the wikileaks video

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Fapper
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the wikileaks video

#1

Post by Fapper »

didnt see this one posted here



Collateral Murder

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. For further information please visit the special project website http://www.collateralmurder.com.

source: http://wikileaks.org/

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Re: the wikileaks video

#2

Post by Sir Jig-A-Lot »

Why am I not suprised?!. No offence meant, but for the longest time now I think regular U.S. grunts are seriously lacking in training ,and therefore discipline & restraint, when compared to most of their other allies. Again , I emphasize: Grunts = regular troops. Not Special Forces,Black ops or Marines.They treat situations like that as if it's a game of cowboys n' indians.
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Re: the wikileaks video

#3

Post by shining2001uk »

Havent seen this before, as above, I'm not surprised that this goes on. surely someone is accountable for this now?

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Re: the wikileaks video

#4

Post by Fapper »

not being surprised (yeah! count me in too) is what worries me the most :(

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Re: the wikileaks video

#5

Post by AYHJA »

All the more reason why we need to come the fuck from over there...

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Re: the wikileaks video

#6

Post by raum »

Rules of engagement were followed. People who enter a scene and try to move weapons or bodies can be engaged to prevent recovery. The clear for fire was given because one dumbass pointed a RPG at a friggin helicopter. The problem is he doesn't have an RPG. But it is easy to see when you are not in 90+ degree weather hanging from duct tape and metal over a city you are scouring for danger constantly. But, the line between perception and reality gets REALLY thin, especially when you are as green as that guy sounds. It is clear he is not seasoned yet. His desire to do right by his team leader comes across as very cold-hearted, but it is not. He has de-humanized his targets,.. but it is clear he is hyped and nervous... eager to make his place among some senior people who are mentoring to him on that gunship.

They got permission to engage before they ever announced RPG. And then "Bushmaster" (ground troop who had led them over that way) says he had a guy firing. Maybe it was for pictures, or maybe it was grandstanding... but

That dude was an idiot who got his friends killed. Personally, if I saw a gunship circling overhead, I would have maybe CALLED someone to ask if it is ok to be here taking pics of people with AK-47s. Hell, I'd ask before I put my camera in the car. At least some of these guys were carrying assault rifles and were in a restricted zone. Clearest pic of 3 were at 3:49 in the full video. Maybe the reporters were getting an exclusive from the wrong people at the wrong time. Regardless, they were at the wrong place.

I understand why the rules of engagement are the way they are, even though I question what the hell we are doing there. This is part of the hell of war, and people pretending that the news is some all-pervasive force that can expect to walk into a battlefield are wrong. The most decorated war photgrapher in the world said we only see enough of the story to be enraged, and that is something we should be wary of.

I am not glad this happened, but I am saying their tone and comments would be totally taken out of context by someone who has never been trained to identify with a killing unit. And you can argue not everyone in the military kills, but there is little room for pacifists on an Apache.

But I think the real issue for me about this, is this maybe exactly why Reuters hires locals...

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Re: the wikileaks video

#7

Post by AYHJA »

Been hearing about wikileaks docs getting posted all morning, though I haven't bothered to look for them...I just don't see what they'll tell us we don't already know, unless you think the proof is in the details or lack tons of common sense...

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Re: the wikileaks video

#8

Post by raum »

Do you need to read thousands of pages to find out Afghanistan is a fustercluck?

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Re: the wikileaks video

#9

Post by jdog »

I really dislike when the press doesn't report ALL of the news. They only report selective news to bend a situation to whatever suits their opinions.

Also, if they want to roll with insurgents then they should expect to become cannon fodder. It is a pity that innocents were killed but maybe next time the AP will report from a distance instead of camping with the bad guys with targets on their backs.
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Re: the wikileaks video

#10

Post by raum »

Well here is the thing. Reuters gives these guys GREAT money and incentives to get as close to the shot as they can. They pay extra if your life is in danger. That is how you get promoted, but you never really get out of the area. In my lens, it looks like they are paying, whether they know it or not, for reporters to risk their lives.

I have no idea what story they were convering, but the part of New Baghdad they were in was restricted. Ground units had taken fire and an Apache was responding. So everyone was already hyped for the fact that they were entering combat. But this video, in isolation, makes it look like they were just hunting for an excuse to kill civilians. The guy on the gun was obviously new, as he was being told "ok when we start...." kind of talk you only give a rookie.

As for the children. That sounds callous, until you realize putting children in harm's way is something the muslim extremists have been doing for a long time. A child in a snipers nest, or by a guy with an RPG, or in a vehicle... It's happened alot, unfortunately. The first time it was was reported was in 2007:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi insurgents used two children as cover to get through a checkpoint in Baghdad and then blew up the car while the kids were still inside, a U.S. general said Tuesday.

The car went through a checkpoint Sunday and parked by a market across the street from a school, said Maj. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy director for regional operations in the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Two adults jumped from the car, leaving the children in the back. Moments later, the car exploded, witnesses said.

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