Collateral damage

The inquest into the "friendly fire" death of British soldier Matthew Hull after an attack by American warplanes, who came back for a second go at the British tanks, continues at Oxford without the Ministry of Defence obtaining American permission to turn over a video tape of the incident. The Americans seem unwilling to declassify the video. Today's Observer includes an article in which Hull's widow and mother express their frustration, at length, with Britain's so-called allies. They ask "Why won't the US tell us how Matty died?". This is certainly a valid question and the only conceivable answer is that the US values their own soldiers, even when they may be guilty of a crime, more highly than they value the lives of those serving their closest allies.

The tape, which is from one of the two A-10 "Tankbusters" which attacked the British forces, is alleged to include the following statement from one of the Americans: "someone is going to jail for this". Despite assertions to the contrary it would appear that some folks are indeed above the law.