Leaked report says soldier was victim of friendly fire

[Judi Lynn]

MoD damned over death of marine in Iraq

Leaked report says soldier was victim of friendly fire

Richard Norton-Taylor
Saturday March 13, 2004
The Guardian

A Royal Marine commando claimed by the Ministry of Defence to have been killed by Iraqi forces was the victim of friendly fire in an operation bedevilled by bad planning, poor leadership, inadequate communications and unsuitable equipment, according to a devastating confidential report by navy investigators.

A navy board of inquiry report, seen by the Guardian, dismisses as "flawed and incorrect" a military police investigation which concluded that Christopher Maddison had been killed by Iraqis in the marshes south of Basra on March 30 last year.

It reveals a catalogue of mistakes and concludes there was "no clear chain of command" and a "shortage of supporting troops".

It adds: "Standard battle procedures were not followed" and "the method of communications between units ... was unreliable".
(snip/...)

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12956,1168498,00.html

[TacticalPeek]

1. I hope the investigation of the investigators leads to some action.

The initial report by the military police was beset by "professional inadequacies, factual errors a lack of rigorous investigation into the facts available at the time from all the appropriate witnesses", said the board of inquiry.

Key witnesses who suspected Maddison was killed by friendly fire were not interviewed by the military police.