Describing doubts over his initial enthusiasm in Iraq, McCord said that "I didnt understand why people were throwing rocks at us, why I was being shot at and why we're being blown up, when I have it in my head that I was here to help these people. "The first thing I thought of was my children at home". [17] Politifact stated: "When Assange points out in the context of justifying the title 'Collateral Murder' that the word 'RPG' was not used until after permission to engage was given, he leaves the impression that the soldiers were given the okay to open fire on a group of unarmed men, or men believed to be unarmed. But youyou talked about the fog of war. [48], In The Independent on April 8, 2010, human rights activist Joan Smith wrote that the engagements were like a game to the helicopter crew. However, the long version of the video shows that this van had already been targeted by one Apache (Crazyhorse 1/8), prior to the second strike, as it traveled south toward the Reuters employees who were simultaneously targeted by the other Apache (Crazyhorse 1/9) as they walked with the group of men north on the same road toward the van. McCord, together with another former member of the company, Josh Stieber, have addressed an open "Letter of Reconciliation" to the Iraqi people taking responsibility for their role in this. That's not leaking, that's a pure editorial." [32] The legal review carried out by the U.S. Army stated that the two children were evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base Loyalty, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day. "[88] In this interview, McCord reports that repercussions for seeking mental health help could include being labeled as a "malingerer", a crime under U.S. military law. Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any steps to support you through the pain that we have caused. This is his account of what he saw. She wrote that the co-pilot urged a dying, unarmed journalist to pick up a weapon as he tried to crawl to safety and that "the Apache crew open[ed] fire on civilians". The crew then reposition the helicopter and fire two more missiles into the upper floors of the building[44], WikiLeaks said in the preface to one of their videos of the incident that "some of the men appear to have been armed [although] the behavior of nearly everyone was relaxed" in the introductory text of the shorter video. [18][25][31] As the U.S. soldiers moved towards the site of the attack, a van stopped near Chmagh. Ethan McCord who says he scooped up the children and at least one of his comrades say the incident revealed the bankrupt brutality of the war. It happened because my content was bad. Ethan and Josh claim that though their unit was following the Rules of Engagement that day, they are taking responsibility for their role in the incident and initiating a dialogue around it; "Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. With such pain, friendship might be too much to ask. [2], After 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", WikiLeaks released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing the rules before, during, and after the attacks. You Cant Trust App Developers Privacy Claims on Google Play, Mozilla researchers found that apps often provide inaccurate data use disclosures, giving people a false sense of security., Batteries Are Ukraines Secret Weapon Against Russia. Our heavy hearts still hold hope that we can restore inside our country the acknowledgment of your humanity, that we were taught to deny. I wasn't thinking about it as much. ", The letter, which they hope to get to the family who lost their father and whose children were injured in the attack, states that they "are acknowledging our responsibility for bringing the battle to your neighborhood, and to your family. He condemned and reported the massacre as soon as it happened. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Plus: Microsoft fixes several zero-day bugs, Google patches Chrome and Android, Mozilla rids Firefox of a full-screen vulnerability, and more. China Is Relentlessly Hacking Its Neighbors. The company was charged with clearing their sector of any small armed forces, and had been under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Our secretary of defense may say the U.S. won't lose its reputation over this, but we stand and say that our reputation's importance pales in comparison to our common humanity. [78] Gates stated: "They're in a combat situation. After the incident, we went back to the FOB [forward operating base] and that's when I was in my room. When they arrived, they found a scene of fresh carnage the scattered remains of a group of men, believed to be armed, who had just been gunned down by Apache attack helicopters. [59], An internal legal review by staff at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Iraq during July 2007 stated that the helicopters had attacked a number of armed insurgents within the rules of engagement, and that in an apparent case of civilian casualties two reporters working for Reuters had also been killed. The soldier, Ethan McCord, has since been discharged from the military and has been an outspoken voice against the Iraq War. To all of those who were injured or lost loved ones during the July 2007 Baghdad shootings depicted in the "Collateral Murder" Wikileaks video: We write to you, your family, and your community with awareness that our words and actions can never restore your losses. However, according to the co-pilot for Crazyhorse 1/8 they failed to positively identify the occupants as combatants and returned to the previous engagement area. McCord: Yeah. [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". After getting permission to fire, the Apache crew fired on the van. McCord is the father of three children. Josh states that these casualties demonstrate the impact of U.S. military policy on both the civilians and the soldiers on the ground. [8] The video, which WikiLeaks titled Collateral Murder, showed the crew firing on a group of men and killing several of them, then laughing at some of the casualties, all of whom were civilians, including two Reuters journalists. Wired.com: At the time you arrived on the scene, you didn't know what had happened, is that right? WikiLeaks stated that the footage shows the "murder of Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists". As the ground troops advanced, a wounded Chmagh was seen crawling and attempting to stand. [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. Josh Stieber was in the same company but was not there that day, though he contributed to the your pain, and the pain of your community on many other occasions. With Russia regularly knocking out Ukraines power grid, the country has turned to high-capacity batteries to keep it connected to the worldand itself. Stuff like that happens on a daily basis in Iraq. 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]. In an Al Jazeera English interview on April 19, 2010, WikiLeaks' Julian Assange explained why WikiLeaks titled the video Collateral Murder: And you can see that they also deliberately target Saaed, a wounded man there on the ground, despite their earlier belief that they didn't have the rules of engagementthat the rules of engagement did not permit them to kill Saeed when he was wounded. If you or I saw someone wounded on the ground what is your first inkling? When he is rescued, suddenly that belief changed. [32], On the day of the attack the U.S. military reported that the two journalists were killed along with nine insurgents, and that the helicopter engagement was related to a U.S. troop raid force that had been attacked by small-arms fire and RPGs. [61] Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, a U.S. Defense official confirmed the authenticity of the leaked audio and video. The Web site does not slow down the video to show that at least one man in that group was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a clearly visible weapon that runs nearly two-thirds the length of his body. 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. Colbert asked "So 'Collateral Murder' is to get political impact?" 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". It claimed reporters' "furtive attempts to photograph the Coalition Ground Forces made them appear as hostile combatants". "When I did come up on the scene, there was an RPG as well as AK-47s there," he said. That's a violation of the laws of war and of course what the mainstream media have omitted from their stories is this context. The event was covered by Al Jazeera English and Reuters,[16] and later by The Washington Post,[82] The New York Times,[2] The Christian Science Monitor,[83] the BBC,[66] and CNN. 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. I hit 'em" and another member of the crew responds "Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards".[29]. Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. [16][18][30] After the lead helicopter fires, one of the crew shouts "Hahaha. Assange responded:[69][70]. 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. The missile hits the building, and the man is caught in the explosion. McCord: It was random sporadic spurts. [59] Reuters requested a copy of the full video under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on the same day. . A draft version of the video WikiLeaks produced made reference to the AK-47s and RPGs, but WikiLeaks said that ultimately they became unsure about the RPG, believing the long object could have been a camera tripod, so they decided not to point it out in the released version. They were destroyed. Ethan McCord, a former US soldier, has shown great courage and integrity by exposing and condemning US war crimes in Iraq. [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). He runs the girl to the Bradley. He was shot and killed. That's when I started screaming, "The boy's alive! [45][114], "Cameramen and armed insurgents" (all captions from the Army report), "Cameraman peering around corner of wall", "Pictures taken by ground forces after reaching the site". [91], In May 2010, a 22-year-old American Army intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning, was arrested after telling hacker Adrian Lamo she had leaked the airstrike video, along with a video of another airstrike and around 260,000 diplomatic cables, to WikiLeaks. [32], U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized WikiLeaks for releasing the video without providing any context. She said that she was "aghast" at Finkel's portrayal of the incident. [60] The Pentagon eventually blocked the FOIA request[25] despite several follow-up requests by Reuters. They're like, oh yeah, we're the "collateral murder" company. There had been running gun battles. Hanzlik said images gathered during a military investigation of the incident show multiple weapons around the dead bodies in the courtyard, including at least three RPGs. They did have weapons there. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. He looked at me, then his eyes rolled back into this head. An Apache maneuvered around a building to get a clear field of fire and shot all nine men, killing eight. There is no bringing back all that was lost. Their request was denied at the briefing and they were told to seek access under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they reported finding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. In the first strike, the crews of two Apaches directed 30mm cannon fire at a group of ten Iraqi men, including some armed,[17][18][19] standing less than 100 meters away from U.S. ground troops at a location where insurgents earlier that day had attacked an American Humvee with small arms fire. You can see in this particular image he is lying on the ground and the people in the van have been separated, but they still deliberately target him. So I just sucked it up and tried to move on with everything. The video doesn't show the broader picture of the firing that was going on at American troops. As the gunner fires the first missile, another man is seen walking along the street in front of the building. If there's anything I can to do help, I would be more than happy to. "[46] Assange later said "Based upon visual evidence, I suspect there probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything". This is the problem that we're speaking out on as far as the rules of engagement. James W. McCord Jr., a security expert who led a band of burglars into the shambles of the Watergate scandal and was the first to expose the White House crimes and cover-ups that precipitated the . 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. McCord added, "I don't say that Wikileaks did a bad thing, because they didn't. Since then, McCord has been receiving threats to him and his family on a regular basis. [56], The Washington Post reported it was unclear whether the journalists were killed by U.S. fire or by shooting from the targeted Iraqis. It was sent back for more reporting in an effort to incorporate a wider range of experts. I do know that there was a teenage girl [in there], just because I saw the pictures when I was there, that one of the soldiers took. I've had nightmares. Ad Choices, U.S. I've spoken with other soldiers who were there. [61], Washington Post reporter David Finkel, who at the time was embedded with Bravo Company 216 Infantry, later covered the incidents of the day in his book, The Good Soldiers. Gates said that the video provides the public with a view of warfare "as seen through a soda straw". I don't think that [the] big picture is whether or not [the Iraqis who were killed] had weapons. [15] An anonymous U.S. military official confirmed the authenticity of the footage,[16] which provoked global discussion on the legality and morality of the attacks. That's why so many soldiers come back home and they're no longer in the situations where they have other things to think about or other people to joke about what happened and they explode. It's painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. I was trying to wash it off in my room. "[90], James Spione made a short documentary film about the airstrikes called Incident in New Baghdad, featuring a first-person account from Ethan McCord. Assange said that Finkel had seen the video and that at least one individual at the offices of The Washington Post had a copy of the video for at least a year, prior to its release by WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks also does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. [49], On Democracy Now!, Josh Stieber, who was at the time assigned to Bravo Company 216, said that although it's natural to "judge or criticize the soldiers", in fact "this is how [they] were trained to act". Two men were identified by Crazyhorse 1/8 as carrying an RPG launcher and an AKM or AK-47. [62] At a February 2013 pretrial hearing, Manning stated that Finkel "was quoting, I feel in verbatim, the audio communications of the aerial weapons team crew". Personally, I believe the first attack on the group standing by the wall was appropriate, was warranted by the rules of engagement. There were some people taking pot shots, sniper shots, at us on the rooftop. The soldier, Ethan McCord, has since been discharged from the military and has been an outspoken voice against the Iraq War. US Soldiers from Wikileaks Collateral Murder Video Apologize. classified video created its own firestorm. He added, "I think what this video shows is really a case that challenges whether the laws of war are strict enough. Among the group were two Iraqi war correspondents working for Reuters, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. Their age, their weapons, and the fact that they were within the distance of the forces that had been engaged made it apparent these guys were potentially a threat. I think that the people could have been deterred from doing what they were doing in the van by simply firing a few warning shots versus completely obliterating the van and its occupants.[52][53]. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. In fact, that's one of the reasons I went to the van immediately, because I could hear her crying. Series of air-to-ground attacks conducted in New Baghdad during the Iraqi insurgency, An AH-64 Apache helicopter, the type used in the attack, Arrest, convictions and sentencing of Manning, Attack on personnel and a van per U.S. Army report account, Attack on building per U.S. Army report account, Julian Assange's comments regarding U.S. Army report, List of coalition military operations of the Iraq War 2007, "In Disclosing Secret Documents, WikiLeaks Seeks 'Transparency', "Video Shows U.S. [18] A long shadow cast on the ground by a telephoto lens on Noor-Eldeen's camera is misidentified by the pilot as an additional RPG aimed at him and a U.S. Army Humvee directly below his aircraft. , Ethan McCord, has since been discharged from the military and been... Seen walking along the street in front of the laws of war are strict enough Bravo company at... ], U.S. Defense official confirmed the authenticity of the full video under the Freedom! 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