But the boy got cut through his stomach. Another boy I saw nearby got his head cut off. Ahmed himself received a piece of shrapnel through his left shoulder, leaving thick welts of scar tissue and withered muscles unable to fully lift the arm below. Asked to describe what happened to him, Ibrahim stammered repeatedly. The attack at Abu Auani was one of the few in which the U.S. military has acknowledged an error.
Every effort is taken to avoid any collateral damage to civilians and civilian property.
Ultimate responsibility, however, lies with Saddam Hussein. In addition, U.S. and U.N. officials have maintained that some casualties probably have been caused by Iraqi antiaircraft fire falling back to earth. Finally, the U.S. and British governments have stressed that the airstrikes would not be necessary if Iraq stopped firing at the U.S. and British planes in its airspace. Jassem, the Iraqi air defense command spokesman, offered a theory that the civilian deaths and injuries occur in part because U.S. pilots, who fly most strike missions, may have targeting data that confuse military equipment with farm machinery, such as large harvesters, or tents and big herds of sheep. The airstrikes leave behind a lethal litter that could claim civilian casualties for years.