Video leaked of US army indiscriminately killing Afghan civilians
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Military can't find its copy of Iraq killing video
By PAULINE JELINEK and ANNE FLAHERTY (AP) – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Tuesday it can't find its copy of a video that shows two employees of the Reuters news agency being killed by Army helicopters in 2007, after a leaked version circulated the Internet and renewed questions about the attack.
Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that the military has not been able to locate the video within its files after being asked to authenticate the version available online.
"We had no reason to hold the video at (Central Command), nor did the higher headquarters in Iraq," Hanzlik said in an e-mailed statement. "We're attempting to retrieve the video from the unit who did the investigation."
It's the latest twist in a three-year saga that raises questions about the rules of engagement in battle and the safety of journalists sent to cover wars.
Advocates for increased government transparency also have questioned why the military withheld the video from the public, even though Reuters requested a copy through the Freedom of Information Act after watching it in an off-the-record meeting with the military in 2007.
The video includes audio of troops calling to "light 'em up!" and referring to the men as "dead bastards." An internal investigation concluded that the troops had acted appropriately, despite having mistaken the camera equipment for weapons.
"Clearly, it is unflattering to the military, but that is not justification for withholding it," said Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy with the Federation of American Scientists.
The July 12, 2007, attack has been reported before. But Web site Wikileaks.org on Monday posted the video shot from one of the Apache helicopters, putting it on "collateralmurder.com" site.
Military officials said they believed the video was authentic, but that they had to compare the images and audio with their own video before confirming it publicly.
When pressed Tuesday on why the military had not released the video when other documents related to the investigation were made public, officials said they were still looking for it and weren't entirely sure where it was.
The video was taken by the tactical unit that operated the helicopters. The unit has only been identified as a "1st Air Cavalry Brigade," which reported to the Multinational Division in Baghdad.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6OpHEn-mq2U1VsW3S209gUo4FpAD9ETT7KG0
By PAULINE JELINEK and ANNE FLAHERTY (AP) – 1 day ago
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military said Tuesday it can't find its copy of a video that shows two employees of the Reuters news agency being killed by Army helicopters in 2007, after a leaked version circulated the Internet and renewed questions about the attack.
Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said that the military has not been able to locate the video within its files after being asked to authenticate the version available online.
"We had no reason to hold the video at (Central Command), nor did the higher headquarters in Iraq," Hanzlik said in an e-mailed statement. "We're attempting to retrieve the video from the unit who did the investigation."
It's the latest twist in a three-year saga that raises questions about the rules of engagement in battle and the safety of journalists sent to cover wars.
Advocates for increased government transparency also have questioned why the military withheld the video from the public, even though Reuters requested a copy through the Freedom of Information Act after watching it in an off-the-record meeting with the military in 2007.
The video includes audio of troops calling to "light 'em up!" and referring to the men as "dead bastards." An internal investigation concluded that the troops had acted appropriately, despite having mistaken the camera equipment for weapons.
"Clearly, it is unflattering to the military, but that is not justification for withholding it," said Steven Aftergood, an expert on government secrecy with the Federation of American Scientists.
The July 12, 2007, attack has been reported before. But Web site Wikileaks.org on Monday posted the video shot from one of the Apache helicopters, putting it on "collateralmurder.com" site.
Military officials said they believed the video was authentic, but that they had to compare the images and audio with their own video before confirming it publicly.
When pressed Tuesday on why the military had not released the video when other documents related to the investigation were made public, officials said they were still looking for it and weren't entirely sure where it was.
The video was taken by the tactical unit that operated the helicopters. The unit has only been identified as a "1st Air Cavalry Brigade," which reported to the Multinational Division in Baghdad.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6OpHEn-mq2U1VsW3S209gUo4FpAD9ETT7KG0
Well, you can have that opinion.
Mine is that our actions didn't force any insurgents over there to do any of the sadistic shit they used to pull over there. I dont see how we 'directly' caused it. Were we the ones sending foreign suicide bombers into markets to kill and maim for the sake of causing havoc? Were we the ones going into villages and beheading children in front of their parents and torturing people to death for being Shi'ite or Sunni or cooperating with US troops or the Government? Were we the ones putting IEDs in roads that are trafficed by innocent people as much as by US and Iraqi troops? No...the invasion didn't make anybody do any of that shit...they chose of their own free will to kill and maim innocent people on a constant basis, and we chose to try and stop it on a constant basis...that was one of the main objectives of the surge.
At best all that can be said is that we vaguely, indirectly mighta, kinda sorta caused it by invading, lol. not directly.
Mine is that our actions didn't force any insurgents over there to do any of the sadistic shit they used to pull over there. I dont see how we 'directly' caused it. Were we the ones sending foreign suicide bombers into markets to kill and maim for the sake of causing havoc? Were we the ones going into villages and beheading children in front of their parents and torturing people to death for being Shi'ite or Sunni or cooperating with US troops or the Government? Were we the ones putting IEDs in roads that are trafficed by innocent people as much as by US and Iraqi troops? No...the invasion didn't make anybody do any of that shit...they chose of their own free will to kill and maim innocent people on a constant basis, and we chose to try and stop it on a constant basis...that was one of the main objectives of the surge.
At best all that can be said is that we vaguely, indirectly mighta, kinda sorta caused it by invading, lol. not directly.
If we didnt invade iraq, those things wouldnt of happened. How the fuck are we not directly responsible for that then??? Besides, did you see what I was quoting?? With your logic, the people that flew planes into WTC aren't responsible for 99% of those peoples deaths... it wasn't there fault that the buildings didnt stay up - by spec they should have.
lol your logic doesn't stand up.
I think a lot of people are also forgetting that these "insurgents" are unlawful combatants. Thye do not follow LOAC or ROE,(I am aware the US does not always follow it as well but they do the majority of the time) so if reporters want to hang with these types than go for it but there is an extremely higher risk than if they were just with an actually military.
