It has recently emerged that the US government has paid $33 million in wrongful death payments to civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. These payments are only made in non-combat situations so, for example, the family of a boy whose school book bag a sniper mistook for a bomb were not paid anything. Of the 500 claims that were uncovered by the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) after a freedom of information request, 165 were paid between $500 and £35,000. About half of these were “condolence payments” where the Army does not admit fault but gives the family up to $2,500. ACLU believes that this is only a small proportion of the claims held by the Defence Department and they are pressing to uncover the rest.
Some of the letters that were denying claims contained the phrase “I am sorry for your inconvenience, and I wish you well in a Free Iraq.”
Now that’s what I call winning hearts and minds.
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