There seems to be some disagreement, as to whether or not, "a-whooping and a-hollering" is acceptable war practice.
Personally, I'd have been more upset, that after having been pinned down by a strongpoint, in 30 degrees+ in my NBC kit, that it hadn't occured to my Boss, to just zap the building off the face of the planet. So, whistle up a Bradley or an M1, get some suppresive down, or better still, get an A-10 or a F-18 to deliver the good news.
Whooping and hollering can be seen as being distasteful, and sometimes, is associated with American mistakes, which may be why some posters are getting upset.
The missile directors on the Vincennes (?) were whooping and hollering after they succesfully engaged the target.
I remember vividly, 2 A-10 pilots, pumped up and celebrating, with whooping and hollering , as they described to the reporter, how they had killed 2 tanks in the desert, trying to escape from the "Road o' death". Unfortunately, the two "Tanks" were British IFV's. I have said more than enough in the past on that incident, it is personal to me, and I had friends involved in that.
Yes, there is going to be a fair amount of "spam-bashing" a lot of it, is "Our army is better than yours" , some of it masks genuine anger, some of it, is delivered by people who always have an open season on Americans.
Yesterday, a retired US admiral was interviewed on the BBC. When questioned about the Tornado incident, he said "Well with the Prisoner story breaking, that will be consigned to Page 684 , beside the byline of an American officer going postal in Camp Penn"
Blue-on-Blue , are the serving soldiers biggest fear, the fear of dying for nothing. Already, we have seen too many of them, before the task of war proper even starts. My heart is in my mouth, watching members of my Regiment, friends and colleagues getting ready for OBUA action that a lot of you ,(excepting Danny, who's been there) will never ever understand.
It's bad enough on the streets of Northern Ireland, or patrolling in Bosnia, when the other side aren't trying to zap you en-masse.
A lot of people will die, there will be more Blue-on-blue, if we use heavy kit. This is now the sort of action, that can only be fought, with the bayonet, rifles and grenades.You can't get an Abrams or a C2 up some of those streets, they are natural tank traps. The distinction will be even more blurred, with Arab irregulars, poorly clothed Iraqi soldiers, and civilians all taking up arms. Who the hell do we engage, in a street full of smoke, in the heat of battle?
This war, is being prosecuted in entirely the wrong way. You cannot simultaneously seek to win hearts and minds and bomb. It doesn't work. You can't engage in OBUA, with a city still full of civilians, in recent times, Somalia and Jenin haved proved that. If civilans are in the way when the bullets are flying, they will die.
Closer co-ordination, must be the order of the day. We have seen evidence, that when a formation operates on it's own (Royal Marines) it achieves it's objectives. The entire way different commands operate in this theatre, must be subject to a rolling evaluation, even a pause if necessary. Even on peacetime exercises, I have seen basic mistakes made, when operating with other NATO formations, it is the nature of the beast.
In conclusion, communication is the key. If communication is allowed to break down, then Blue-on-Blue will keep happening.