed when his river patrol boat was hit by missiles after being wrongly identified as an enemy vessel approaching a Royal Engineers checkpoint on the Al-Faw Peninsula, Iraq.[188]

U.S. Patriot missile batteries fired two missiles on a U.S. Navy F/A-18C Hornet 50 mi (80 km) from Karbala, Iraq.[189] One missile hit the aircraft of pilot Lieutenant Nathan Dennis White of VFA-195, Carrier Air Wing Five, killing him. This was the result of the missile design flaw in identifying hostile aircraft.[190]

American aircraft attacked a friendly Kurdish & U.S. Special Forces convoy, killing 15. BBC translator Kamaran Abdurazaq Muhamed was killed and BBC reporter Tom Giles and World Affairs Editor John Simpson were injured. The incident was filmed.[191]

Fusilier Kelan Turrington, of the 1st Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, was killed by machine-gun fire from a British tank.[192]

American soldier Mario Lozano killed an Italian intelligence officer Nicola Calipari and is suspected of wounding Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena in Baghdad. Sgrena was rescued from a kidnapping by Calipari, and it was claimed that the car they were escaping in failed to stop at an American checkpoint, whereupon U.S. soldiers opened fire. Video evidence shows the car was respecting speed limits and proceeding with its headlights on. The shooting commenced well before 50 meters, in contrast with what Lozano and other soldiers testified.[193]

During a raid on 16 July 2006 to apprehend a key terrorist leader and accomplice in a suburb of North Basra, Cpl John Cosby, of the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment, was killed by a 5.56 mm round from a British-issued SA80. It was ruled to be a case of friendly fire by the coroner. It was reported that the British forces who shot him were unclear about the rules of engagement.[194][195]

An American airstrike killed eight Kurdish Iraqi soldiers. Kurdish officials advised U.S. helicopters hit the men who were guarding a branch of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Mosul. The U.S. military said the attack was launched after soldiers identified armed men in a bunker near a building reportedly used for bomb-making, and that American troops called for the men to put down their weapons in Arabic and Kurdish before launching the strike.[196]

Dave Sharrett, II was shot and killed in a firefight with insurgents near the village of Bichigan, north of Baghdad in January 2008, during Operation Hood Harvest. The incident has since been described as friendly fire.[197]

[198]SPC Donald Oaks, SGT Todd Robbins,[199] and SFC Randall Rehn[200] of D Battery, 1st Battalion, 39th Field Artillery Regiment (MLRS, M270 A1), 3rd Infantry Division Artillery [201](Previously C Battery 3-13 FA [202]), were killed when a US fighter jet mistook the rocket artillery from US MLRS as enemy targets on 3 April 2003 while 3rd ID DIVARTY conducted a counter fire battle with Iraqi positions along the Euphrates River.[202] The ordnance struck the vehicles of the soldiers killing SFC Rehn instantly, while SGT Robbins[203] and SPC Oaks[204] died shortly after from their wounds. 5 other soldiers were WIA from the event.[205][206]

Gaza War[edit]

On 1 June 2009 an Israeli tank fired on a building in Jabalia occupied by Golani Brigade troops after mistaking them for Hamas fighters, killing three soldiers and wounding 20.[207]

On 2 June 2009, an Israeli officer was killed when an Israeli tank fired at a building he was positioned in, causing a wall to collapse on him.[208]

2014 Israel-Gaza conflict[edit]

On 14 July 2014, an Israeli soldier, Staff Sergeant Eitan Barak, was killed during operational activity in the northern Gaza Strip, becoming the first Israeli fatality of the war. The Israeli military announced that he had probably been killed by errant Israeli tank fire.[209]

Other incidents[edit]

1565 – Great Siege of Malta: According to some sources, Ottoman Army general Turgut Reis was mortally wounded by friendly fire from Turkish cannons.[210][211]

1788 – Battle of Karánsebes: Drunken soldiers instigate panic in a multi-national army and cause at least one thousand wounded.

1956 – Suez Crisis: Attacks from British Royal Navy carrier-borne aircraft caused heavy casualties to 45 Commando and HQ.

1994 – 1994 Black Hawk shootdown incident: Two USAF F-15s involved with Operation Provide Comfort shot down two U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters over northern Iraq, killing 26 Coalition military and civilian personnel.

2000 – Grozny OMON fratricide incident. 20 Russian OMON policemen died.

2006 – Ingush–Chechen fratricide incident

2011 – 2011 Libyan civil war: A MiG-23BN flying for the Free Libyan Air Force was shot down over Benghazi when it was mistaken for a Libyan Air Force fighter. The pilot was killed after he ejected too late.

2015 – Operation Impact: A Canadian Special Operations Regiment team returning to an Observation post were mistakenly engaged by Iraqi Kurdish forces, killing sergeant Andrew Joseph Doiron and wounding three others.

2017 – Syrian Civil War: While fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Syria, a United States Air Force aircraft was provided with incorrect coordinates, leading to an accidental airstrike on Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) troops. 18 SDF soldiers were killed.[212]

2017 – On 31 May during the Marawi crisis in the Philippines, the military's SIAI-Marchetti S.211 was on a bombing run over Maute Group positions when one bomb accidentally hit an army position locked in close-range with the ISIS-backed militants, killing 11 soldiers and wounding seven others.

2019 – On 27 February 2019, an Indian Mil Mi-17 helicopter was shot down by Indian air defense forces after being misidentified as a Pakistani military jet.[213] Five Indian officers were found guilty of various charges relating to the incident, which killed all six Indian Air Force personnel on board the helicopter.[214]

2020 - On 11 May, Iranian support vessel Konarak was hit reportedly by a missile fired from Iranian frigate Jamaran. Officials stated that 19 were killed and 15 others injured.[215][216]

 

What are your thoughts on the Lavon Affair? You don't think that set an early precedent?

[Kyle 207]

It was a good week ...

- usual lies

- white power shout out

- contradicting science and CDC experts

I guess “good” has been redefined like racism, etc. LOL! #idiocracy

(please rep me snowflake fascists)

[fakebusiness 129]

On 2/6/2021 at 3:23 AM, Shady Ray said:

Exactly this. There is so much first-hand eye-witness material out there on this act of naked aggression against our military. But woe be unto those who bring it up, lest you be accused of being an anti-semite. The actions of the Johnson Admin throughout this entire ordeal show what anyone with a discerning eye can see. The Israeli Lobby wields massive, massive levels of power over the Executive, and even moreso the Legislative Branch. The Congress is so fucking bought and paid for by pro-Israeli interests that it would blow the minds of anyone with the intellectual honesty to actually evaluate the reality of the situation.

 

Anyone with any interest in this subject should read The Israel Lobby by Mearsheimer and Walt. It is absolutely infuriating to see what is actually going on in our Congress with respect to the transfer of funds to Israel and the open door with which we allow them vis a vis our military tech, intelligence, etc.

 

The amount of heat that this book triggered by U of Chicago and Harvard professors was unreal when it first came out. Good on Mearsheimer and Walt for staying strong, but had they not had the intellectual pedigree and backing of their respective academic institutions that they each possess, it would have been chalked up to anti-Semitism and tossed in the trash. Hell, The Atlantic commissioned the original article that inspired the book and then refused to publish it, so Mearsheimer and Walt had to come to Europe to get the damn thing published.

 

 

Edit: And right on re the Lavon Affair. Was an absolute harbinger of things to come.

This is an insane read related to Israeli intellgence openly spying on our institutions. Everyone should take the time to read it. Just wild:

"The Israeli "art student" mystery For almost two years, hundreds of young Israelis falsely claiming to be art students haunted federal offices -- in particular, the DEA. No one knows why -- and no one seems to want to find out."

 

https://www.salon.com/2002/05/07/students/

 

 

[Hagbard Celine 11,159]

now is not the time

[Anastasis 23,699]

We’ve had similar threads for decades. We will have the same 20 years from now. 

[fakebusiness 129]

23 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

now is not the time

?