Wikileaks Trying to Release Yet More U.S. Military Footage

reply to post by Rising Against


I am not anti-military by nature and I can see how the soldiers involved made a mistake. I don't believe this rises to the definition of murder but I am disturbed by the lack of adequate process involved in identifying targets. It seemed far too callous and the threshold disturbingly low. This is definitely a lesson for us to take away for that day when the SHTF.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
reply to post by Chevalerous

 

If there was no RPG, it was a serious mistake. It was not a violation of the ROE though, unless it can be proved that the pilots acted maliciously.

That should be investigated by CID and if there is any evidence to support a malicious intent, the pilots should be charged and court martialed.

What about the VAN, and the children in the VAN? What threat were they.. And what about the superiors? What about the whole war? I thought Iraq was done and finished, and now I see more resistance in Iraq, more explosions.. The poor Iraqi's are suffering because of your soldiers, yes and don't blame the terrorists, because the terrorists wouldn't be doing what they are doing if you weren't in that place..

Originally posted by Rising Against
reply to post by JohnJasper

 

I agree, I found it actually quite hard to watch myself as well, especially as the soldiers were practically begging to shoot up the van for example. (Even though it posed absolutely no thread whatsoever)

It's even sadder that I’ve not seen it on the news yet, only on the website when I went looking for it which is better than nothing I guess but it does still deserve at least a say on television for all to see.

The news will never show this because its to graphic and the sheep have to be kept in the dark so that they don't look at those people as human beings. They where being cut down with 20 millimeter shells from a auto cannon. They where literally being torn apart. And the funny thing is that they attacked all of them and just considered the one that had a Ak-47 as an insurgent. The reason why americans don't empathize with the victims and others even if they are told or see this happening, is that THEY DON'T THINK IT WILL EVER HAPPEN TO THEM OR ANYONE THEY KNOW. They don't think it will happen to little 16 year old billy from down the block who happens to get torn apart with a group of other males because some nations soldiers think they look like terrorists or insurgents. They always think that it will happen to THOSE PEOPLE and not me.

Originally posted by abjure_denseness
I am truly physically sickened by what I have been seeing.

I'm not... the reporter took a calculated risk to interview the enemy. Our boys saw the weapons of the actual insurgents, and assumed (incorrectly) that the cameras were also weapons. There WERE RPGs.. you can see that being aimed at the chopper. There were other weapons also...

As for the enjoyment of the gunner... war is hell, but this type of war is NOTHING like those of years past...

So let's recap...

Insurgents with weapons were there...
RPG's were being aimed at the chopper
Unfortunately there were also brave reporters... Our boys didn't know this...

Lessons learned?

1. Our boys do their job well...
2. War is hell... but we already knew this right?

Originally posted by MattMulder

This sounds like a bargain for wikileaks. They can stay the way they are, or take it to the next level using donations.

I'm afraid that this "donations needed" topic is weird, as it is like a guy who shows a magic trick in front of people and then collects money in a hat promising bigger tricks.

This video is not the most horrible I've seen . Hanging around by the dozen carrying stuff that look like weapons ( the RPG was exaggerated, but i could have said AK-47 and be sure of it ) is not a perfect idea in an Iraqi city. I feel sorry for the poor guys who died but this is the tragic nonsens reality of war, we don't have to accept it but we have to move on anyway

Going by Wikileaks, they have followed up on the Iraq video, by going to the area themselves and gleaning information. Anything coming out of that will be their own investigation at a cost of $50,000 I think it was stated. By doing that they have already upped the anti. So, it is natural to expect that they will look for funding. Just stepping back a bit, and look and ask how much a documentary lasting an hour would cost mainstream, based on one video. What we have been given, in that video, cost nothing to us but our conscience. Did anyone ever really think for instance, that the first bombing of Baghdad with "smart" weapons was never going to kill anyone other than Saddam and his cohorts. Sad, isn't it, that we only kid ourselves.

I undertand that we shouldn't be there. But we are!
War is not a pretty thing folks, but when all is said and done, Iraq will be a better place for all those left standing. There was alot of injustice and murder during the formation of our own country, along with many others. Throughout history,mankind has a tendancy of doing such.
I watched the video myself and those people had AK47's and a rocket launcher. Their intentions were to aim them at our soldiers. If they were to stay at home with their children, this would not have happened.
And by the way...why would they bring children to a battle? Do you people think they were on there way to the library?!?!?!?! Come On People!!

reply to post by oozyism


The whole thing is a mess, van included.

The war is pretty much done, the video is from 2007. Operation New Dawn begins in September and we begin withdrawing.

[edit on 6/4/10 by MikeboydUS]

Originally posted by boondock-saint
the real terrorists are the ones forcing
these young soldiers to commit
these heinous acts.

I will now prove that statement wrong in less than 2 minutes:


[edit on 6-4-2010 by kinda kurious]

Originally posted by jesuschristmonster
I undertand that we shouldn't be there. But we are!
War is not a pretty thing folks, but when all is said and done, Iraq will be a better place for all those left standing. There was alot of injustice and murder during the formation of our own country, along with many others. Throughout history,mankind has a tendancy of doing such.
I watched the video myself and those people had AK47's and a rocket launcher. Their intentions were to aim them at our soldiers. If they were to stay at home with their children, this would not have happened.
And by the way...why would they bring children to a battle? Do you people think they were on there way to the library?!?!?!?! Come On People!!

There was no RPG, and acknowledged offlcially since if, nothing else.

[edit on 6-4-2010 by smurfy]

reply to post by kinda kurious


You can't take rotten apples and then condemn the whole orchard.

There are bad people in all walks of life.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
reply to post by oozyism

 

The whole thing is a mess, van included.

The war is pretty much done, the video is from 2007. Operation New Dawn begins in September and we begin withdrawing.

[edit on 6/4/10 by MikeboydUS]

The explosions are from yesterday lol don't you suppose they will hold this violence as an excuse not to leave ? Haven't they been doing that for the last 7 years? How many deadlines did they give? But then again never lose hope because if you do, you will either become a militia fighter (terrorist), or go insane..

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
reply to post by kinda kurious

 

You can't take rotten apples and then condemn the whole orchard.

There are bad people in all walks of life.

Like spying on all Muslims because of the bad apples? Your turn to be in Muslim's shoes.. Now you Americans will know how it feels..

reply to post by Rising Against


Finally this broke on the major media worldwide. Just saw it on the television.

These guys from Wikileaks should win a Nobel prize or something they are quickly becoming the most reliable and democratic source of information around and are doing a great service to us all.

Now people just need to help them so they can keep working! Otherwise no one will force the major channels to do real coverages on real subjects and I'll be back to world where the most important news is who a major golf player had sex with.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
reply to post by kinda kurious

 

You can't take rotten apples and then condemn the whole orchard.
There are bad people in all walks of life.

Hmmmmm. It WAS a Pentagon authorized tactical division. Asymmetric Warfare Group.

It WAS NOT an isolated incident by a few "bad apples." I think you have it backwards. The "orchard" tainted the apples, not the other way around.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/ec02b770153f.jpg[/atsimg]

Do FACTS make much sense to you?


[edit on 6-4-2010 by kinda kurious]

reply to post by oozyism


Your talking about the bombings?

Terrorism isn't an excuse to occupy Iraq. The 286,000 Iraqi troops can handle it.

We have to move on to the next phase.

Originally posted by oozyism

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
reply to post by kinda kurious

 

You can't take rotten apples and then condemn the whole orchard.

There are bad people in all walks of life.

Like spying on all Muslims because of the bad apples? Your turn to be in Muslim's shoes.. Now you Americans will know how it feels..

Yes because there are no Muslims in the military and no Americans are Muslim.

reply to post by kinda kurious


Yes facts and logic, which go hand in hand.

Again you cannot condemn the entire military for something they did.

I have been in both operations and we never baited anyone. I worked with other units who never did these kinds of things.

Does logic mean anything to you?

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
Again you cannot condemn the entire military for something they did.

First you say I shouldn't blame a few bad apples. So I offer PROOF it was orchestrated by the Pentagon. Now you say I can't blame them. OK, how about I blame the innocent civilians who happened to be in the wrong place (their own country) at the wrong time.
How dare they get in the way of our bullets.

Reminds me of that dude Cheney shot in the face when they got all liquored up and went huntin.' He apologized for getting shot.

That working for ya?

[edit on 6-4-2010 by kinda kurious]

reply to post by HunkaHunka


You are kidding me.

uk.news.yahoo.com...

The military admitted there were no weapons there. It has admitted it repeatedly. Can we get off this tired argument? Those were cameras and tripods. There were no RPGS or AK-47's, and even if there were AK's, they would have to be verified as private security and others in Iraq are allowed to carry them. The military admitted the mistake.

According to US officials, the pilots arrived at the scene to find a group of men approaching the fight with what looked to be AK-47 rifles slung over their shoulders and at least one rocket-propelled grenade.

A military investigation concluded that the 'RPG' was really a long-range photography lens and the camera looked like an AK-47.

No weapons in that group at all.





[edit on 6-4-2010 by antonia]

reply to post by antonia


Heh... I saw what looked like an RPG on a guy who was looking around the corner of the building on the ground...

Now if there wasn't one, it sure enough looked like one....

And... did the investigation also find that there were no insurgents there?

I didn't think so...

Once again, brave reporters go to talk to actual insurgents.... Get caught in an actual war...

Sorry, but this does not speak ill of our boys... only that there was a very unfortunate yet very likely event during a war.