Apply firm grip here

There is a report in today's Guardian that causes me concern. I read

"The ministry of defence said a "maximum of five" British personnel were on board, but had yet to confirm a death toll."

Why the secrecy? What does it achieve? Surely to God they know who was on the chopper and who is not accounted for. All this does is reinforce my impression that they do not know what they are doing.

This is important as further on we read

"After initially using batons against the crowd, some of the soldiers opened fire. According to Iraqi police, four or five Iraqis were killed, including at least one child. British soldiers said they believed the Iraqis were killed by mortars fired by the Mahdi army, but British defence sources admitted later that the dead Iraqis might have been shot by British troops."

The Rules of Engagement in Iraq determine when and how troops may respond to enemy action. If a soldier did use his weapon, he needs to be damn sure what he is aiming at and why. Things may have changed but firing rounds into the air or over the heads of a hostile crowd has long been a No No. This is indiscriminate firing and, just like the little boy and his arrows, no one knows where the bullets will land. The claim regarding mortars will get the Mandy Rice Davis response (They would say that wouldn't they). Any dispassionate reader will get the impression that, at best, the situation was so badly controlled that the soldiers did not know what they were doing. To any Iraqi hot-head, the injustice is writ large.

My underwear may be in a tousled state here as I was once in charge of a team making sure that this sort of fiasco did not happen. Until the true facts were known, nothing was said that would allow opponents to claim we had changed the story. Very prompt discovery of everything that had transpired was essential. It is not an easy task but it can be done. Get this sort of thing wrong and it will haunt you for a very long time. Our troops are reported to be concerned that any positive action they take may not be supported by the higher chain of command. What I see happening here makes that lack of understanding all the more likely.