Wikileaks Releases Video Depicting US Military Killing Dozen Iraqis Including Two Reuters Employees

[Elvis]

(Graphic video)

Wikileaks has obtained and decrypted this previously unreleased video footage from a US Apache helicopter in 2007.

It shows Reuters journalist Namir Noor-Eldeen, driver Saeed Chmagh, and several others as the Apache shoots and kills them in a public square in Eastern Baghdad.

They are apparently assumed to be insurgents. After the initial shooting, an unarmed group of adults and children in a minivan arrives on the scene and attempts to transport the wounded.

They are fired upon as well. The official statement on this incident initially listed all adults as insurgents and claimed the US military did not know how the deaths ocurred.

Wikileaks released this video with transcripts and a package of supporting documents on April 5th 2010 on http://collateralmurder.com

EDIT:

US Army report: http://cryptome.org/ = under, "Army Wash of Reuters Staff Killing in Baghdad"

[*Shinzon*]

Well based on the video, you can't identify whether the target they initially claim to have a weapon is where the cross-hairs are trained, which would be the reporter, or another individual within that group before they separate. Regardless, the other individual they encounter down the street does in fact have an AK-47.

Before anyone says anything, you really need to background and context of the operation. It appears from the video to be a support mission for the troops on the ground. They only provide information about the reporters. While a tragic loss, under the rules of engagement the gunner would have done nothing wrong. As bad as it sounds, it's the truth.

[Klutz]

Oh damn. Incoming shitstorm.

Inb4 political activists having a cow over this.

[Elvis]

Well based on the video, you can't identify whether the target they initially claim to have a weapon is where the cross-hairs are trained, which would be the reporter, or another individual within that group before they separate. Regardless, the other individual they encounter down the street does in fact have an AK-47.

Before anyone says anything, you really need to background and context of the operation. They only provide information about the reporters. While a tragic loss, under the rules of engagement the gunner did nothing wrong. As bad as it sounds, it's the truth.

The journalists were just walking around la-dee-da. Were they embedded w/ the enemy?

I didn't notice the AK, what's the time-stamp for that? What about when the soldiers ran over a dead body (prefaced in the video by some Army guy saying that the Army didn't run over people). They like, laughed it off too ironically (not maniacally or sadistically.. I guess just 'dark humor').

And you know what, regardless of rules of engagement (do you know the specifics?) - I couldn't help but think I was watching people play MW2 or something. The situation on the ground was calm and the soldiers were just looking for a reason to shoot. Paranoia? I don't know. I think the Orwell quote is appropriate.

It's like when a black kid get's shot up because a cop thought his flashlight was an Uzi, it's a riot over here. When it happens in Iraq, it's 'Rules of Engagement' and all other kinds of language that dissociates the humanity of the people killed from our 'antiseptic' approach to warfare.

[Elvis]

Oh and Shiz, your response was similar to the soldiers' basically.

At like the end of the video, one of them goes, '[...]it's their fault for bringing their kids to a war-zone' (with reference to the children being shot at and injured, I don't know if they later died or not). When the entire country is a war-zone. The soldiers had the power to not shoot at everything that moved down there.

'Rules of Engagement'

And why shoot the people loading the bodies into the van? Did they have weapons? I didn't see any?

Oh and that guy, crawling (one of the Reuters' journalists) - as he was dying, WHY THE FUCK would he randomly reach for his gun? Go out in a blaze of glory? You hear those soldiers saying something like 'Come on, let's see a weapon'.

[Mizango]

Yeah its the actions not matching the accounts of what happened being the issue here. Granted, if you've ever been in a helicopter in any capacity that is how it looks even if you are flying over the beach or flying around some metropolitan city like St Louis (Which is where I flew in one a few times). You could use the "From my vantage point they looked threatening" in 100% of those cases.

That shit is fucked up, no one fired shit or even appeared to gesture in any "terrorististic" form or fashion.

[Mizango]

[...]it's their fault for bringing their kids to a war-zone' (with reference to the children being shot at and injured, I don't know if they later died or not).

Yeah that was indeed a cold thing to say.

[*Shinzon*]

At around 3:40 there's a fat dude and a skinny dude next to him that are carrying weapons. At 3:44 you can see the weapon clearly. And Yes MW2 did an incredible job emulating the kind of people who are pilots/gunners and the other people over the radio.

As to your last point about the attitude; if it was a routine support run, I imagine they were expecting resistance and not a very strong one.I think it was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time for those two journalists. Really the key is knowing the background and specifics of the operation before any blame can be levied.

@Miz if it was a support run and there were troops conducting an operation, anyone with a weapon would have been a threat. That's just how it goes.

[Yugl]

Is this safe to link to people or am I going to receive letters for doing so?

[Odesseiron]

Who cares? This is everyday shit. Deal with it. In before put yourself in their shoes, etc. As Shinzon said, you can clearly see weapons. As far as the kids, well better now before they turn into terrorists?

[Mizango]

They should do that in Manhattan and see well how that goes over. No offense but I dont buy the "Its just how it goes" and shrug it off as another day thing. 9/11 happened, "Dill with it" amirite? I mean, fuck the families, the kids, the parents, that's just how it goes right.

Rest easy America, that whole "misunderstanding" was collateral damage from our shitty foreign policy. Move it on along people, nothing to see here.

[Mizango]

Am I doing it right? This is foreign ground for me.

[Odesseiron]

They should do that in Manhattan and see well how that goes over. No offense but I dont buy the "Its just how it goes" and shrug it off as another day thing. 9/11 happened, "Dill with it" amirite? I mean, fuck the families, the kids, the parents, that's just how it goes right.

Rest easy America, that whole "misunderstanding" was collateral damage from our shitty foreign policy. Move it on along people, nothing to see here.

Exactly! Now you're getting it.

[Mizango]

Fuck yeah!

[Odesseiron]

What's worse is I'm half trolling, half serious

[Rhinox]

This is fucking Bullshit.

Don't give me that was clearly a weapon bullshit because isn't clear.

They must have heard the helicopters if they had a weapon or were indeed insurgents they would have scattered or fired on them.

[Chun Liroy]

While I do think it is tragic, I personally don't blame the soldiers for acting as they did in the non chalant manner. They do this kind of thing everyday, most are die hard patriotic men who see one group of people and assume they are all terrorists. It's sad but it's the truth. And war is ugly, that's a fact and to cope you have to joke about it so it doesn't fuck you up for the rest of your life.

As far as the kids, well better now before they turn into terrorists?

Really? I mean I don't care if you're joking or not but this is the kind of ignorance that really brings out the asshole in me.

Inb4Firas.

[Mizango]

What's worse is I'm half trolling, half serious

It's all about blurring that line baby.

[Drex]

I imagine you'll go crazy if you take war seriously there. I'd probably have to frame it like a game in my head just to deal with what I would be doing in that position.

And whatever the situation on the ground was, it wouldn't have stayed that way when the ground crew went in. It sounded like the helicoptor was cleaning up for them to go in and do something. On top of that it looked like they were hiding behind the building with an RPG at the beginning, so I'd be pretty eager to get them before they got me too. I can't blame the soldiers much given the position they were in. I would have thought it weird they didn't scatter when they heard us, but it did look kind of like they were hiding behind the building.

Either way, I can't say I blame soldiers for that kind of mentality. If I were in a country where a whole lot of people hated me and wanted to kill me, I'd be paranoid too.

edit - can see the gun around 3:35-3:45 area. Fullscreen at 3:42 for a decent shot at both aks. Wouldn't be much of a stretch to mistake one of those bigger, tripod mounted cameras for a weapon and think they were all armed.

[Elvis]

At around 3:40 there's a fat dude and a skinny dude next to him that are carrying weapons. At 3:44 you can see the weapon clearly. And Yes MW2 did an incredible job emulating the kind of people who are pilots/gunners and the other people over the radio.

As to your last point about the attitude; if it was a routine support run, I imagine they were expecting resistance and not a very strong one.I think it was a matter of being at the wrong place at the wrong time for those two journalists. Really the key is knowing the background and specifics of the operation before any blame can be levied.

@Miz if it was a support run and there were troops conducting an operation, anyone with a weapon would have been a threat. That's just how it goes.

I'm leaning towards agreeing w/ you about the time-stamp. It does look like a weapon. I still don't see the justification for shooting every single person in that location. Then shooting or wanting to shoot the crawling guy who's about to die, and then shooting the van + the people helping the dying guy.

And I guess my point about the soldiers commentary is just how sardonic about the entire thing.

06:22:02 Helicopters notice that Saeed is injured and is crawling.
06:24:54 Crazyhorse: "Come on, buddy. All you gotta do is pick up a weapon."

[...]
06:35:14 Ground unit reports: "I've got uh eleven Iraqi KIAs [Killed In Action]. One small child wounded. Over." - "Roger. Ah damn. Oh well."
06:36:05 "Well it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle."

This entire thing didn't have to happen. The soldiers were like kids incinerating ants.

More from WikiLeaks:

Responses

July 12th, 2007 New York Times reports that two Iraqi journalists were killed in a militia clash with U.S. forces - ''There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force,'' said Lt. Col. Scott Bleichwehl, a spokesman for the multinational forces in Baghdad.

July 13th, 2007 Press statement from public affairs office in camp Victory reports on the event. "There is no question that Coalition Forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force," said Lt. Col Scott Bleichwehl, spokesperson and public affairs officer for MND-B.

July 13th, 2007 Reuters blog posts an entry on the killings of Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Namir was the 109th journalist to be killed in Iraq since the invasion in 2003, and Saeed the 40th member of support staff.

July 16th, 2007 Reuters seeks U.S. probe into the killings of their staff. "Our preliminary investigation raises real questions about whether there was fighting at the time the two men were killed," said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters. Specifically, Reuters wanted an explanation of why the two cameras were confiscated, access to any cameras onboard the Apache helicopters that were involved in the incident, access to any voice communications between the helicopter crews and U.S. ground forces and access to reports from the unit involved in the incident, in particular a log of any weapons taken from the scene.

July 16th, 2007 Counterpunch reports that "The US military says US and Iraqi forces engaged "a hostile force" and, after coming under fire, called for air support that killed nine insurgents and two civilians. The police and witnesses tell a different story. A preliminary police report from al-Rashad police station said Mr Noor-Eldeen and Mr Chmagh were killed along with nine others by a "random American bombardment." One witness, Karim Shindakh, said: "The aircraft began striking randomly and people were wounded. A Kia [mini-van] arrived to take them away. They hit the Kia and killed ... the two journalists."

March 2008 Reuters opens website "Bearing Witness" dedicated to the memory of the Reuters journalists that have been killed in Iraq during the war: Taras Protsyuk (2003); Mazen Dana (2003); Dhia Najim (2003); Waleed Khaled (2005); Saeed Chmagh (2007); Namir Noor-Eldeen (2007); and an anonymous Reuters journalist who was killed in 2007.

July 15th, 2008 Reuters posts memorial article. In it they mention that "Reuters News is seeking video footage from the U.S. military and other materials relating to the killing of Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh. The footage was taken by cameras on board the U.S. helicopters involved in the incident, in which nine other people were killed. The U.S. military said last week it is still processing the request"