Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=04/01/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=PENTAGON / CIVILIAN DEATHS (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-301606

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=PENTAGON

CONTENT=

INTRO: The Pentagon is investigating the deaths of at least seven women and children who were shot by U-S forces Monday as the car they were traveling in approached a military checkpoint. Correspondent Meredith Buel has details from the Pentagon.

TEXT: A Pentagon statement says soldiers from the Third Infantry Division fired on a civilian vehicle when it failed to stop at a military checkpoint.

The statement says warning shots were fired, but were ignored by the driver.

The Pentagon says the soldiers shot into the passenger compartment only as a last resort.

The statement says in light of recent "terrorist attacks by the Iraqi regime, the soldiers exercised considerable restraint to avoid the unnecessary loss of life."

Sergeant Major Dwight Brown is the Senior Enlisted Advisor to U-S Commander General Tommy Franks.

He told N-B-C television that preliminary information indicates the soldiers at the checkpoint correctly followed the rules of engagement.

/// BROWN ACT #1 ///

I can tell you that checkpoints have procedures that soldiers are trained to go through each time they man a checkpoint and there have been no indicators that say that the soldiers there did not follow the exact procedures that they have been trained to do over the years.

/// END ACT ///

A reporter for the Washington Post newspaper who is traveling with the Army's Third Infantry Division reported that ten people in the vehicle were killed, including five small children.

The newspaper described the vehicle as a four-wheel-drive Toyota crammed with the Iraqis' personal belongings.

In its account of the shooting, the newspaper quoted an Army captain as saying the soldiers at the checkpoint did not fire warning shots quickly enough.

The newspaper reported at the time of the incident, soldiers were "edgy" after four U-S troops were killed by a suicide bomber at a similar checkpoint last Saturday.

Sergeant Major Dwight Brown says Iraqi tactics such as suicide bombings, false surrenders, and using women and children as human shields are not stopping coalition forces from taking significant measures to avoid civilian casualties.

/// BROWN ACT #2 ///

Obviously that is something that service members, whether they are coalition or Americans, would prefer not to be confronted with. But they are trained to react under all circumstances. Again, they are implementing measures that will not put unnecessarily civilians' lives at risk. It is unfortunate that the folks that we are fighting against would use those measures, but those folks out on the ground with the coalition are going to take every measure possible not to unnecessarily wound or kill innocent civilians.

/// END ACT ///

Sergeant Major Brown says while the rules of engagement have not changed, soldiers may widen the distance at checkpoints between a potential threat and the troops in an effort to avoid civilian deaths. (Signed)

NEB/MB/KBK/FC