nastyleg
04-14-2010, 01:23 PM
Gates criticizes leaks group for war video
By Julian E. Barnes, Tribune Washington Bureau
Stars and Stripes online edition, Wednesday, April 14, 2010
LIMA, Peru — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Tuesday took a swipe at the Web site that released secret military video footage of a 2007 incident in which civilians were killed.
Gates said the videos released by the group WikiLeaks were out of context and provided an incomplete picture of the battlefield, comparing it to war as seen "through a soda straw."
"These people can put out whatever they want and are never held accountable for it," said Gates, speaking to reporters while in route to Lima. "There is no before and no after. It is only the present."
The Web site last week released classified video of a 2007 incident in Iraq in which two Reuters news agency employees and several other civilians were killed or wounded by an Apache helicopter whose crew mistook them for insurgent fighters.
The video ignited international outrage for showing the helicopter crew praising one another's shooting and seeking more human "targets." The incident was investigated previously by the military and crew members were found innocent of any wrongdoing. Reuters had been turned down in prior efforts to obtain the video.
Nonetheless, Gates told reporters that the videos were akin to looking at war through a narrow lens and said that millions who have viewed it on YouTube and elsewhere could not understand what was going on before or after the airstrikes incidents.
"That is the problem with these videos," Gates said. "You are looking at the war through a soda straw and you have no context or perspective."
U.S. officials have said that the journalists were walking with or near people who were armed and in the proximity of a firefight.
A WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, said in an interview that a Web site set up to host the video, CollateralMurder.com, provides ample context for the Apache attack and shows what was happening in the area before and after the shootings. Assange said the military should reopen an investigation.
"We are extremely disappointed with this spinning coming out of the U.S. military representatives," he said.
WikiLeaks said this week it may soon release another video, of a 2009 U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed nearly 100 civilians.
The Los Angeles Times and several other media companies and public interest organizations intervened in a 2008 court case in which a U.S. judge ordered the U.S. version of the Web site shut down for publishing confidential business documents from Switzerland. The judge lifted that order two weeks later.
Despite his criticism for the leaks, Gates also emphasized that he takes the issue of civilian casualties seriously. He said he supports restrictions on airstrikes and other tactics that Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal has put in place in Afghanistan to reduce civilian casualties there.
"Every time I talk to Gen. McChrystal, he talks about this," Gates said. "His view is the civilian casualty question is a strategic question in Afghanistan he thinks that is one of the greatest risks to the success of our strategy."
Gates said U.S. and allied forces thoroughly prove incidents involving civilian casualties because they can threaten the success of the overall effort.
"We investigate every single one not only to determine if there is accountability or what actually happened but also if there are lessons to be learned to avoid it the next time," Gates said.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69351
By Julian E. Barnes, Tribune Washington Bureau
Stars and Stripes online edition, Wednesday, April 14, 2010
LIMA, Peru — Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Tuesday took a swipe at the Web site that released secret military video footage of a 2007 incident in which civilians were killed.
Gates said the videos released by the group WikiLeaks were out of context and provided an incomplete picture of the battlefield, comparing it to war as seen "through a soda straw."
"These people can put out whatever they want and are never held accountable for it," said Gates, speaking to reporters while in route to Lima. "There is no before and no after. It is only the present."
The Web site last week released classified video of a 2007 incident in Iraq in which two Reuters news agency employees and several other civilians were killed or wounded by an Apache helicopter whose crew mistook them for insurgent fighters.
The video ignited international outrage for showing the helicopter crew praising one another's shooting and seeking more human "targets." The incident was investigated previously by the military and crew members were found innocent of any wrongdoing. Reuters had been turned down in prior efforts to obtain the video.
Nonetheless, Gates told reporters that the videos were akin to looking at war through a narrow lens and said that millions who have viewed it on YouTube and elsewhere could not understand what was going on before or after the airstrikes incidents.
"That is the problem with these videos," Gates said. "You are looking at the war through a soda straw and you have no context or perspective."
U.S. officials have said that the journalists were walking with or near people who were armed and in the proximity of a firefight.
A WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, said in an interview that a Web site set up to host the video, CollateralMurder.com, provides ample context for the Apache attack and shows what was happening in the area before and after the shootings. Assange said the military should reopen an investigation.
"We are extremely disappointed with this spinning coming out of the U.S. military representatives," he said.
WikiLeaks said this week it may soon release another video, of a 2009 U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan that killed nearly 100 civilians.
The Los Angeles Times and several other media companies and public interest organizations intervened in a 2008 court case in which a U.S. judge ordered the U.S. version of the Web site shut down for publishing confidential business documents from Switzerland. The judge lifted that order two weeks later.
Despite his criticism for the leaks, Gates also emphasized that he takes the issue of civilian casualties seriously. He said he supports restrictions on airstrikes and other tactics that Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal has put in place in Afghanistan to reduce civilian casualties there.
"Every time I talk to Gen. McChrystal, he talks about this," Gates said. "His view is the civilian casualty question is a strategic question in Afghanistan he thinks that is one of the greatest risks to the success of our strategy."
Gates said U.S. and allied forces thoroughly prove incidents involving civilian casualties because they can threaten the success of the overall effort.
"We investigate every single one not only to determine if there is accountability or what actually happened but also if there are lessons to be learned to avoid it the next time," Gates said.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=69351