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'Collateral Murder': Wikileaks Reveals Video Showing US Air Crew Shooting Down Iraqi Civilians
Footage of July 2007 attack made public as Pentagon identifies website as threat to national security
A secret video showing US air crew falsely claiming to have encountered a firefight in Baghdad and then laughing at the dead after launching an air strike that killed a dozen people, including two Iraqis working for Reuters news agency, was revealed by Wikileaks today.
The footage of the July 2007 attack was made public in a move that will further anger the Pentagon, which has drawn up a report identifying the whistleblower website as a threat to national security. The US defence department was embarrassed when that confidential report appeared on the Wikileaks site last month alongside a slew of military documents.
The release of the video from Baghdad also comes shortly after the US military admitted that its special forces attempted to cover up the killings of three Afghan women in a raid in February by digging the bullets out of their bodies.
The newly-released video of the Baghdad attacks was recorded on one of two Apache helicopters hunting for insurgents on 12 July 2007. Among the dead were a 22-year-old Reuters photographer, Namir Noor-Eldeen, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40. The Pentagon blocked an attempt by Reuters to obtain the video through a freedom of information request. Wikileaks director Julian Assange said his organisation had to break through encryption by the military to view it.
In the recording, the helicopter crews can be heard discussing the scene on the street below. One American claims to have spotted six people with AK-47s and one with a rocket-propelled grenade. It is unclear if some of the men are armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera. Chmagh is talking on his mobile phone.
One of the helicopter crew is then heard saying that one of the group is shooting. But the video shows there is no shooting or even pointing of weapons. The men are standing around, apparently unperturbed.
The lead helicopter, using the moniker Crazyhorse, opens fire. "Hahaha. I hit 'em," shouts one of the American crew. Another responds a little later: "Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards."
One of the men on the ground, believed to be Chmagh, is seen wounded and trying to crawl to safety. One of the helicopter crew is heard wishing for the man to reach for a gun, even though there is none visible nearby, so he has the pretext for opening fire: "All you gotta do is pick up a weapon." A van draws up next to the wounded man and Iraqis climb out. They are unarmed and start to carry the victim to the vehicle in what would appear to be an attempt to get him to hospital. One of the helicopters opens fire with armour-piercing shells. "Look at that. Right through the windshield," says one of the crew. Another responds with a laugh.
Sitting behind the windscreen were two children who were wounded.
After ground forces arrive and the children are discovered, the American air crew blame the Iraqis. "Well it's their fault for bringing kids in to a battle," says one. "That's right," says another.
Initially the US military said that all the dead were insurgents. Then it claimed the helicopters reacted to an active firefight. Assange said that the video demonstrated that neither claim was true.
"Why would anyone be so relaxed with two Apaches if someone was carrying an RPG and that person was an enemy of the United States?" he said. "The behaviour of the pilots is like a computer game. When Saeed is crawling, clearly unable to do anything, their response is: come on buddy, we want to kill you, just pick up a weapon ... It appears to be a desire to get a higher score, or a higher number of kills."
Wikileaks says it will shortly release a second secret US military video showing the deaths of civilians in an attack in Afghanistan. The Pentagon has been seeking ways to prevent classified material appearing on Wikileaks, including through "criminal sanctions". Wikileaks has made public classified US army reports on weapons, military units and battle strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Pentagon report, reflecting the depth of paranoia about where Wikileaks is obtaining its material, speculates that the CIA may be responsible. But perhaps most embarrassing leak for the US defence department was that of the 2008 report itself which appeared on the Wikileaks site last month.
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Show AllNote: "The Pentagon has been seeking ways to prevent classified material appearing on Wikileaks, including through "criminal sanctions.'"
You say the soldiers "thought they were doing their job"? Well, what the hell is going on in this sick country and in the heads of its silly killers?
Note: "The Pentagon has been seeking ways to prevent classified material appearing on Wikileaks, including through "criminal sanctions.'"
You say the soldiers "thought they were doing their job"? Well, what the hell is going on in this sick country and in the heads of its silly killers?
; chameleon
"correctly and efficiently" would sound real good in german, followed by heil hitler!.
Read "War is a Racket" by Major General Smedly Butler USMC, a two time Medal of Honor recipient. He talks about how soldiers and Marines are the enforcement arm of a criminal enterprise--big business. To the point made here, military folk are indoctrinated not to think of the consequences of their actions and for whom they're killing people. Butler calls out Big Oil, the banana packing interests and so on. He says that the only reasons for war are territorial defense and to preserve the Bill of Rights. So, JohnnyDangerous do you think General Butler was a hippy? How many Medals of Honor do you hold?
I feel the same way about women who get raped. They deserved it.
needless, useless invective deleted by author
Troll!
http://file.wikileaks.org/file/rules_of_engagement_flowchart_2007.pdf
Rules of Engagement for US Military forces in Iraq 2007. The Pilots were in clear violation. There is NO PROVISION to attack inviduals JUST BECAUSE they have weapons. They must be identified as members of a known terrorist organization or be seen firing on US or Iraqi Government forces.
No such Identification made. Notice the flowchart indicating that clear Identification to be made before engaging. It states "Do not engage".
You do not just gun down people with weapons. All of the Militias in Iraq have weapons and many of these are aligned with the Government.
I suppose the next time a gathering at a tea party shows a US Citizen carrying a weapon (or what is MISTAKEN for one) you will have no problems with a helicopter Gunship firing on the crowd.
Secondly under ROE you do not fire on the wounded. That is a warcrime.
it wasn't just the pilots; they asked for and received an ok from their command, "bushmaster", for the original massacre and also for the attack on the vehicle and those trying to help the wounded... they were excited, they wanted to kill the wounded driver,..weapons equalled enemy, but what were the pilots using? so actually what was playing out was a kind of projection....
madness...
I like the way they 'definitely had assault rifles' but that 'there's no way to claim that the aircrew knew that the suspected RPGs were cameras, or that there were children in the minivan'. How convenient for you.
You fucking dickhead.
There is one "rule" that the United States Habitually has not followed:
and that is:
it ENGAGED ITSELF in afghanistan and regions where it DOES NOT BELONG! period.
the US involvement in afghanistant started BEFORE today...in its imperial over-reach to steal the recources and lands of other people and order them around.
THAT is a basic rule of decency the USA has been the greatest offender against.
you also say people here are just "discussing in anonymity"?
well....what do YOU call the ANONYMOUS , faceless, SAFE behind their Computer Screens and inside their bubbles in the pentagon and corporate boards and adviser committees and jetplanes with bombs that WE "can't see" who THEY ARE - from america DROPPING BOMBS or strifing bullets or using drones over people ELSEWHERE in their own land where the USA has NO BUSINESS setting its foot ?
what do you call THEM?
"FAMOUS FACES" , maybe?
"rules of engagement?"
you are going to USE AMERICAN LANGUAGE of "rules of engagement"
about people IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY that the USA HAD NO BUSINESS MEDDLING IN ? just like it had no business meddling in the affairs of Vietnam and many other places?
"rules of engagement?"
the USA is an INVADER and OCCUPIER and as such has NO RIGHTS whatsoever! neither about "rules of engagement" or otherwise where it inserts itself in the affairs of other regions.
"We kill people for a living...get over it or do something about it."
Assuming you are paid by the DOD with US taxes, then I refuse, and have refused, to fund your killing fetish, you piece of scum.
Firing on wounded being evacuated into a van is "following the rules of engagement"?!? Sorry, you have proven the point that you too have been brainwashed by the MIC.
JohnnyIgnorant, Irregardless is not a word. How appropriate, you start off your confused post with such.
Looks to me like a bunch of local businessmen trying to protect their property from looters in the mist of chaos.
The cameras would have to be thin and about six foot long to look like RPG launchers.
I guess the teabags better worry about your friends flying over them.
Hippies are your best salvation.
Evil is as evil does, baby killer.
"An air support unit identified a group of people that definitely had assault rifles and objects that were easily interpreted as RPGs. This was not an obvious group of civilians."
Bullshit. I saw one item that may have been a rifle, no others. These people were simply milling about more or less aimlessly. This was no attack squad.
"Having seen the footage there's no way to claim that the aircrew knew that the suspected RPGs were cameras, or that there were children in the minivan. The resolution is simply too poor for that level of interpretation.
Bullshit again, fool! Even if one couldn't tell that a man was carrying a camera it certainly wasn't identifiable as an RPG launcher either. Maybe it was an IED. Yeah, that's the ticket. It must have been an IED. The soldier who identified it obviously can't tell an RPG launcher from a camera from an IED, but he had an itch to kill that day so he lied and said he saw an RPG launcher. In the film I could clearly see children in the van. I guess the soldier that killed them was as blind as you. Why do I say killed them even though they were "just" injured? I'd like to see YOU take a .50 caliber round anywhere on your body and live to tell about it. I really would.
"The firing was not indiscriminate and followed rules of engagement."
I think the rules of engagement depend on those about to "engage" telling the truth to their commanders. These bastards lied outright.
You are the anonymous one, here. My name appears above. Want my address, asshole?
Fucking FASCIST.
"Even if one couldn't tell that a man was carrying a camera it certainly wasn't identifiable as an RPG launcher either"
3:42-3:50 skinny guy w/RPG at top of screen spins around. weapon clearly visible.
I simply do not see what you claim to be there. I see one man carrying what may be a rifle and another carrying a long object that is not clearly identifiable as a weapon of any kind. I see the photographer and his camera lens peeking around the corner of a building. These people were casually milling about. This was clearly not some sort of enemy attack squad, at least not at that time. Shoot first and ask questions later, eh? Remember, these guys are coming soon to a police station near you. Better not be caught carrying around lawn tools. Wouldn't want to get murdered for carrying a piece of pipe, either.
Long object = RPG. I had to play with one myself a long, long (ok maybe not so long) time ago.
Upon looking at the video some more:
At 4:49 just before the they start firing you can clearly see fat guy with striped shirt holding AK47 (he is also visible at 3:38 but the weapon is kida blurred) and skinny guy with RPG close to the building wall holdign weapon against the side of his body. You can see the familiar shape of a AK47 magazine the fat guy is holding.
That being said those gunners seem to have pretty good eyes to see all that.
That reminded me of a story some time ago about salting. US forces would throw some wire, or tools or other junk on the ground then stake the spot out. If somebody walked by and picked up the bait, he/she was shot as a terrorist. It was written up as quite a game.
If I was poor and hungry and walking down the street and spotted a coil of wire, I'd pick it up and take it to whomever was buying such stuff so I could get some money for food.
Apparently, our units keep a shovel or two in their rigs so if they kill somebody on the street, they can put the shovel in his hands and say they caught him rigging an IED.
Just like cops carrying a spare weapon, so when they shoot a guy reaching for his wallet, they can put the pistol in his hands and say he was going for a gun.
This all seems so pervasive that I fear we have already gone down the tubes.
and RPG when loaded is 4.1/2 feet long. A telephoto is 1 1/2 feet long. no way you could mistake the two.
also, the most condemning evidence to dispute your ignorance is to view the video link below that blows all or your dribble to bits.
fucking idiot.
the link for the fucking idiot "johnny dangerous" to look at. goddamn punk.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/8/exclusive_witnesses_describe_deadly_2007_us
ps. why don't you give us your name and phone number asshole. I'd like to give you an ass whoopin that will change your life forever punk.
!!!"The training soldiers receive helps us do our job but we are here because we want to be and doing what we want to do. WE KILL PEOPLE FOR A LIVING ...get over it or do something about it. We are active agents for change within our environment: all you do is talk, anonymously."!!!
So it's better not to talk about it then, eh?
The "we are active agents for change, you just talk" is indeed the most chilling part of this trolls (himself anomynous) remarks. It goes beyond even "might makes right" in that it regards "right" as completely irrelavant.
But if he is an an agent of change, then we better get some guns and training and become agents of change too, change for the better.
obama
Geithner
Summers
You left out Bill Clinton who ordered nearly continuous bombing of Iraq long after the first Iraq war supposedly ended. Clinton is as vicious as any others on your list. And, you left out Hillary Clinton, whose state department funds the murderers from Blackwater/Xe, Triple Canopy, Dyn Corp and others of their ilk. This isn't even included in the overall US military budget. The Department of State runs its own mercenary armies. So does the CIA, using funding provided by their worldwide illegal drug operations.
LOL. like how you listed everyone under Bush's leadership.
better wake up. the guy you voted for and cried when he took the oath to be the Ruler of the United States is one as well along with his secretary of state and her husband.
perhaps you should read the recent article about the soldiers in AFGHANISTAN in 2010 who machine gunned the pregnant women and their husbands in there homes and then tried to cut out the bullets from there bodies and make it look like they were killed by insurgents.
is it because there is no video on youtube that you decided not to list the democrats?
or were you not paying attention when Obama replied to the murder and mayhem that Israel unleashed on the people of Gaza, "if someone was firing rockets at my daughters i would fight back as well" comment.
Now you know why 'Net neutrality' is on the block.
This is the only method we have of getting the truth out about the chimes committed by ANY government, not just the US.
Probably right about the net, particularly impressive for the nascent Wikileaks to break yet another important story. Now this is the most popular video on CNN and is a featured story.
Soooo..wow. It really is possible to be completely relaxed while committing a homicide. Or multiple homicides.Sheesus Crimeny
President Obama at Bagram air base (and torture prison,) Iraq 2010
"You are part of the finest military in the history of the world, and we are proud of you."
JoannafromCanada
SOOOOOOOOO fucked up. So very, very, very fucked up.
Obama is a tool - moved up to the Big House; now he's the Murderer in Chief.
The video documents what some know as the truth: the American Empire is an evil killing machine - cowards roaming the skies in toys we all paid for... from the "savages" on the North American continent to the "savages" in the Middle East, the Teutons and Aryans continue Manifest Destiny...
war=war
In 1967 my brother came home from Vietnam. He looked good. There were no scars or missing limbs. We were ecstatic. His bedroom was next to mine on the second floor of our duplex apartment in the Bronx. In the middle of the night I heard agonized screams coming from his room. Not knowing any better, I went to him and touched him to soothe him. He instantly went on the attack. He grabbed me with one hand, his other like a claw. I don’t know what saved me; whether it was my screaming his name or throwing myself on him, but he came to himself before he harmed me.
That night, he told me about watching his entire platoon get wiped out; about gouging eyes out with his bare hands; about not knowing who the enemy was, and what direction they would come from the next time; and about some of the other nightmares of Vietnam. After that, we never talked about it again.
Before going to Vietnam, my brother had wanted to become a doctor. After returning from Vietnam, he could not stand the sight of blood. He drank straight gin continuously, like ice water, without getting drunk.
My brother made the horror of Vietnam real to me in 1967... Safiyeh Bukhari
OBAMA IS A TRUE CHICKEN-HAWK: demonically insane.
Add another reason to list for why I voted for Nader.
Ralph would not allow this criminal behavior from our military.
the soldiers "were laughing at the dead?"
after what they did?
and americans still would feel OFFENDED if the USA is seen by the world as being LIKE the NAZIS?
i guess -- it is highly conceivable that the Killing by the "United States" - always carried with it a certain amount of finding actual "joy" at killing "savages"...and sooner or later - it would surface ...
The pentagon of evil would like to cover this up as they continue to cover up their evil deeds of murder and torture all for the sake of the incredibly greedy elite who make untold millions and billions in weapons sales. Death is a comodity that makes the rich richer....who cares about the untold suffering of the victims and the victims families? They are just the
'casualties' of doing the dark business of the dark lord!!!
Murderers. Plain and simple.
WIKI leaks the truth, and the Pentagon tries to piss all over the Freedom of Information Act!
The truth is never a national security risk, but covering up the truth , Pentagon, is a Planet security risk.
A group of men with cell phones and cameras... It was grainy video, but did anyone see weapons? I didn't. I could make out small faces in the front seat though. Perhaps the soldiers thought they were terrorist midgets?
I can't tell the difference from Blackwater, or regular military; is there a difference? Oh, a new reality show...I can see it now...GRAND THEFT HUMANITY....your tax dollars at work.
Now do you understand why I refuse to pay taxes?
General Smedley Butler listened to his conscience and exposed the plot by the Corporate Elite of his day to overthrow the US Government.
Today, the Corporate Elite *IS* the Government of the US. The generals and soldiers obey the dictates of General Electric, Boeing, and Ratheon. The US routinely employs Corporate mercenaries and uses methods of torture and terror the Nazis would have been proud to conceive of.
Have fun in your soon to be quietly announced police state, where speaking your mind will be a crime against the state.
'Big Brother is watching.' - 1984 by George Orwell.
"Murderers plain and simple" however, nothing is going to be done about it. Who's going to stop this? Nobody!
So move along folks, there's nothing to see here
So, this is what the U.S. military does and knows. The U.S. media knows it too, but it doesn't report it. Your Congressperson funds it using our tax dollars, making speeches about "our brave men and women over there." President Obama encourages the slaughter by talking about Al Queda.
I'm always hoping there will be a breaking point for tolerance of the wars in the United States. However, someone has already tried to describe this video to me as unclear about whether the people on the ground were armed or not, even though the video shows wanton murder of citizens strolling down a street.
If I recall right, it took years of atrocity footage on the nightly news to turn the tide against the Vietnam war. I find people today to be mostly numb. To talk of the bloodshed when your votes, letters and protests are ignored seems to lead nowhere.
I'm waiting for that moment of change, knowing that all that I've said, written and done has had no effect. These are dark times, when murderers and thieves hold court with broad smiles over an ignorant public that can't be bothered with the details, even after being bilked and lied to again and again.
-TIA
acutenecrotizingfasciitus
Truly, we have some sick callous individuals in the military.
We need to emasculate the "war hero" and we need to have a long range plan to do so.
We need to ostracise members of returning military. Refuse to speak to them. Refuse to be seated near them in restaurants. Refuse them special privileges & discounts. Refuse them access to our children in our schools and our children's personal information.
Refuse to accept ROTC in our schools & colleges. Refuse to accept the "war hero" mythology. Boycott those companies w/ a presence in Baghdad's Green Zone.
When the U.S. govorporation's military & mercenaries' boots land on foreign soil, the fascists produce nothing but turmoil, death, & destruction. Korea. Viet Nam. Panama. Iraq. Afghanistan. Pakistan.
It's going to be a long hard path down towards the destruction of the U.S. fascist govorporation, and what springs forth from the rubble may be just as bad.
and the pilots are brainwashed to take pleasure in killing and operate without conscience, otherwise they'd have to start over training new pilots every time this happens.