It's standard procedure in Iraq that when a US convoy is on the road all Iraqi vehicles are required to pull over to the side. Obviously heavy traffic can complicate things.
The rationale behind the aggressive driving is that Iraqis will get out of the way, because they know that bad things will happen otherwise. If bad things don't happen, there's less urgency to move out of the way. Basically, if the Iraqi's decision is to block a convoy or crash into another car, the military wants them to decide to crash into another car every time.
During most of the convoys I was on, the cars got out of the way as fast and far as possible and the roads were open. In downtown areas it was sometimes impossible, so the lead guntruck would "nudge" the cars out of the way.
Innocent bystanders in the way are not to be taken into account. Soldiers are specifically told that if a person is in front of the vehicle and they can't swerve out of the way without endangering themselves, they are to run that person over instead of braking.
I've heard stories of Iraqi children being pushed into a convoy in an attempt to stop the convoy then spring an ambush. It was specifically mentioned during our training as an instance where we may not want to run someone over, but we have to. Whether this situation has ever arisen, I can't say. I've never seen it or anything similar. It's usually just traffic jams.
The rationale behind the aggressive driving is that Iraqis will get out of the way, because they know that bad things will happen otherwise. If bad things don't happen, there's less urgency to move out of the way. Basically, if the Iraqi's decision is to block a convoy or crash into another car, the military wants them to decide to crash into another car every time.
During most of the convoys I was on, the cars got out of the way as fast and far as possible and the roads were open. In downtown areas it was sometimes impossible, so the lead guntruck would "nudge" the cars out of the way.
Innocent bystanders in the way are not to be taken into account. Soldiers are specifically told that if a person is in front of the vehicle and they can't swerve out of the way without endangering themselves, they are to run that person over instead of braking.
I've heard stories of Iraqi children being pushed into a convoy in an attempt to stop the convoy then spring an ambush. It was specifically mentioned during our training as an instance where we may not want to run someone over, but we have to. Whether this situation has ever arisen, I can't say. I've never seen it or anything similar. It's usually just traffic jams.
That's pragmatism, for you.