Article

2010-04-05 Iraq

Wikileaks Video Depicting US Military Slaying Of Dozen Iraqis Including Two Reuters Employees

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by tipper 2010-04-05 14:00|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 So what we really have here is proof of Reuters acting in concert with insurgents. Sounds like all Reuters employees need treated the same way the rest of the terrorists are.

Posted by Silentbrick 2010-04-05 14:51|| 2010-04-05 14:51|| Front Page Top

#2 Mess with the best, die like the rest.

"Embedded" with the terrorists, huh? There's a joke there somewhere.

Posted by mojo 2010-04-05 14:59|| 2010-04-05 14:59|| Front Page Top

#3 Next time Reuters wants to embed with Saddam's thugs or Al Qaeda mass murderers, be sure to wear flashing strobe lights and broadcast GPS coordinates so that trigger happy Americans can fire around your precious sense of entitlement.

Posted by ed 2010-04-05 15:23|| 2010-04-05 15:23|| Front Page Top

#4 This is from 2007.

Posted by Mike 2010-04-05 15:51|| 2010-04-05 15:51|| Front Page Top

#5 Many of us felt Saeed was better shield than an armored vehicle.

Who is us?

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2010-04-05 16:02|| 2010-04-05 16:02|| Front Page Top

#6 Public Service Announcement:
Oh look, the Lefts new shiny penny. Please ignore the Obama Administration and their destruction of America.

Posted by Woodrow Thremble9698 2010-04-05 18:29|| 2010-04-05 18:29|| Front Page Top

#7 Sorry. Lasted about two minutes. I couldn't sit through the propaganda.
Was it supposed to bother me? It didn't.

Posted by tu3031 2010-04-05 19:29|| 2010-04-05 19:29|| Front Page Top

#8 Was recently watching a History channel special on WWII, from the journalist perspective.

One BIG difference, WWII journalist knew they might die, and didn't whine about it.

Posted by PartJew 2010-04-05 21:15|| 2010-04-05 21:15|| Front Page Top

#9 I dont understand, a fun-loving heavily armed iwackis and they just shoot em? Those yahoos really have their panties in a bunch over this? (Guns + RPGs = BAD Guys) we shoot them.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2010-04-05 22:14|| 2010-04-05 22:14|| Front Page Top

#10 A searing analysis of Wikileak's poor analyzing ability by Bill Roggio at The Weekly Standard. link

Wikileaks, the website devoted to publishing classified documents on the Internet, made a splash today with a video claiming to show that the U.S. military "murdered" a Reuters cameraman and other Iraqi "civilians" in Baghdad on July 12, 2007. But a careful watching of the video shows that the U.S. helicopter gun crews that attacked a group of armed men in the then Mahdi Army stronghold of New Baghdad was anything but "Collateral Murder," as Wikileaks describes the incident.

There are a couple of things to note in the video. First, Wikileaks characterizes the attack as the U.S. military casually gunning down Iraqis who were innocently gathering on the streets of New Baghdad. But the video begins somewhat abruptly, with a UAV starting to track a group of Iraqi males gathering on the streets. The voice of a U.S. officer is captured in mid-sentence. It would be nice to know what happened before Wikileaks decided to begin the video. The U.S. military claimed the Iraqis were killed after a gunbattle with U.S. and Iraqi security forces. It is unclear if any of that was captured on the strike footage. Here is what the U.S. military had to say about the engagement in a July 2007 press release:

Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, both operating in eastern Baghdad under the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, along with their Iraqi counterparts from the 1st Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Division National Police, were conducting a coordinated raid as part of a planned operation when they were attacked by small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Coalition Forces returned fire and called in attack aviation reinforcement.

There is nothing in that video that is inconsitent with the military's report. What you see is the air weapons team engaging armed men.

Second, note how empty the streets are in the video. The only people visible on the streets are the armed men and the accompanying Reuters cameramen. This is a very good indicator that there was a battle going on in the vicinity. Civilians smartly clear the streets during a gunfight.

Mr. Roggio continues through six points of analysis. Go read the whole thing. Be kind in your mind to those poor Wikileakers and their high self-esteem.

Posted by trailing wife 2010-04-05 23:18|| 2010-04-05 23:18|| Front Page Top

#11 I watched the whole thing. I'm always amazed at how stupid men in the area are when it comes to this kind of stuff. They bring their kids to combat scenes moments after something gets wasted. They come out of nowhere to gawk at buildings that are being targeted moments after they are hit by a missile. They casually hang out with people carrying automatic weapons when US helicopeters are flying overhead. In my mind, these are the times best spent indoors away from the windows. And waiting until the next morning before venturing out to survey the carnage, which will still be there.

Posted by gorb 2010-04-05 23:58|| 2010-04-05 23:58|| Front Page Top

#12 And when I say that I watched the whole thing, I mean including the 40' unedited video, which is where a lot of followup occurs.

Posted by gorb 2010-04-05 23:59|| 2010-04-05 23:59|| Front Page Top

23:59 gorb
23:58 gorb
23:41 JosephMendiola
23:27 JosephMendiola
23:24 Barbara Skolaut
23:24 JosephMendiola
23:20 trailing wife
23:18 trailing wife
22:55 lex
22:53 lex
22:53 49 Pan
22:51 JosephMendiola
22:51 lex
22:40 JosephMendiola
22:27 JosephMendiola
22:21 JosephMendiola
22:19 JosephMendiola
22:17 Pappy
22:14 Pappy
22:14 Cyber Sarge
22:12 JosephMendiola
22:10 Pappy
22:07 trailing wife
22:06 JosephMendiola