US fire misses target, killing Iraqi civilian

Baghdad, Iraq - Scattered explosions and small arms fire were heard on Wednesday morning in central Baghdad, while a mortar round fired by United States soldiers in northern Iraq missed its target earlier this week, killing an Iraqi civilian, the military said.

A US military spokesperson could not confirm the cause of the blasts in Baghdad but said they may have been controlled bursts to destroy captured stockpiles of ammunition and ordnance.

Explosions are common in the capital almost daily.

In northern Iraq, the Third Brigade, Second Infantry Division fired the mortar round as part of a strike against hostile forces on Monday when it fell short and hit a building on the southeast side of Ejba, near Mosul, about 365km northwest of Baghdad. One Iraqi civilian was killed and another was wounded, the military said on Wednesday.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=3&art_id=qw1078895165944B262&set_id=1

This one looks diff. and not mentioned in other DU posts.

What? Do we have idiots manning the mortars, or did Halliburton bid on the mortar rounds?

This shouldn't have happened, don't give me the fog of war nonsense either. If you're not sure of the target, or are not properly trained on the equipment, then you have no business making more enemies for America.

I mean, what can they do with a mortar that they couldn't do more accurately with a helicopter or an A-10?

Unless they are more worried about SAM attacks than they've let on to us?