[Meep n_n]

Got this video from a friend and i thought i'd share it.

Classified U.S. military video showing a 2007 attack by Apache helicopters that killed a dozen people in Baghdad, including two Reuters news staff, was released on Monday by a group that promotes leaking to fight government and corporate corruption.

The group, WikiLeaks, told a news conference in Washington that it acquired encrypted video of the July 12, 2007, attack from military whistleblowers and had been able to view and investigate it after breaking the encryption code.

A U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the video and audio were authentic.

Major Shawn Turner, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said an investigation of the incident shortly after it occurred found that U.S. forces were not aware of the presence of the news staffers and thought they were engaging armed insurgents.

"We regret the loss of innocent life, but this incident was promptly investigated and there was never any attempt to cover up any aspect of this engagement," Turner said.

The helicopter gunsight video, with an audio track of conversation between the fliers, made public for the first time a stark view of one bloody incident in the seven-year war in Iraq.

It showed an aerial view of a group of men moving about a square in a Baghdad neighborhood. The fliers identified some of the men as armed.

WikiLeaks said the men in the square included Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, who were killed in the incident.

"The gathering at the corner that is fired up on has about nine people in it," Julian Assange, a WikiLeaks spokesman, told reporters at the National Press Club.

The gunsight tracks two of the men, identified by WikiLeaks as the Reuters news staff, as the fliers identify their cameras as weapons.

Military spokesman Turner said that during the engagement, the helicopter mistook a camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.

The helicopter opened fire on the small group, killing several people and wounding others.

Minutes later, when a van approached and began trying to assist the wounded, the fliers became concerned the vehicle was occupied by militants trying to collect weapons and help wounded comrades escape.

The Apache helicopters requested permission to attack the van and waited impatiently.

"Come on, let us shoot," said one voice.

The fliers were granted permission to engage the van and opened fire, apparently killing several people in and around the vehicle.

Two children wounded in the van were evacuated by U.S. ground forces arriving at the scene as the Apache helicopters continued to circle overhead.

"Well it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle," one of the U.S. fliers said.

David Schlesinger, Reuters' editor-in-chief, said the video released by WikiLeaks showed the deaths of Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh were "tragic and emblematic of the extreme dangers that exist in covering war zones."

"The video released today is graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result," he said.

Reuters has pressed the U.S. military to conduct a full and objective investigation into the killing of the two staff.

Video of the incident from two U.S. Apache helicopters and photographs taken of the scene were shown to Reuters editors in an off-the-record briefing in Baghdad on July 25, 2007.

U.S. military officers who presented the materials said Reuters had to make a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get copies. This request was made the same day.

Turner said the military had released documents to Reuters last year in response to the FOIA request showing the presence of weapons on the scene, including AK-47 rifles and an RPG 7 grenade launcher.

Assange said he disagreed with a U.S. military assessment that the attack was justified.

"I believe that if those killings were lawful under the rules of engagement, then the rules of engagement are wrong, deeply wrong," he said.

The fliers in the video act "like they are playing a computer game and their desire is they want to get high scores" by killing opponents, he said.

Due to the large size and/or popularity of this video, this is only a preview, if you would like to watch the entire video, you can download the full version here (right click, save file as).

[Smitju]

Never mind....

[Meep n_n]

Originally Posted by Smitju ↗

Never mind....

Nevermind what? :o

[redfighterxp]

[AmericanIllusions]

This is what happens when the prez tells the sheeple he's sending 30,000 more troops to the middle east. Soldiers only know how to do one thing-

If we wanna help why not send 100,000 social workers People that actually have education, not some young, dumb grunts...or better yet leave them alone all together seeing that the west can't even help herself. This country has gone to shit so fast and the money (we need) is going over seas to "help" people that clearly don't want it. I wouldn't either. Now we're all a joke for the planet to laugh at

[tounderstand]

great video , didnt see any civilians though ?? men with ak47s and rpgs are hardly having a picnik are they fancy one of them bringing there daughter along silly dickhead i feel sorry for the kid though

[avidly]

They don't have rpgs, they have cameras. Watch the video. They were reporters, not insurgents. This happened 3 years ago and the army refused to release the video and covered it up.

"5th April 2010 10:44 EST 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.

The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured.

After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".

Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after the killings.

WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a shorter version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to both versions from the radio transmissions.

WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have analyzed the information about this incident from a variety of source material. We have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly involved in the incident.

WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very dangerous place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while doing their work.

Fucking dumbasses. It was just a bunch of guys walking down the street with no weapons. I hope those guys have horrific PTSD for the rest of their lives.

[tounderstand]

not being funny but i dont think they will have ptsd when there 4 miles away firing from a chopper i dont think they will give a shit tbh ..you get ptsd from close combat , extreme violence etc ..

all in all good shooting fuck em there probably al jazeera

war is dirty and filthy and killing if journalist wana get in there , thats up to them but i no way feel sorry for them , there getting paid big bucks , there just as bad as the soldiers or terrorist its all for money fuck them

[richard brou]

Originally Posted by tounderstand ↗

not being funny but i dont think they will have ptsd when there 4 miles away firing from a chopper i dont think they will give a shit tbh ..you get ptsd from close combat , extreme violence etc ..

all in all good shooting fuck em there probably al jazeera

war is dirty and filthy and killing if journalist wana get in there , thats up to them but i no way feel sorry for them , there getting paid big bucks , there just as bad as the soldiers or terrorist its all for money fuck them

CUNT

[tounderstand]

Originally Posted by richard brou ↗

CUNT

fuck your mother and go suck daddy off loser pedophile