March 25, 2003
One of the great joys of life and journalism is that every day brings a new experience. Today, it is typing and transmitting from the turret of a Bradley, my head next to the breech of the 25 mm cannon. They asked me not to touch anything, which is harder than it might sound. This is like building a ship model in a bottle. On this extended maintenance and rest stop, everyone else is staying down in the rear compartment, out of the dust storm that has been blowing since last night, increasing in intensity to near brownout conditions. The tank 50 feet away is barely visible, as is my dust-coated keyboard. There is no room for my equipment down below and my maintenance pals are busy working on tanks stressed by our fast-paced –- for armor –- and extended road trip.
March 24, 2003
The threat of civilian casualties was one of the primary concerns raised by anti-war protesters before this war began, and in Afghanistan, Kosovo and Baghdad 1990, caused significant public affairs problems for the military.
The fact is that, for the amount of high explosives expended, the numbers of civilians killed by the U.S. military in recent conflicts in no way comes close the numbers killed by the crude methods of World War II, a war few people argued about the worth of. While most people, including soldiers, abhor the idea of any civilian deaths, the remarkable track record of the U.S. military in conducting massive airstrikes with historically-low civilian casualty rates suggests that politics may play as great a role as humanitarian concerns does in opposition to any given action, and this one in particular.
In the small piece of this war I am able to witness -– largely what I hear on the radio when locked down in the back of a fire-support Bradley during combat operations -– there is a great and institutionalized concern about civilian casualties. The concern may be in part directed by politics, and in part due to the investigations and court-martials pilots who killed friendly forces and civilians in Afghanistan faced.
Traveling with an armor battalion that has the power to open up with its own guns or call in artillery and air support, I have heard the discussions between cavalry scouts, forward air and artillery observers, and company commanders, speaking with higher command at the battalion and brigade level about the nature of potential targets and whether to fire.
Generally, though it is sometimes to the frustration of soldiers on the ground, I have witnessed a high degree of caution about giving the order to fire on suspect vehicles and people without visual confirmation of hostile intent. However, there has been no hesitation about ordering strikes on areas where enemy fire is coming from, or on approaching enemy tank columns.
At the lowest levels, young soldiers show an eagerness to fight and use their weapons, but a high degree of discipline exists, despite tense situations that might have caused civilian casualties. NCOs and officers tend to be more in tune with the benefits of restraint, though as professional soldiers they are equally eager to fight this war. >>Read related story in the Boston Herald
Jules Crittenden has covered crime, politics, science, maritime matters and foreign affairs for the Boston Herald for 10 years, including ethnic conflicts and other issues in Kashmir, Kosovo, Israel, Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh. He has been in Kuwait covering the buildup to war since Feb. 2 and is now embedded with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division. Crittenden was raised in Indonesia, Australia, East Pakistan and Thailand, and lives south of Boston with his wife and three children.
Embedded Journal: Avoiding Civilian Casualties & Other Notes to Colleagues
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