I was listening to the USCENTCOM briefing this morning on the way to work today, and was struck by the absurdity of some of the questions being asked. Some were asking for information that anyone with any military background would realize that the briefer could not, or would not, answer. These I could forgive the reporters for, as they were likely asked from a position of ignorance. One however caused a moment of incredulous silence on my part, though not on the part of the US brigadier general giving the briefing. The reporter (I can’t remember for what news service, either foreign or domestic) asked, “In the event that coalition bombs or missiles results in confirmed death or injury to Iraqi civilians, would the United States offer any form of compensation to the families?”
The general’s response was to say that it was not his place to discuss what was essentially a question for the US civilian leadership. My first thought was to ask what compensation the Iraqi government was planning to provide to the Iraqi civilians killed by their deliberate Iraqi shelling of Basra? Next I thought about the can of worms that would be opened by setting such a precedent. After all, would we then be asked to compensate the families of all the civilians killed by our bombing campaign over Nazi Germany, or Hanoi, or Tokyo? Collateral civilian casualties are a regrettable part of war, but the US and it’s coalition partners have certainly done far more to avoid them than any government in the history of the world, even accepting increased risk to our own forces (and reduced military effectiveness) in doing so.
The real answer of course is far simpler, so simple in fact that the briefer, every reporter there, indeed every person listening around the world should have been able to answer the question for themselves.
What compensation would the people of Iraq receive from the United States, Great Britain, and the coalition of over forty nations supporting us? Why, the most precious compensation ever offered another human being…Freedom. Freedom paid for in the equally precious coinage of the blood of our soldiers, airmen, and sailors. Spend it well, people of Iraq, for it is of value beyond all treasures.
Sabre
Maj, USAF (Ret)
