Friends of Technology

Another Canadian soldier may have been killed by ‘friendly’ fire. Why is it that it seems more Canadian soldiers are killed in Afghanistan by ‘friendly’ than hostile fire? There are so many easily thing I can say here, “with friends like that…” and such, but what bugs me is that the friends like to tell everybody how advanced and well train they are. That may be true and we have all seen it on the Discovery Channel, but this makes the dead fires more puzzling. I understand the battlefield is a confusing place but now that they have visual aids, electronic sights, computer co-ordinated troop control, satellite monitored battlefield and body armour, they should at least tell who is on their team. My disbelief is not unusual. It is so easy to be blinded by technology and sales materials that one gets completely detached from reality. Technology is the prime justification for Rumsfeld’s decision to send fewer troops to Iraq than recommended. His reaction when things started to felt into chaos must be somewhat like mine: “how could it possibly be, with all the technologies?” As Canadian troops are readying themselves for a major battle, I hope they trust their friends’ technologies less and their survival instincts more.