Collateral Murder

[perocity]

This video is spreading all over the internet claiming our guys are" knowingly"murdering" innocent civilians.
This is outrageous!irresponsible!reporting!
Quote:
5th April 2010 10:44 EST WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff.

Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured.

After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".

Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after the killings.

WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a shorter version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to both versions from the radio transmissions.

WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have analyzed the information about this incident from a variety of source material. We have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly involved in the incident.

WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very dangerous place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while doing their work.
Source:Wikileaks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMSH_FNgIp0

[perocity]

This video has been edited to make it appear our guys have not followed the rules of engagement, an unedited version can be viewed on Wikileaks web site.

[Toki]

Bad idea number one: Walk with a group of individuals who are carrying AKs and other weapons and who are not Coalition forces.

Bad idea number two: Carry a camera that looks like a weapon.


This above is the reason why journalists get killed in the line of fire. For your own safety please stay off the battlefield.

[Pittsburgh]

Maybe this is just me, but if I'm a journalist inside Iraq or Afghanistan and I'm standing next to people who are carrying weapons and they are not affiliated with allied forces, I'm getting the hell out of there. No questions asked. I'm out of there.

It only takes the watching of a few FLIR clips on this site to figure out why that would be the best course of action.

[perocity]

At no point is war supposed to be easy and simple and without collateral damage. That's why it's called war. It is a ugly messy job... War is inevitably ugly, and sometimes mistakes are made(not saying this is one of them). But this incident is 3 years old, and had been investigated already. It is obvious to me, that by hyping this incident ,Wikileaks is pushing an Anti-war agenda. Fortunately for them, they function in a free society that allows them to be protected by the very military they are so quick to criticize and shit on..

[joelee]

I don't care if my Father was bleeding there. I would NOT bring my children into an area where automatic weapons are being fired.
I'm sorry that the kids got hit by the stupidity of the adult supervising them, but the rest of those people were legitimate targets.

[angusnra]

Looked professional to me. I don't see a problem with any of it. When some idiot decides to blend in with armed combatants while wielding a huge fucking, shoulder-mounted camera, then stand the fuck by. As far as the other idiots driving into a shit storm with kids in the front seat, this is what happens. Case closed.

[MickDonalds]

Fuck 'em. They're Journos and get exactly what they deserved. I'm sorry for the children, but bad parenting isn't our fault.

[lord_donutz]

I don't care if my Father was bleeding there. I would NOT bring my children into an area where automatic weapons are being fired.
I'm sorry that the kids got hit by the stupidity of the adult supervising them, but the rest of those people were legitimate targets.
Yea I agree fully, people should know how not to look suspicious over there, and I know damn right they went through the normal course of action, getting clearance and everything after assessing the situation.

[perocity]

Interesting article from Gawker:
Today, Wikileaks caused a splash with its attack helicopter video. But the group also quietly backed down from their more alarming claims of U.S. spying. Plus, "man date" discoverer and former Times reporter Jenny 8 Lee's apparent Wikileaks connection.

The most attention-grabbing allegation made in recent weeks by Wikileaks is that a volunteer was detained by Icelandic authorities and questioned about Wikileaks' work on classified Pentagon video—apparently at the behest of U.S. authorities. (Read all the allegations here.) However, when we spoke to Assange after this morning's press conference, he called the volunteer's claim into question. Assange said police claim they detained the volunteer because they believed he had stolen a Wikileaks laptop, and that "there are some reasons not to believe the volunteer, and some reasons not to believe the police." Assange said he was leaning towards believing the police story.

And during the press conference, Assange repeated allegations that he had been tailed by U.S. State Department employees from Iceland to an investigative journalism conference in Norway. But he now believes those tails were more likely related to Wikileaks' work on leaking documents related to the Icelandic financial crisis—not Pentagon video.

We also now know what at least one former Times reporter is doing with all her free time and sweet buyout money. We spotted famous trend-spotter and Chinese food scholar Jenny 8. Lee at the press conference at D.C.'s National Press Club, apparently helping out as an informal press liasion: She passed around an iPad on which journalists entered contact information (yep, we touched an iPad!), live-tweeted the event, and later sent out an email to the journalists in attendance with links to further reading. So, she's traded discovering the man date for international non-profit investigative journalism?

As for future of Wikileaks, it's clear this recent release marks a new stage for the site. Perhaps the most overlooked detail of the helicopter video release is that Wikileaks was not only able to obtain and decrypt video that had eluded Reuters reporters for years, it also sent two Icelandic journalists to Baghdad to research the events in the video and add context which significantly boosted the video's impact. They spoke to eyewitnesses who were able to identify the two reporters, and tracked down two children injured in the attack. The raw video—pixellated and confusing—would have been much more assailable without this extra research. With the influx of attention and funding that will likely follow this high-profile scoop, we predict WIkileaks will expand further into boots-on-the-ground reporting, morphing from a cache of secret documents to an investigative reporting operation in it is own right.

And we're still waiting for that much-hyped Afghanistan air strike video.

[perocity]

Fucking liberal bleeding bull shit trying to undermine our efforts.

[lord_donutz]

Yea perocity, and I bet every one of them is a supporter of Obamanation and the national socialism he's trying to implement. What we need is another Ike Eisenhower in office to end all this liberal bullshit, and give America it's dignity back.

[nastyleg]

U.S. confirms video of Baghdad firefight

Apache fired on group of men in street, including Reuters photographer
By Anne Flaherty - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 5, 2010 21:00:21 EDT

WASHINGTON — A gritty war video circulating on the Internet that shows U.S. troops firing repeatedly on a group of men — some of whom were unarmed — walking down a Baghdad street is authentic, a senior U.S. military official confirmed Monday.

The official said the video posted at Wikileaks.org was of a July 12, 2007, firefight involving Army helicopters in the New Baghdad District of eastern Baghdad.

Among those believed to have been killed in that attack was Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver Saeed Chmagh, 40. Two children also were wounded.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the video, said the military could not confirm the identities of the Reuters employees in the film.

The Pentagon would not confirm the video’s authenticity on the record, despite repeated requests from The Associated Press.

“At this time, we are working to verify the source of the video, its veracity, and when or where it was recorded,” a statement from U.S. military headquarters in Iraq said late Monday.

The military also provided redacted copies of portions of its inquiry into the July 2007 incident, again without confirming that the incident described in those documents is the same one posted by Wikileaks.

According to a July 19 summary of the investigation, U.S. troops acted appropriately. Reuters employees were likely “intermixed among the insurgents” and difficult to distinguish because of their equipment, the document states.

“It is worth noting the fact that insurgent groups often video and photograph friendly activity and insurgent attacks against friendly forces for use in training videos and for use as propaganda to exploit or highlight their capabilities,” the document concludes.

The incident has been reported before, but the video had not been released.

The video provides a rare, disturbing close-up of modern urban warfare at a time when violence was near its peak in Baghdad and the U.S. death toll was mounting.

In this incident, soldiers flying attack helicopters were called in to assist ground troops who had been pinned down by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

According to U.S. officials, the pilots arrived at the scene to find a group of men approaching the fight with what looked to be AK47s slung over their shoulders and at least one rocket-propelled grenade.

A military investigation later concluded that what was thought to be an RPG was really a long-range photography lens; likewise, the camera looked like an AK47.

Wikileaks.org posts video and documents passed along by anonymous sources. They posted the video of the July 2007 firefight at “collateralmurder.com.”

The shooters can be heard asking for permission to engage, and one says “Light ‘em up!”

Some men drop immediately, while at least one can be seen scrambling to get away.

“Ah, yeah, look at those dead bastards. Nice,” one shooter says.

The helicopters later destroy a vehicle that arrived on the scene to help a wounded man. When ground forces arrive, the video shows what looks to be a child being carried from the vehicle and U.S. troops saying the child should be sent to a local Iraqi hospital.

“Well, it’s their fault bringing their kids into the battle,” a cockpit voice can be heard saying.

Navy Capt. Jake Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said U.S. forces in Iraq recognize many of the images in the video posted at Wikileaks.org and have no reason to believe it is a fake. However, he said, they were still comparing the video and audio to see if it matched their own.

Headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., Central Command is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Reuters said it couldn’t verify that the video was of its employees dying, even though it looks like one of the men killed had a camera slung over his shoulder.

The video is “graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result,” said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters news.


http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/04/ap_firefight_video_040510/