Friendly Fire Incident

The friendly fire incident four years ago in which two U.S. A-10 fighter pilots fired on a British tank group and killed one man has been a fascinating exercise in the difference in spin between my only two international news channels that are in English.

On CNN Intl, the pilots are described as distraught and obviously upset when they realized what they had done. The "experts" interviewed by the anchorman and anchorwoman pointed out the difficulties the pilots faced, from faulty information to simply the uncertainty of the situation, the 'fog of war.'

On BBC, the incident was reported as the U.S. not being able to keep its communications together (remember, this was four years ago during the initial invasion - I'm sure we've gotten better since then). My favorite difference was when the widow released a statement saying how upset she was at the casual language the pilots used after they realized that they had fired on friendly troops. She said this just proved how completely callous they were.

On CNN Intl, pilots swearing equals distraught (American males express distress by swearing, they also express happiness, excitement, anger, envy, and other emotions in a similar fashion); on the BBC to the widow, it apparently means callous and stupid.

Perhaps this is a cultural difference. Or perhaps CNN and BBC are much more loyal than they would like to say they are.