Iraq: Wikileaks video of US military killing journalists

[CureCancer]

Wikileaks claims to have obtained and decrypted video that shows US occupying forces in an Apache helicopter intentionally firing on a dozen civilians in Baghdad, including journalists working for the Reuters news organization: 22-year-old Reuters photographer, Namir Noor-Eldeen, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40.





The video is accompanied by audio of the pilots' radio dialogue. No Pentagon response yet. Reuters has been attempting to obtain the video under Freedom of Information Act requests since the incident occurred in July, 2007, but the Pentagon blocked all requests. Reuters news editor-in-chief David Schlesinger says the video is "graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result". Wikileaks director Julian Assange said Wikileaks had to break military encryption on the file to view it, and will not reveal how or from whom the file was obtained. The transcript (and audio) seem to show the air crew lying about encountering a firefight. When they finish shooting, they laugh at the dead.

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/04/05...ideo-of-u.html

---------- Post added at 08:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:31 PM ----------

heres the video, very disturbing

http://wikileaks.org/

or

http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?ne...bedded#at=1022

[gafadi]

I am not a republican or democrat supporter but i bet if this had happened during the Democrat administration , we would have had couple of pages of reply's already.


Disclaimer : Just my opinion , no one has to agree

As for the incident, i didnt even read the whole thing but its a sad event , how we are killing each other.

[500,000]

...

[Tia Wood]

Oh my god....very disturbing. I had to stop watching.

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/...aphers.killed/

[Seraphim]

One of the most disturbing videos I've seen. The pilot actually laughs as a Humvee runs over one of the bodies. Imagine the 2 children, not just injured, but witnesses to the massacre of their family members.

There is very little justice in this world, and almost no honor. Saddam was hung for things like this, and yet Bush, Blair, Obama... they'll die old men, rich and warm in their beds. For Christ's sake, Bush is a humanitarian now, and Obama has a peace prize. What a fu-cked up world we live in.

and... I'm paying for this shit with my tax dollars...

[Gerry]

I think it is also important to focus on this point...Reuters news editor-in-chief David Schlesinger says the video is "graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism..."

I won't watch this.

I have seen enough killing.

But there is something to point out...NYTimes and other papers reported that they (the Reuters people) responded to the scene because there was something going on. That something going on may in fact be what the military described as ground forces taking on insurgent fire and calling in for air support.

Who knows. Fact remains, the journalists went there for a reason.

Regarding journalist...I spoke with my nephew the other day on the phone. He is in Baghdad. He was telling me about a female reported for TIME who was embedded with their unit. While out on patrol last week, they made a stop in a village. The female reporter got out of the Humvee without her kevlar, without a helmet, without any protective gear on. My nephew (who was ranking NCO of the team) jumped out of the vehicle and ordered her to get in and stay inside the Humvee. She is well versed on the procedures embedded reporters must take. She yelled at my nephew telling him it was okay. He approached her and told her to get back in the vehicle. She explained that she wanted to interview the local villagers and she did not want them to feel intimidated buy her protective gear or an armed escort. My nephew then told her that under no circumstances was she to exit the vehicle without her protective gear on and would not go anywhere unless she was accompanied by two soldiers. She again raised a fuss saying she did not want to appear too American (yeah, dirty blond hair, makeup, civilian cloths and jeans would not fool anyone). My nephew finally told her that the next order he would give is for everyone to get back in the vehicles, return to base, and call his commander en-route to the base and have a helicopter waiting to take her out of the country. She finally relented.

He went on to tell me that the previous reporter that was embedded with them was from Maxxim Magazine and did a nice story on them (now I need to find that issue). That reporter not only took his own security seriously, he also was armed with a sidearm and knew how to shoot all the soldiers weapons and mounted weapons. In a firefight, insurgents are going to just start shooting or blow shit up with out thought of who they kill or hurt. That reporter wanted to be part of the team and listen and pay attention to the soldiers because he knew his life counted on them.

I think in this case, the reporters may have knowingly entered a hot zone but were not mindful of the risks involved IF there was in fact insurgents firing at troops in the area.

[bobovia]

"the war in Iraq is unwinnable." Bobovia, April, 2010

[Donald Aquilano]

We don't have all the details yet. I'll bet though that these so called innocent victims had guns and were pointing/shooting at the US gunship. Just a thought.

[draggar]

While I think some of the attiudes could be improved (laughing, being light hearted about the situation) it did look like they were carrying weapons. When you see a group of people with weapons you can't sort out who is a non-combatant and who isn't. Some even acted highly suspicious (crouching around the corner of a building (they guy they thought had the RPG)).

Then, a van comes up to pick up the wounded.

It's easy to look back and say "Well, they should have done this and that" but you don't have that luxury when you are in a war zone looking at someone who you can't tell wants to either kill you or just happens to be there.

[Gerry]

It's easy to look back and say "Well, they should have done this and that" but you don't have that luxury when you are in a war zone looking at someone who you can't tell wants to either kill you or just happens to be there.

Precisely. Nor did the innocent on the ground have the ability or the means to identify themselves.

I am not condoning what had happened but these two reporters had the misfortune of showing up to the scene of an area that has been called into attack helicopters as being unfriendlies who had fires on the soldiers. The soldiers did not know, the soldiers calling in the strike did not know that reporters had shown up, the reporters did not know an airstrike had been called in, and the helicopter crews...what were they to make of someone who appears to have weapons (cameras and camera bags) among people who CLEARLY were carrying weapons. Other than RPG's and grenade launchers, there are Soviet Made and US Made Handheld Missle launchers that are of GREAT concern to all pilots and aircraft. That is and has been one of the MAJOR CONCERNS of both international and US police forces who are attempting to guard against terrorist attacks.

Looking at some of the images, there indeed appears to be weapons being carried by individuals and one person seems to be crouched down behind a building and hold what appears to be an RPG launcher.

I can appreciate photographers and journalist wanting to be right up in the action and get that award winning image. But this was a horrible incident where I think anyone who was not physically participating in insurgent activity should not have been there. Understandably, I sincerely doubt that two journalists from one of the occupying countries could just simply drive up to a group of Iraqi men with weapons and just start asking questions and posing for pictures. This was clearly an advantage for these two men who were natives and knew the language. That clearly would give them access to those men that other journalists would not have.

I really feel sorry that it happened. But this a war, they were in a war zone, and there is clearly a group of men with at least two carrying their weapons out in the open, a possible RPG launcher. In the meantime, two people who have straps around their chest (camera straps) and who are about to raise something up to shoulder height (their cameras) and the pilots are supposed to assume that these are cameras and NOT shoulder fired missles and RPG's?

---------- Post added at 04:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------

I am trying to find images of a Stinger Missile, RPG launcher, and a Javelin shoulder fired missile. It would be nice for many of you to see the difference in sizes and portability.



The link I did post is of the much smaller and more portable Javelin launcher. From the air, personally I can see how a large shoulder carried video camera could conceivably be mistaken for a missile launcher. Now, we know the enemy has shoulder fired missiles and we know they are using them, and we know they have been successful in bringing down aircraft and fire them at armored vehicles, planes, jets, and helicopters.

So ask yourself...what would you have done in this situation? What assumptions would you have concluded if you, as the pilot, was dispatched to the scene from a group of soldiers who were under enemy fire and saw this group of individuals with weapons in plain view?

[Whitee]

Killing can never be justified. killing is murder no matter what the circumstances.