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

reply to post by Rising Against


After seeing some of the replies to the original wikileak video on Yahoo I am sick. It would seem the average Joe is saying.

"Oh well to bad, its a war, GO USA!"

It will be interesting to see how many videos it takes to make people shift their view even just a little bit.

reply to post by BlackProjects


Thanks but that's from the Iraq 2007 video that was released a few days ago.

This thread is about wikileaks attempting to release more tapes specifically the one from Afghanistan in 2009

[edit on 6-4-2010 by Rising Against]

I sure do hope in the newest video they edit it so I know who every character is. And zoom in x100 and show me a grainy clip of movement and claim it to be children.. And then it shows American crusaders killing marked medic vans.

I cant wait to see it.

reply to post by Helmkat


I agree, although seeing these videos aren't exactly nice, if seeing them changes peoples views and actually creates some empathy from them for once then they must be seen IMHO.

All right! It was a little bit surprising to see Wikki being actually able to release the leak.

Everybody seems to be so chocked yet, however sickening those actions were, I have to say none of this is surprising, having already seen so many mini leaks on the net and on local news documentary on the Iraq war.

But you want to see how disgusting a human being can be? Just wait and see the justification for such acts by those who are not even on the battlefield.
What I am sick and tired of, is those who already have a penchant for evil always have to find someone or something else to blame for their actions.
The military has no such power to make people evil, it just feeds the penchant that is already there.


[edit on 6-4-2010 by Exv8densez]

This is reuters reaction to the released video that some may find interesting to read.

Video of our colleagues’ death in Iraq

The following is the text of an email from Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger:

The video of our colleagues, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh, being killed in Iraq in 2007 was difficult and disturbing to watch but also important to watch.

There is no better evidence of the dangers each and every journalist in a war zone faces at any time. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the men and women of Reuters news who put themselves on the front line to tell the story; we mourn and remember each of our colleagues who has died – our books of remembrance that we keep in our main offices are grim reminders of the sacrifices too many have made over the many decades and many conflicts.

It is impossible to watch and listen to the video dispassionately. I struggle with my emotions the way I’m sure many of you struggle as well.

I believe that we as an organization and I as an individual must fight for journalists’ safety. I will continue to campaign for better training for the military – to help as much as possible to teach the difference in form between a camera and an rpg or between a tripod and a weapon. I will continue to press for thorough and objective investigations. I will continue to insist that governments the world over recognize the rights of journalists to do their jobs. I will continue to ensure that our rules and operating procedures are the safest in the industry.

(link)

[edit on 6-4-2010 by Rising Against]

I think if the Watergate scandal had occurred in this day and age, it would last two days in the news cycle.

More news from Wikileak's Twitter:

NYTimes, Weekly standard falsely imply we doctored Iraq massacre video

Wonder how much proof they had when claiming this huh?

[edit on 6-4-2010 by Rising Against]

I didn't see any violations of rules of engagement here.

On the other this is identical to various incidents of friendly fire.

There are lessons to be learned from this.

1.Apache pilots need more visual testing and better optics on the gunships.

2. The Pentagon needs to be blunt when this or friendly fire happens. Thorough investigations need to be done and findings need be upfront.

These kinds of incidents and friendly fire need to be eliminated. Better training and better equipment will help with this.

This is sickening! Those helicopter pilots should be prosecuted. There was nothing on that video that showed any possible threat to the pilots or any American soldiers for that fact. They never even tried to confirm that the items slung over the shoulders of the Reuters were, in fact, weapons.

They showed nothing but blood hunger and reacted like it was target practice. Furthermore, they had absolutely no reason to engage the van. These people were trying to save lives and were gunned down for sport.

Each and everyone of our acts in the middle east are breeding more enemies. To be honest, I don't blame them.

I'll pray for the families of those lost, and for our soldiers that are under such poor leadership. The reaction of the soldiers on the ground helping the children was noble; the reactions from the pilots were heartless.

Originally posted by bigyin
The BBC News site had a link to the story, but I never saw or heard any mention of the story on their TV broadcasts. And by this morning even the link had disappeared. So a very feeble effort to cover it. More concerned about Samcams dress code.

Dunno if somebody fromm BBC is reading this thread but they are actually about to show the video on the main 10pm news bulletin.

Good news indeed.

Simply curious here ,


The term "trying" what do you mean by that, are you able to expand on that term

Can anyone defending the chopper crew point out exactly which one of the "insurgents "made a threatening gesture to the chopper?
Seems to me the crew had plenty of time to get a better look at the people on the ground and identify if they really had weapons.
If the USA was being occupied by foreign troops how many of the population would be fighting a guerillar war in uniform not many i`m guessing

I thought I saw weapons and I can see why they thought one of the 'insurgents' had an RPG. They asked if they could engage and permission is granted. Nothing wrong there. Mistake? Yes. Now as for the second part, where the van pulls up, tries to pick up the wounded and then permission is granted again because the soldiers did not want the 'evidence' of the guns to disappear is clearly wrong and the glee they expressed in killing people is sickening but I think it is a nasty side-effect if you train people to kill and kill without question. I agree with MikeBoyd that more training is needed but I think you will not eradicate mistakes like these.

Originally posted by MikeboydUS
I didn't see any violations of rules of engagement here.

On the other this is identical to various incidents of friendly fire.

There are lessons to be learned from this.

1.Apache pilots need more visual testing and better optics on the gunships.

2. The Pentagon needs to be blunt when this or friendly fire happens. Thorough investigations need to be done and findings need be upfront.

These kinds of incidents and friendly fire need to be eliminated. Better training and better equipment will help with this.

america have the best equipment in the world but our soldiers are the worst trained and most ineffective in the world. the only successful navy seals operation are the ones in a movie with charlie sheen. i remembered our most elite soldiers got chased out to sea by drug dealers in panama where they got stuck on a rock all dehydrated n stuff, pathetic. or that time they got stuck in a mangrove bush and died lol. train our soldiers better maybe they wont be such wimps and coward.

reply to post by DOADOA


I take it English is not your first language.

Regardless, the US military is one of the best trained militaries in the world.

That said there is always room for vast improvement.

Friendly Fire is a problem faced by all militaries, not just the US. Better training and better equipment will help. It won't completely stop it, but it will help.

Many of you are ignoring the fact that everybody has weapons there and having a weapon is not a reason to be shot. This is the accepted knowledge there and also in the USA. We don't shoot people who are just trying to defend themselves.

Originally posted by earthdude
Many of you are ignoring the fact that everybody has weapons there and having a weapon is not a reason to be shot. This is the accepted knowledge there and also in the USA. We don't shoot people who are just trying to defend themselves.

Weapons, like the AK-47, normally have to be slung and without a magazine. RPKs, RPGs, and PKMs are not allowed to be owned by civilians.

If a US operation is going on nearby, you don't go in public with weapons.

reply to post by MikeboydUS


As a person i hold high regard for

"

Adversary, antagonist mean a person or a group contending against another. Adversary suggests an enemy who fights determinedly, continuously, and relentlessly: a formidable adversary. Antagonist suggests one who, in hostile spirit, opposes another, often in a particular contest or struggle: a duel with an antagonist.

To simply state that U.S. personal are the most feared and well trained more or less neglects what is a thought pattern let alone education.


But i strongly advice you to educate yourself on the art of war

The effective range of an AK-47 is about 200-300 meters. Beyond that, the bullet will just bounce off of anything with 1/16" of steel, or any ballistic vest. Accuracy at that range from an AK is terrible.

This helicopter was 1.25 miles away, and claimed to be taking "small arms fire" from these AKs when begging for permission to engage.

There is NO CHANCE that helicopter was under any threat from any of these people, even if they WERE armed, which they were not.

Trigger-happy kids playing a video game, itching to get a few more frags notched on their belt.

"Nice shootin'"

Yeah, 30mm anti-tank rounds from over a mile away... this would kill anything nearby.

Makes me sick.