There are are reports that an RAF jet has been shot down over Iraq, First reports say it may have been hit by a 'friendly' patriot missile.

<font color=skyblue>You know...I don't see any reason to involve Iraq in this blood-bath...we are doing a damned good job of killing our own people without any help! We don't need Iraq to help us do that. It looks like as much as we brag about being so dang good at military stuff that we could do better than this. How do you explain this to the wife?

"Ma'am...your husband is dead. Sorry. How did he die? No, ma'am, an Iraqi soldier did not shoot him...er...a guy from North Carolina did...it was an accident. He thought your husband was the enemy."

Sad. Sad. Sad.</font>

It's horrible, but these things do happen during conflict. Some of them even happen when training over friendly territory.

Helicopter crashes, equipment malfunctions, and friendly fire are as much a part of war as colateral damage. Every effort has to be put forth to avoid and minimize these things as much as possible, but no matter how much we try, war will never be clean.

It's all terrible, but it's all war, and war is hell. :(