July 25, 2007:
On July 21st,
three civilians were killed, and fifty wounded in Baghdad, by gunfire
associated with the Iraqi team winning a game during the Asian Games. This is
all about the Arab custom of firingweapons into the air on happy occasions (they are called "joy bullets"
in Arabic), often with deadly consequences. When someone is killed or injured
by the bullets that, inevitably come back to earth, the injury is shrugged off,
or blamed on a handy enemy. Palestinians blame Israelis, some Iraqis blame any
armed foreigners in the vicinity, or nearby Iraqis they don't get along with.
Otherwise it's just "God's Will.
During World War II, when lots
of anti-aircraft guns were used around densely populated urban areas in Europe
and Asia, there were thousands of casualties from what were, at first,
mysterious metal objects falling silently from the sky. Remember, what goes up,
must come down, propelled by gravity. The British later estimated that some 25
percent of civilian casualties from German World War II bombing attacks on
their cities, were from friendly fire. That is, British anti-aircraft shells
eventually fell to earth and caused property damage and casualties. Most of the
civilian casualties from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor were from American
anti-aircraft shells and bullets falling back to earth. A lot of the
anti-aircraft guns used to defend Pearl Harbor were .50 caliber (12.7mm)
machine-guns, and these bullets will kill you if they drop on your head, and
injure you if they hit any other body part. A .50 caliber bullet weight nearly
two ounces. This is four times heavier than rifle bullets, which will also kill
or injure you if one drops on your head, and hit the right spot. Kids are more
vulnerable to this sort of thing. Shell fragments often weigh several pounds,
and have sharp edges as well. In Iraq, during the 1990s, there were instances
of anti-aircraft missiles falling back to earth intact. Since these things
weigh several tons, they hit like a bomb. Normally, the missiles are supposed
to self-destruct (explode) if they don't find a target. But even if they do
that, thousands of fragments fall back to earth. Some of these missile pieces
weigh ten pounds or more. Get hit by one of these and you are dead. Large
objects coming down will damage buildings and vehicles. Most explosions, be
they roadside bombs, smart bombs, artillery shells or missiles, toss heavy
objects into the air. This stuff comes down somewhere, and if someone is in the
way, they become a casualty. Whose casualty is largely a matter of who gets the
more convincing press release out.