US troops fire on Canadian envoy's car in Iraq

Jeesh...

U.S. troops in Iraq fired warning shots at the Canadian envoy's car on Tuesday after it failed to slow down while approaching an American military convoy, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

But a Canadian diplomatic spokeswoman had a different account. She said there was "to say the least reasonable" space between the vehicles and there were no warning shots or signals before three bullets hit the car.

There were no injuries.

...The Canadian ambassador's vehicle did sustain damage yesterday from U.S. military gunfire," said the [American] statement.

"The rear guard on a U.S. convoy signaled the vehicle to stay back. After it failed to do so and continued moving toward the convoy from behind, warning shots were aimed at the front of the vehicle, away from the passenger area."

"The incident is under review to determine why it was necessary to fire warning shots," said the statement.

The Canadian spokeswoman said the envoy's car, which was occupied by four Canadian diplomats, was nowhere near the U.S. military vehicles and that one of the bullets hit the windshield.

"We let them pass to go to an intersection and then they parked their vehicles. They were not moving," she said.

"They were on the other side of the road parked behind a waist-high cement barrier and we were passing on the other side. There were several lanes on our side of the road and theirs between us when they opened fire."

The Iraqis say US soldiers can sometimes be too trigger-happy. So do the Brits, the Italians and now the Canadians. The American story sounds just like the story after every other incident. It beggars belief that so many other people can be so wrong so often.

But hey, the Empire makes the rules, right?