Following the "friendly fire" incident which killed Lance Corporal Matty Hull, ITN News went to speak to relatives and friends of the Idaho National Guard pilot - thought to be Gus 'Skeeter' Kohntopp - who accidentally shot at the British troops. It has been said that adequate checks were not performed as to whether the target was a friendly or hostile convoy.
The Ministry of Defence's Board of Inquiry, highlighted the fact that the two pilots only had binoculars to identify the convoy and was far more critical than an American probe, which concluded that the attack was an accident and the pilots had followed the proper procedures.
The US Government usually refuses to release necessary information regarding these incidents. It has been said that the US Government only co-operated with the UK's Ministry Of Defence fully in this instance due to actual footage of the event being leaked to The Sun newspaper.
Here a friend states his opinion...
UPDATE - Following complaints from UK viewers Eldon (the guy being interviewed) has backed down and apologised here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3rEykLZLGoTags: friendly fire Gus Skeeter Kohntopp friends interview Idaho National Guard |
