Minutes after the first engagement ended, the van returned traveling in an opposite direction (north) once again on this same road. You can make out in the video [someone] carrying an AK-47, swinging it down by his legs. And as far as the way that the soldiers are speaking in the video, which is pretty callous and joking about what's happened that's a coping mechanism. On the same day as the NPR interview, Finkel was asked how he had seen the unedited video and whether WikiLeaks had shown it to him. [18][25][31] The Apache crew requested permission to engage, stating it "looks like [the men] possibly, picking up bodies and weapons" from the scene,[33] and repeated their request to shoot,[7][34][35][36][37] before they received permission to begin firing on the van and its occupants. McCord is the father of three children. And then the father, who I'm assuming was the father, in the driver's seat slumped over on his side. It also states that "The cameras could easily be mistaken for slung AK-47 or AKM rifles, especially since neither cameraman is wearing anything that identifies him as media or press". On the video, it is then seen that Army soldiers establish a perimeter around the site and extract the children from the burning van. There had been running gun battles. I've had nightmares. Two former soldiers from the Army unit responsible for the Wikileaks "Collateral Murder" incident have written an open-letter of "Reconciliation and Responsibility" to those injured in the July 2007 attack, in which U.S. forces wounded two children and killed over a dozen people, including the father of those children and two Reuters employees. [57], Reuters reported that it could locate no witnesses who had seen gunmen in the immediate area. A unit from Bravo Company 216 was within 100 meters of the individuals that were fired upon with 30mm AH-64 Apache cannons. Smoked is basically like you're doing pushups a lot, you're doing sit-ups crunches and flutter kicks. One of the first soldiers on the scene after the air attack, Ethan McCord, is now the subject of a short documentary, Incident in New Baghdad, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Wired.com: What did you understand that to mean? It happened because my content was bad. US Soldiers from Wikileaks Collateral Murder Video Apologize. Josh states that these casualties demonstrate the impact of U.S. military policy on both the civilians and the soldiers on the ground. This is the problem that we're speaking out on as far as the rules of engagement. McCord: I would be smoked. Seven men (including Noor-Eldeen) were killed during this first strike; Saeed Chmagh, who was injured, later died in a hospital. "[31], In May 2011 the Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival awarded the investigative film Collateral murder, Hellfire, done by Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks spokesperson, and Ingi Ingason, with the award for International Journalism and Human Rights. McCord: I doubt that they were a part of that firefight. Responsibility for civilian deaths in such encounters rests with those who violate the rules of war. But this particular eventthis is clearly murder. Well in all actuality, we brought the battle to your kids. The video makes plain that in this incident, as in almost all military encounters in both Iraq and Afghanistan, our soldiers are up against forces that do not wear uniformsa violation of international law precisely because it places innocent civilians in jeopardy. They were stating that these people had no weapons whatsoever, that they were just carrying cameras. They did have weapons there. (The quote begins at 12:22 in video, and the shot that killed Saaed is at 12:25)", "Stephen Colbert Interviews WikiLeaks Founder", "US veterans write apology letter to Iraqis following WikiLeaks video", "We killed your father I'm heartbroken", "Widow of Iraqi killed by US troops in video 'accepts apology' after letter", "Airstrike Video Brings Attention to WikiLeaks Site", "Elliptical vs. treadmill: Which will give you the better workout? [18][25][31] As the U.S. soldiers moved towards the site of the attack, a van stopped near Chmagh. They request permission to fire a missile at the building, describing it as "abandoned" or "under construction". A Pentagon spokesman said the video did not contradict the official finding that the helicopters' crew acted within the rules of engagement and said that the inquiry backed the assessment that the group of men were carrying a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). [118][119], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}331849N 443043E / 33.3137N 44.512E / 33.3137; 44.512 (Airstrike of 2007-07-12). [32] The Apache crew alerted the ground troops of the van and requested permission to engage the vehicle before the ground troops arrived. Wired.com: The first thing you saw was the little girl in the van. Just from watching that video, people cannot understand the complex battles that occurred. [17], In an interview with Fox News Assange said that "it's likely some of the individuals seen in the video were carrying weapons" and "based upon visual evidence I suspect there probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything. Towards the end of the show, the star actor became an active member of the Screen Actors Guild and after he left "Adam-12." It was more of a child who was frightened out of her mind. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. He is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while standing next to the man holding the RPG. Those guys could have just been protecting their area". We did unto you what we would not want done to us.". When this video first came out, there was a lot of outrage by the soldiers, just because it depicted us as being callous, cruel, heartless people, and we're not that way. For instance, the Web site takes special care to slow down the video and identify the two photographers and the cameras they are carrying. From our own experiences, and the experiences of other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region. Soldier Ethan McCord speaking about the civilian massacre documented in WikiLeaks's April 2010 vid. On 19 April 2010, Ethan McCord, who appears on the ground in the video, and Josh Steiber, a member of the same company who was not present on the day, wrote an open Letter of Reconciliation & Responsibility to the Iraqi People apologising for the events in the video. WikiLeaks also does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. Reuters responded, "It is absolutely untrue that this story was spiked. We are doing what we can to speak out against the wars and military policies responsible for what happened to you and your loved ones. I was also told that there would be repercussions if I was to go to mental health. As the killing goes on, you obviously would see the killing of men who are lying on the ground in an operation where ground troops are approaching and perfectly capable of taking those people captive, but meanwhile you're murdering before the troops arrive. A school district is mourning the loss of a 13-year-old student who was found dead along with 3 other family members after a "potential murder-suicide" in Clermont County.It happened around 9:41 a . He responded, "I hadn't heard of WikiLeaks before yesterday. The soldier, Ethan McCord, has since been discharged from the military and has been an outspoken voice against the Iraq War. McCord states he was yelled at for not "pulling security". However, I do know some soldiers went in to clear that building afterwards and there were some people with weapons in there, but there was also a family of four that was killed. So, the first thing I did was grab the girl. [Then] we were just told to move to this [other] location. [47] The Australian newspaper said the group was displaying "no obvious hostile action". 2023 Cond Nast. Ethan McCord was a member of the military unit in "Collateral Murder" - the Wikileaks video showing 12 Iraqis being killed from a US helicopter.He rescued the two children severely wounded in the attack and is now speaking out to corroborate the Collateral Murder video. They also found 10-year-old Sajad Mutashar and his five-year-old sister Doaha covered in blood in a van. I've spoken with other soldiers who were there. On April 5, 2010, the attacks received worldwide coverage and controversy following the release of 39 minutes of gunsight footage by the Internet whistleblower website WikiLeaks. It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically injured or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your country. That's when I started screaming, "The boy's alive! McCord was captured in a video shot from one helicopter as he ran frantically to a military vehicle with Sajad in his arms seeking medical care. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. She concluded that command structures need to be in place to identify "combatants with serious psychological problems". For about 5 to 10 minutes the team diverted its attention to this vehicle. [94], WikiLeaks said they were unable to confirm whether or not Manning was the source of the video, stating "we never collect personal information on our sources", but saying that "if [Manning is the] whistleblower then, without doubt, [s]he's a national hero"[95] and "we have taken steps to arrange for [her] protection and legal defence". In fact, that's one of the reasons I went to the van immediately, because I could hear her crying. One second later he screams, "He's got an RPG!" http://www.mediasanctuary.orghttp://www.wikileaks.org U.S. When the helicopter pilots discover that they have killed a number of Iraqi civilians and wounded two children, one of them is heard to say: "Well, its their fault for bringing their kids into a battle".[41]. I didn't know if he was telling me that just to get me to shut up and to do my job or if he really found something out. "[76], Captain Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command stated that the airstrike video "gives you a limited perspective, [it] only tells you a portion of the activity that was happening that day. With Russia regularly knocking out Ukraines power grid, the country has turned to high-capacity batteries to keep it connected to the worldand itself. I always questioned it in the back of my mind. Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy, convicted of six counts of espionage", "Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy for giving secrets to WikiLeaks", "BBC News Bradley Manning guilty of espionage in Wikileaks case", "Manning Gets 35 years for wikileaks disclosures", "Bradley Manning Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison For WikiLeaks Disclosures", "Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison live updates", "Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years", "Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's prison sentence", "Obama's final press conference: Chelsea Manning commutation is 'appropriate', "The WikiLeaks Video and the Rules of Engagement", "Exclusive: Reuters Chief Spikes Story on Killing of His Own Staffers In Baghdad", "US 'reviewing' Iraq killing video posted on WikiLeaks", "Ingi Ingason Ragnar and Kristinn Hrafnsson awarded International Journalism and Human Rights Award at Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival", "Verleihung des Whistleblower-Preises 2011", Whistleblower-Preis 2011 geht an Kernforscher, Collateral Murder: U.S. He gave his view of the context of the killings: the Reuters guys walked into the hottest spot of a very hot morning. One of the first soldiers on the scene after the air attack, Ethan McCord, is now the subject of a short documentary, Incident in New Baghdad, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York next week. [61] Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, a U.S. Defense official confirmed the authenticity of the leaked audio and video. [18] Al Jazeera stated that the Army had received "reports of small arms fire", but were unable to positively identify the gunmen. It's very clear that that is the approach, to try and find any mechanism to excuse the behavior, and that is what ended up happening. After attending to the girl's wounds and handing her to a medic, McCord was ordered to take position on the roof but he returned to the van to find the boy moving his hand. [32] Assange also said "it's ludicrous to allege that we have taken anything out of context in this video". 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