July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike
Encyclopedia
The July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrikes were a series of air-to-ground attacks conducted by a team of two United States Army
AH-64 Apache
helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah
, in the district of New Baghdad
in Baghdad
, during the insurgency
that followed the Iraq War.
In the first strike "Crazyhorse 1/8" directed 30mm cannon
fire at a group of nine to eleven men, one had an AK-47
and another an RPG-7
; most were unarmed; two were war correspondent
s for Reuters
; Saeed Chmagh
and Namir Noor-Eldeen
, whose cameras were mistaken for weapons. Eight men were killed, including Noor-Eldeen. Chmagh was wounded.
The second airstrike using 30 mm fire was directed at Chmagh and two other unarmed men and their unmarked van as they were attempting to help Chmagh into the van. Two children inside the van were wounded, three more men were killed, including Chmagh.
In a third airstrike the "Bush" helicopter team fired three AGM-114 Hellfire
missiles to destroy a building after they had observed men enter, some of whom appeared to be armed.
The attacks received worldwide coverage following the release of 39 minutes of classified
cockpit gunsight footage in 2010. Reuters had unsuccessfully requested the footage under the Freedom of Information Act
in 2007. The footage was acquired from an undisclosed source in 2009 by the Internet leak
website WikiLeaks
, which released a shorter, edited version on April 5, 2010, under the name Collateral Murder. Recorded from the gunsight Target Acquisition and Designation System of one of the attacking helicopters, the video shows the three incidents and the radio chatter between the aircrews and ground units involved. An anonymous US military official confirmed the authenticity of the footage.
The Air Weapons Team (AWT) of two Apache AH-64s (part of the 1st Cavalry Division) had been requested by the Army's 2–16 Infantry Battalion
, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, before July 12 to support Operation Ilaaj. Tasked to conduct escort, armed reconnaissance patrols, counter-IED and counter-mortar operations, the two helicopters left Camp Taji
at 9.24am. They arrived on station in New Baghdad at 9.53am, where, according to the official report, sporadic attacks on coalition forces continued.
AH-64 Apache
helicopters observed a gathering of men near an open air section of Baghdad from a distance up to 800 meters away. The crews estimated that group was made up of twenty men. This group included two members of staff from the Reuters
news service, Namir Noor-Eldeen
and Saeed Chmagh
who were not identified as journalists. The helicopter crews mistook the photographic equipment carried by Chmagh and Noor-eldeen for weapons.
A crew member reported seeing "five to six individuals with AK-47s" and requested authorization to engage
. The men then became obscured behind a building. Once some men became visible again, both helicopters strafed a group of around ten men with 30 mm rounds
. Several men were killed, including Noor-Eldeen, and others wounded, including Chmagh. At least one man in that group was carrying a RPG-7
and another was carrying an AK-47
or AKM
assault rifle.
As the tape resumes, two men holding objects are seen walking. They split up and the footage focuses on one who appears to be armed. He walks into a building, after which the helicopter crew reports that "there's at least six individuals in that building with weapons". They request permission to fire a missile at the building, describing it at first as "abandoned" and then as "under construction". The ground controller responds, "If you've PIDed the individuals in the building with weapons, go ahead and engage the building". The gunner then takes a few moments to ready a Hellfire missile
, during which two more seemingly unarmed men are seen entering the building. One member notices this saying, "Got more individuals in there". As the gunner prepares to fire the first missile, a man is seen walking along the street in front of the building. The missile is fired and hits the building in a large explosion through which the man can no longer be seen. Afterwards, Crazyhorse 1/8 asks for permission to fire another Hellfire a few times. Once granted, they take a few moments to ready another missile, during which several people are seen walking around the debris from the first missile.
said “permission to engage was given before the word ‘RPG’ was ever used”. Politifact states: "When Assange points out in the context of justifying the title "Collateral Murder" that the word "RPG" was not used until after the 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 the video and accompanying audio make clear that the soldiers in the helicopter said they spotted "weapons" among those in the group. -- later identified by an army investigator as an AK-47, RPG rounds and 2 RPG launchers, one of which was loaded. Assange later acknowledged "Based upon visual evidence I suspect there probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything," Assange stated that initial attempts to evacuate the wounded children to a nearby US military hospital were blocked by US military command. The legal review carried out by the US Army states 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.
Fox News said that of the attack “WikiLeaks appears to have done selective editing that tells only half the story. For instance, the Web site takes special care to slow down the video and identify the two photographers and the cameras they are carrying.... 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. WikiLeaks also does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. He is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while standing next to the man holding the RPG."
'The Guardian
stated “It is unclear if some of the men are armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera”. Glenn Greenwald
of Salon.com
said that “the vast majority of the men were clearly unarmed”. Greenwald called the second airstrike a "plainly unjustified killing of a group of unarmed men carrying away an unarmed, seriously wounded man to safety". The Australian
newspaper said the group was displaying “no obvious hostile action”.
In The Independent
on April 8, 2010, human rights activist Joan Smith asserts that the engagements were as a game to the helicopter crew. She writes that the co-pilot urged a dying, unarmed journalist to pick up a weapon as he tried to crawl to safety; and claims that the footage shows "...the Apache crew opening fire on civilians...". When the crew were informed that a child had been injured by their attack, one commented "Well, it's their fault for bringing kids into a battle". Smith describes this reaction as inhuman. She draws parallels with soldiers who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder in earlier wars. She continues "...the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are inflicting huge psychological damage on combatants". In refusing to recognise this, the US military fails both its own soldiers and their "victims". Command structures need to be in place to identify "combatants with serious psychological problems", she concludes.
On Democracy Now!
, Josh Stieber, a conscientious objector who was at the time assigned to Bravo Company 2–16, said that although it's natural to "judge or criticize the soldiers", in fact "this is how [they] were trained to act". He said that the debate should be re-framed, that it is more appropriate to ask "questions of the larger system" that teaches "doing these things is in the best interests of my own country".
Ethan McCord, A soldier who arrived on the scene after the attack stated on an interview for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
:
On June 7, 2010, The New Yorker
reported that Kristinn Hrafnsson
, an investigative reporter who worked on the Collateral Murder video and has since become a spokesman for WikiLeaks, claimed to have found the owner of the building who said that three families had been living in the there and seven residents had died, including his wife and daughter. The report stated that the helicopter crew did not know how many people were in the building when they destroyed it with missiles, and that "there is evidence that unarmed people have both entered and are nearby". It concludes that an investigating officer would want to know how the armed men were identified as combatants from the earlier engagement; would question the nature of the collateral-damage estimate carried out by the crew before the missiles were launched; and would wish to determine whether a missile attack was a proportionate response to the threat.
A Pentagon spokesman insisted the video did not contradict the official finding that the helicopters' crew acted within the rules of engagement and said that the inquiry backed the assessment that the group of men was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
The Washington Post reported it was unclear whether the journalists were killed by U.S. fire or by shooting from the targeted Iraqis. Captain James Hall stated they couldn't drive in Bradleys in fear of running over bodies. Major Brent Cummings claimed they took great pains to prevent the loss of innocent civilian lives.
Reuters reported that it could locate no witnesses who had seen gunmen in the immediate area. Reuters also stated that local police described the attack as "random American bombardment". Reuters subsequently asked the US military to probe the deaths. They asked for an explanation of the confiscation of the journalists' two cameras, access to the on-board footage and voice communications from the helicopters involved, and access to the reports of the units involved in the incident, particularly logs of weapons taken from the scene.
The Pentagon blocked an attempt by Reuters to obtain the gunsight footage of the incident through the Freedom of Information Act.
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 collateral damage
two reporters working for Reuters had also been killed. The review would not be released in full until 2010, after the video of the incident had been released by WikiLeaks.
Washington Post reporter David Finkel
, who at the time was embedded with Bravo Company 2–16 Infantry, later reported the day in his book, The Good Soldiers
.
time. The site stated on its Twitter
account on January 8, 2010, that it had a copy of gunsight footage of the incidents, and announced that it would release it by March 21. The footage was released during an April 5 press conference at the National Press Club, and subsequently under a designated website titled "Collateral Murder". WikiLeaks stated that the footage shows the "murder of Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists".
WikiLeaks identified the leak's source as "a number of military whistleblowers". Speaking to Reuters
on condition of anonymity, a U.S. Defense official confirmed the authenticity of the leaked audio and video. The military reported that it could not find its copy of the video.
WikiLeaks released a 39-minute version, which shows all three incidents, and a 17 minute version, which shows only the first two incidents. Highlighted in the 17 minute version of the video are Noor-Eldeen with a camera and Chmagh talking on his mobile phone. Both videos depict the attack on the van, van driver, and two other men, and the aftermath when the two seriously injured children were evacuated by US ground forces who arrived on the scene. The longer video shows the third attack, in which Hellfire missiles were fired into a building.
Regarding the title Toby Harnden
in the Daily Telegraph wrote: "Oddly enough, it was Stephen Colbert
, ostensibly a comedian, who skewered him":
According to Harden "Assange admitted that he was seeking to manipulate and create "maximum political impact."
Dan Kennedy
wrote in The Guardian
"Even the comedian Stephen Colbert, in an interview with Assange, dropped his rightwing-blowhard persona momentarily to make a serious point, calling the edited version "emotional manipulation".
Bill Keller of the New York Times wrote "But in its zeal to make the video a work of antiwar propaganda, WikiLeaks also released a version that didn’t call attention to an Iraqi who was toting a rocket-propelled grenade and packaged the manipulated version under the tendentious rubric Collateral Murder. The New York Times reported that "Critics contend that the shorter video was misleading because it did not make clear that the attacks took place amid clashes in the neighborhood and that one of the men was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade."
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates
criticised WikiLeaks for releasing the video without providing any context. "These people can put out anything they want, and they're never held accountable for it. There's no before and there's no after". Gates remarked that the video provides the public a view of warfare "as seen through a soda straw." Gates stated: "They're in a combat situation. The video doesn't show the broader picture of the firing that was going on at American troops. It's obviously a hard thing to see. It's painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. But you -- you talked about the fog of war. These people were operating in split second situations."
The New Yorker
praised its release, calling it "a striking artifact – an unmediated representation of the ambiguities and cruelties of modern warfare". Julian Assange said "it’s ludicrous to allege that we have taken anything out of context in this video".
Daniel Ellsberg
, a former United States military analyst best known for leaking the Pentagon Papers
to the media, said of the airstrike:
Gabriel Schoenfeld
, Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute
said of the airstrike:.
and Reuters
, and was also followed by organizations including The Washington Post
, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the BBC
, and CNN
.
Assange stated that some of the press had not reported on the third airstrike, in which three Hellfire missiles were fired onto an apartment complex, which only appears in the longer unedited version of the two videos.
In an interview on NPR on April 6th, the day after the Collateral Murder video release, David Finkel
pointed out that the Reuters reporters were not embedded with anyone, but working independently. He also gave his view of the context of the killings:
Finkel had reported the day in his book, The Good Soldiers
, including conversations which closely matched the subsequently leaked video footage. On the same day as the NPR interview, Finkel was asked how he had gotten a chance to see the unedited video and whether WikiLeaks had shown it to him. He responded, "I hadn't heard of WikiLeaks before yesterday. I based the account in my book on multiple sources, all unclassified".
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian 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.
The Washington Post has denied having any copy of the unedited video prior to WikiLeaks release of their edited version, and Finkel (who was on book leave from the Washington Post at the time) has said that he has never made any statement about his sources for the story, except that it was "sourced [...] from unclassified information and my presence in the area that day".
McCord further discussed his experience in the battle in an interview with the World Socialist Web Site
on April 28th, 2010. In this interview, he reports the above "repercussions" could include being labeled as a "malingerer," or one who exaggerates incapacity to avoid work or duty. As malingering is a crime under U.S. military law, McCord infers that refusing to "get the sand out of [his] vagina" or to "suck it up and be a soldier" could result in criminal prosecution. McCord recounts the airstrike as an "everyday" military proceeding in Iraq.
When interviewed by Wired
, McCord was asked if he supported Wikileaks in releasing the video. McCord said:
"When it was first released I don’t think it was done in the best manner that it could have been. They were stating that these people had no weapons whatsoever, that they were just carrying cameras. In the video, you can clearly see that they did have weapons … to the trained eye." And: “I don’t say that Wikileaks did a bad thing, because they didn’t…. I think it is good that they’re putting this stuff out there. I don’t think that people really want to see this, though, because this is war…. It’s very disturbing."
he had leaked the airstrike video, along with a video of another airstrike and around 260 000 diplomatic cables, to WikiLeaks. As of June 7, Manning had not yet been formally charged. Manning said that the diplomatic documents expose "almost criminal political back dealings" and that they explain "how the first world exploits the third, in detail". WikiLeaks said "allegations in Wired that we have been sent 260,000 classified US embassy cables are, as far as we can tell, incorrect". WikiLeaks have said that they are unable as yet to confirm whether or not Manning was actually the source of the video, stating "we never collect personal information on our sources", but saying also that "if Brad Manning [is the] whistleblower then, without doubt, he's a national hero" and "we have taken steps to arrange for his protection and legal defence".
As of April 2011 he has been charged with 34 separate counts, including 4 counts that directly mention a "2007 July 12 Baghdad video". The counts that mention the video include violation of (the McCarran Internal Security Act
of 1950 modification of the Espionage Act of 1917
), as well as (the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986), and Army Regulation 25-2 Paragraph 4-6(k).
The report states that at least two members of the group which were first fired on were armed, that two RPGs and one AKM
or AK-47
rifle could be seen in the helicopter video, and that these weapons were picked up by the follow-up U.S. ground troops. The report concludes that the Reuters employees were in the company of armed insurgents. 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". The report recommends encouraging journalists in Iraq to wear special vests to identify themselves, and to keep the U.S. military updated about their whereabouts. Reporters "furtive attempts to photograph the Coalition Ground Forces made them appear as hostile combatants"
According to the U.S. Army investigation report released by the United States Central Command
, the engagement started at 10:20 Iraqi local time and ended at 10:41. A unit from Bravo Company 2–16 was within 100 meters of the individuals that were fired upon with 30mm AH-64 Apache cannons. 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). The company was supported by two Apache helicopters from the 1st Cavalry Division's Aviation Brigade, callsigns "Crazyhorse 1/8" and "Crazyhorse 1/9". Two men were identified by Crazyhorse 1/8 as carrying an RPG launcher and an AKM or AK-47
. When the cameraman on the ground aimed his camera in the direction of Bravo Company 2–16, a pilot remarked "He's getting ready to fire". An Apache maneuvered around a building to get a clear field of fire and shot all nine men, killing eight. A van then arrived and attempted to load a wounded man. After getting permission to fire, the Apache crew fired on the van. When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they reported finding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. They also found two Canon EOS
digital cameras with telephoto lenses. Two children were found in the van, a four year old girl with gunshot wounds and embedded windscreen glass wounds and an eight year old boy with multiple wounds, including brain damage arising from shrapnel damage to his right temporal lobe
. Both children were evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base
Loyalty
, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day. This account of first bringing the wounded children to the Combat Support Hospital appears to be contradicted by orders by radio that form part of the video record, which forbids it and orders that the children be handed over to local police.
While the Air Weapons Team was providing support at the first engagement area they were informed by ground troops that they were receiving small arms fire from the south/southwest. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/8 then located multiple individuals with weapons about 400 meters east of coalition forces and was given clearance to engage the targets. However, the co-pilot/gunner then observed a child and some other non-combatants in the vicinity of the individuals and decided to hold off on the engagement until the non-combatants were clear. After the non-combatants were clear Crazyhorse 1/8 engaged the targets. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/9 could not engage due to target obfuscation from buildings and dust.
The team observed several individuals from this group, some possibly wounded, run into a large multistory building. The co-pilot/gunner for Crazyhorse 1/9 spotted three individuals near this building get into a red SUV and drive away to the west. For about 5 to 10 minutes the team diverted its attention to this vehicle. 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.
The events between the attack on the van and the attack on the building (approximately 30 minutes) were not captured on the leaked video footage. The military did not include the attack on the building in their report.
Assange responded to the investigation report released by the Army in an interview with Democracy Now!
, stating that "the tone and language is all about trying to find an excuse for the activity... It’s very clear that that is the approach, to try and find any mechanism to excuse the behavior, and that is what ended up happening". Assange also stated that the building attacked by missiles was not abandoned, and that WikiLeaks had evidence that "there were three families living in that apartment complex, many of whom were killed, including women".
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
AH-64 Apache
AH-64 Apache
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement, and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. The Apache was developed as Model 77 by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the...
helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah
Al-Amin al-Thaniyah
Al-Amin al-Thaniyah is a neighborhood in New Baghdad, a district on the east side of Baghdad.It was named after the Caliph al-Amin. In 2003, Shiites renamed it to "Al-Murthadha District", after Ali Murthadha, the first Shiite imam....
, in the district of New Baghdad
New Baghdad
New Baghdad or Baghdad Al-Jidida is one of nine administrative districts in Baghdad, Iraq. This district has nine Neighborhood Advisory Councils and a District Advisory Council. It is located east of the city center...
in Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
, during the insurgency
Iraqi insurgency
The Iraqi Resistance is composed of a diverse mix of militias, foreign fighters, all-Iraqi units or mixtures opposing the United States-led multinational force in Iraq and the post-2003 Iraqi government...
that followed the Iraq War.
In the first strike "Crazyhorse 1/8" directed 30mm cannon
M230 Chain Gun
The Hughes M230 Chain Gun is a 30 mm, single-barrel automatic cannon developed by Hughes and now manufactured by Alliant Techsystems. It is an electrically operated chain gun, a weapon that uses external power instead of recoil to load its rounds....
fire at a group of nine to eleven men, one had an AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
and another an RPG-7
RPG-7
The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
; most were unarmed; two were war correspondent
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
s for Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
; Saeed Chmagh
Saeed Chmagh
Saeed Chmagh was an Iraqi employed by Reuters news agency as a driver and camera assistant. He was killed, along with his colleague Namir Noor-Eldeen by American military forces in the New Baghdad district of Baghdad, Iraq, during an airstrike on July 12, 2007.-Life and career:Chmagh was born...
and Namir Noor-Eldeen
Namir Noor-Eldeen
Namir Noor-Eldeen was an Iraqi freelance photojournalist. He was killed, along with his assistant Saeed Chmagh and a number of others, by American military forces in the New Baghdad district of Baghdad, Iraq, during an airstrike on July 12, 2007.- Early life and career :Noor-Eldeen was born on...
, whose cameras were mistaken for weapons. Eight men were killed, including Noor-Eldeen. Chmagh was wounded.
The second airstrike using 30 mm fire was directed at Chmagh and two other unarmed men and their unmarked van as they were attempting to help Chmagh into the van. Two children inside the van were wounded, three more men were killed, including Chmagh.
In a third airstrike the "Bush" helicopter team fired three AGM-114 Hellfire
AGM-114 Hellfire
The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-surface missile developed primarily for anti-armor use. It has multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike capability, and can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100 lb-class air-to-ground precision...
missiles to destroy a building after they had observed men enter, some of whom appeared to be armed.
The attacks received worldwide coverage following the release of 39 minutes of classified
Classified information
Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...
cockpit gunsight footage in 2010. Reuters had unsuccessfully requested the footage under the Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of Information Act (United States)
The Freedom of Information Act is a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. The Act defines agency records subject to disclosure, outlines mandatory disclosure...
in 2007. The footage was acquired from an undisclosed source in 2009 by the Internet leak
Internet leak
An Internet leak occurs when a party's confidential information is released to the public on the Internet. Various types of information and data can be, and have been, "leaked" to the Internet, the most common being personal information, computer software and source code, and artistic works such...
website WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, which released a shorter, edited version on April 5, 2010, under the name Collateral Murder. Recorded from the gunsight Target Acquisition and Designation System of one of the attacking helicopters, the video shows the three incidents and the radio chatter between the aircrews and ground units involved. An anonymous US military official confirmed the authenticity of the footage.
Context
According to Tom Cohen, CNN, "the soldiers of Bravo Company 2-16 Infantry had been under fire all morning from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms on the first day of Operation Ilaaj in Baghdad". Al Jazeera stated that the Army had received "reports of small arms fire" but as they were unable to positively identify the gunmen they proceeded to dispatch Apache helicopters to the area. According to a military review, soldiers in that company "had been under sporadic small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire since" the operation—described as "clearing their sector and looking for weapons caches" began.The Air Weapons Team (AWT) of two Apache AH-64s (part of the 1st Cavalry Division) had been requested by the Army's 2–16 Infantry Battalion
16th Infantry Regiment (United States)
The 16th Infantry Regiment is a regiment in the United States Army.-Formation:The 34th Infantry Regiment and 11th Infantry Regiment consolidated into the 16th Infantry Regiment on 3 March 1869. The 11th Infantry's history prior to the consolidation is normally included with the 16th's.-U.S...
, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, before July 12 to support Operation Ilaaj. Tasked to conduct escort, armed reconnaissance patrols, counter-IED and counter-mortar operations, the two helicopters left Camp Taji
Camp Taji
Camp Taji is a military installation, also known as Camp Cooke used by coalition forces near Taji or Al Taji , Iraq. The camp is located in a rural region approximately north of the city of Baghdad in the Baghdad Governorate.-History:...
at 9.24am. They arrived on station in New Baghdad at 9.53am, where, according to the official report, sporadic attacks on coalition forces continued.
Incidents
Attack on personnel
On the morning of July 12, 2007, the crews of two United States ArmyUnited States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
AH-64 Apache
AH-64 Apache
The Boeing AH-64 Apache is a four-blade, twin-engine attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear arrangement, and a tandem cockpit for a two-man crew. The Apache was developed as Model 77 by Hughes Helicopters for the United States Army's Advanced Attack Helicopter program to replace the...
helicopters observed a gathering of men near an open air section of Baghdad from a distance up to 800 meters away. The crews estimated that group was made up of twenty men. This group included two members of staff from the Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
news service, Namir Noor-Eldeen
Namir Noor-Eldeen
Namir Noor-Eldeen was an Iraqi freelance photojournalist. He was killed, along with his assistant Saeed Chmagh and a number of others, by American military forces in the New Baghdad district of Baghdad, Iraq, during an airstrike on July 12, 2007.- Early life and career :Noor-Eldeen was born on...
and Saeed Chmagh
Saeed Chmagh
Saeed Chmagh was an Iraqi employed by Reuters news agency as a driver and camera assistant. He was killed, along with his colleague Namir Noor-Eldeen by American military forces in the New Baghdad district of Baghdad, Iraq, during an airstrike on July 12, 2007.-Life and career:Chmagh was born...
who were not identified as journalists. The helicopter crews mistook the photographic equipment carried by Chmagh and Noor-eldeen for weapons.
A crew member reported seeing "five to six individuals with AK-47s" and requested authorization to engage
Engagement (military)
A military engagement is a combat between two forces, neither larger than a division and not smaller than a company, in which each has an assigned or perceived mission...
. The men then became obscured behind a building. Once some men became visible again, both helicopters strafed a group of around ten men with 30 mm rounds
M230 Chain Gun
The Hughes M230 Chain Gun is a 30 mm, single-barrel automatic cannon developed by Hughes and now manufactured by Alliant Techsystems. It is an electrically operated chain gun, a weapon that uses external power instead of recoil to load its rounds....
. Several men were killed, including Noor-Eldeen, and others wounded, including Chmagh. At least one man in that group was carrying a RPG-7
RPG-7
The RPG-7 is a widely-produced, portable, unguided, shoulder-launched, anti-tank rocket-propelled grenade launcher. Originally the RPG-7 and its predecessor, the RPG-2, were designed by the Soviet Union, and now manufactured by the Bazalt company...
and another was carrying an AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
or AKM
AKM
The AKM is a 7.62mm assault rifle designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is an upgraded version of the AK-47 rifle and was developed in the 1950s....
assault rifle.
Attack on a van
The wounded Chmagh was crawling on the ground, when a van appeared at the scene. The van had no visible markings to suggest it was an ambulance or a protected vehicle. Unarmed men attempted to get him to the van. The watching helicopter crews requested permission to engage, stating "…looks like [the men] possibly uh picking up bodies and weapons" from the scene, and upon receiving permission opened fire on the van and its occupants. Two children sitting in the front seat were wounded but survived. Chmagh was killed along with the father of the children.Attack on a building
There is a period of 20 minutes not included on the leaked tape. According to the internal legal review, the helicopters engaged a group of armed insurgents, and that some were seen entering a nearby building.As the tape resumes, two men holding objects are seen walking. They split up and the footage focuses on one who appears to be armed. He walks into a building, after which the helicopter crew reports that "there's at least six individuals in that building with weapons". They request permission to fire a missile at the building, describing it at first as "abandoned" and then as "under construction". The ground controller responds, "If you've PIDed the individuals in the building with weapons, go ahead and engage the building". The gunner then takes a few moments to ready a Hellfire missile
AGM-114 Hellfire
The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-surface missile developed primarily for anti-armor use. It has multi-mission, multi-target precision-strike capability, and can be launched from multiple air, sea, and ground platforms. The Hellfire missile is the primary 100 lb-class air-to-ground precision...
, during which two more seemingly unarmed men are seen entering the building. One member notices this saying, "Got more individuals in there". As the gunner prepares to fire the first missile, a man is seen walking along the street in front of the building. The missile is fired and hits the building in a large explosion through which the man can no longer be seen. Afterwards, Crazyhorse 1/8 asks for permission to fire another Hellfire a few times. Once granted, they take a few moments to ready another missile, during which several people are seen walking around the debris from the first missile.
Commentary
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. Julian AssangeJulian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
said “permission to engage was given before the word ‘RPG’ was ever used”. Politifact states: "When Assange points out in the context of justifying the title "Collateral Murder" that the word "RPG" was not used until after the 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 the video and accompanying audio make clear that the soldiers in the helicopter said they spotted "weapons" among those in the group. -- later identified by an army investigator as an AK-47, RPG rounds and 2 RPG launchers, one of which was loaded. Assange later acknowledged "Based upon visual evidence I suspect there probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything," Assange stated that initial attempts to evacuate the wounded children to a nearby US military hospital were blocked by US military command. The legal review carried out by the US Army states that the two children were evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital
Combat support hospital
A Combat Support Hospital is a type of field hospital. The CSH is a United States military mobile hospital delivered to the Corps Support Area in standard military-owned Demountable Containers cargo containers and assembled by the staff into a tent hospital to treat wounded soldiers. A CSH also...
via Forward Operating Base Loyalty
Forward Operating Base Loyalty
-References:FOB Loyalty was attacked 6 June 2011, killing 5 US Service-Members and injuring 12 others....
, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day.
Fox News said that of the attack “WikiLeaks appears to have done selective editing that tells only half the story. For instance, the Web site takes special care to slow down the video and identify the two photographers and the cameras they are carrying.... 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. WikiLeaks also does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. He is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while standing next to the man holding the RPG."
'The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
stated “It is unclear if some of the men are armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera”. Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is an American lawyer, columnist, blogger, and author. Greenwald worked as a constitutional and civil rights litigator before becoming a contributor to Salon.com, where he focuses on political and legal topics...
of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
said that “the vast majority of the men were clearly unarmed”. Greenwald called the second airstrike a "plainly unjustified killing of a group of unarmed men carrying away an unarmed, seriously wounded man to safety". The Australian
The Australian
The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....
newspaper said the group was displaying “no obvious hostile action”.
In The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
on April 8, 2010, human rights activist Joan Smith asserts that the engagements were as a game to the helicopter crew. She writes that the co-pilot urged a dying, unarmed journalist to pick up a weapon as he tried to crawl to safety; and claims that the footage shows "...the Apache crew opening fire on civilians...". When the crew were informed that a child had been injured by their attack, one commented "Well, it's their fault for bringing kids into a battle". Smith describes this reaction as inhuman. She draws parallels with soldiers who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder in earlier wars. She continues "...the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are inflicting huge psychological damage on combatants". In refusing to recognise this, the US military fails both its own soldiers and their "victims". Command structures need to be in place to identify "combatants with serious psychological problems", she concludes.
On Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
, Josh Stieber, a conscientious objector who was at the time assigned to Bravo Company 2–16, said that although it's natural to "judge or criticize the soldiers", in fact "this is how [they] were trained to act". He said that the debate should be re-framed, that it is more appropriate to ask "questions of the larger system" that teaches "doing these things is in the best interests of my own country".
Ethan McCord, A soldier who arrived on the scene after the attack stated on an interview for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
:
On June 7, 2010, The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
reported that Kristinn Hrafnsson
Kristinn Hrafnsson
Kristinn Hrafnsson is an Icelandic investigative journalist and frontman for the WikiLeaks organisation.He has worked at various newspapers in Iceland and had a popular TV programme on Stöð 2 , Kompás, where he and his team often exposed criminal activity and/or shocking corruption in high places...
, an investigative reporter who worked on the Collateral Murder video and has since become a spokesman for WikiLeaks, claimed to have found the owner of the building who said that three families had been living in the there and seven residents had died, including his wife and daughter. The report stated that the helicopter crew did not know how many people were in the building when they destroyed it with missiles, and that "there is evidence that unarmed people have both entered and are nearby". It concludes that an investigating officer would want to know how the armed men were identified as combatants from the earlier engagement; would question the nature of the collateral-damage estimate carried out by the crew before the missiles were launched; and would wish to determine whether a missile attack was a proportionate response to the threat.
A Pentagon spokesman insisted the video did not contradict the official finding that the helicopters' crew acted within the rules of engagement and said that the inquiry backed the assessment that the group of men was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).
2007–2009 coverage
On the day of the attack the US military reported that the two journalists were killed along with "nine insurgents", and that the helicopter engagement was related to a US troop raid force that had been attacked by small-arms fire and RPGs. US forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Scott Bleichwehl later stated: "There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force".The Washington Post reported it was unclear whether the journalists were killed by U.S. fire or by shooting from the targeted Iraqis. Captain James Hall stated they couldn't drive in Bradleys in fear of running over bodies. Major Brent Cummings claimed they took great pains to prevent the loss of innocent civilian lives.
Reuters reported that it could locate no witnesses who had seen gunmen in the immediate area. Reuters also stated that local police described the attack as "random American bombardment". Reuters subsequently asked the US military to probe the deaths. They asked for an explanation of the confiscation of the journalists' two cameras, access to the on-board footage and voice communications from the helicopters involved, and access to the reports of the units involved in the incident, particularly logs of weapons taken from the scene.
The Pentagon blocked an attempt by Reuters to obtain the gunsight footage of the incident through the Freedom of Information Act.
An internal legal review by staff at Forward Operating Base Loyalty
Forward Operating Base Loyalty
-References:FOB Loyalty was attacked 6 June 2011, killing 5 US Service-Members and injuring 12 others....
in Iraq during July 2007 stated that the helicopters had attacked a number of armed insurgents within the rules of engagement
Rules of engagement
Rules of Engagement refers to those responses that are permitted in the employment of military personnel during operations or in the course of their duties. These rules of engagement are determined by the legal framework within which these duties are being carried out...
, and that in an apparent case of collateral damage
Collateral damage
Collateral damage is damage to people or property that is unintended or incidental to the intended outcome. The phrase is prevalently used as an euphemism for civilian casualties of a military action.-Etymology:...
two reporters working for Reuters had also been killed. The review would not be released in full until 2010, after the video of the incident had been released by WikiLeaks.
Washington Post reporter David Finkel
David Finkel
David Louis Finkel is an American journalist. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 as a staff writer at the Washington Post. He is currently assigned to the national staff as an enterprise reporter. He has also worked for the Post's foreign staff division...
, who at the time was embedded with Bravo Company 2–16 Infantry, later reported the day in his book, The Good Soldiers
The Good Soldiers
The Good Soldiers is a 2009 book about the 2007 troop surge in Iraq written by David Finkel, chronicling the deployment of 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich....
.
Leaked video footage
Early in 2010, the internet leak site WikiLeaks made a public request for assistance in decrypting a video it described as "US bomb strikes on civilians", specifically requesting access to supercomputerSupercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
time. The site stated on its Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account on January 8, 2010, that it had a copy of gunsight footage of the incidents, and announced that it would release it by March 21. The footage was released during an April 5 press conference at the National Press Club, and subsequently under a designated website titled "Collateral Murder". WikiLeaks stated that the footage shows the "murder of Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists".
WikiLeaks identified the leak's source as "a number of military whistleblowers". Speaking to Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
on condition of anonymity, a U.S. Defense official confirmed the authenticity of the leaked audio and video. The military reported that it could not find its copy of the video.
WikiLeaks released a 39-minute version, which shows all three incidents, and a 17 minute version, which shows only the first two incidents. Highlighted in the 17 minute version of the video are Noor-Eldeen with a camera and Chmagh talking on his mobile phone. Both videos depict the attack on the van, van driver, and two other men, and the aftermath when the two seriously injured children were evacuated by US ground forces who arrived on the scene. The longer video shows the third attack, in which Hellfire missiles were fired into a building.
WikiLeaks' rationale for their title of the footage
In an Al Jazeera English interview on April 19, 2010, WikiLeaks' Julian Assange explained why WikiLeaks titled the video "Collateral Murder":Regarding the title Toby Harnden
Toby Harnden
Toby Harnden is an Anglo-American journalist and author. He has been US editor of The Daily Telegraph since 2006.-Background:...
in the Daily Telegraph wrote: "Oddly enough, it was Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
, ostensibly a comedian, who skewered him":
According to Harden "Assange admitted that he was seeking to manipulate and create "maximum political impact."
Dan Kennedy
Dan Kennedy
Daniel Kennedy may refer to:*Daniel Kennedy , American actor*Daniel Kennedy , judge and former politician in Manitoba, Canada*Dan Kennedy , American goalkeeper...
wrote in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
"Even the comedian Stephen Colbert, in an interview with Assange, dropped his rightwing-blowhard persona momentarily to make a serious point, calling the edited version "emotional manipulation".
Bill Keller of the New York Times wrote "But in its zeal to make the video a work of antiwar propaganda, WikiLeaks also released a version that didn’t call attention to an Iraqi who was toting a rocket-propelled grenade and packaged the manipulated version under the tendentious rubric Collateral Murder. The New York Times reported that "Critics contend that the shorter video was misleading because it did not make clear that the attacks took place amid clashes in the neighborhood and that one of the men was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade."
Reactions to the video footage
Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command stated that the airstrike video "gives you a limited perspective, [it] only tells you a portion of the activity that was happening that day. Just from watching that video, people cannot understand the complex battles that occurred. You are seeing only a very narrow picture of the events." 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. "Our forces were engaged in combat all that day with individuals that fit the description of the men in that video. 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." Also, WikiLeaks "does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. He is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while standing next to the man holding the RPG". The Wikileaks edited video did not add arrows pointing to these men, nor did they label them, as was done with the men carrying cameras. WikiLeaks did, in fact, state "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. In an interview with Fox News Assange acknowledged that "it's likely some of the individuals seen in the video were carrying weapons". He explained, "based upon visual evidence I suspect there probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything ... Nearly every Iraqi household has a rifle or an AK. Those guys could have just been protecting their area". Fox News later stated that "although it could be argued AK-47 rifles are common household items, RPGs are not". 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.US Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....
criticised WikiLeaks for releasing the video without providing any context. "These people can put out anything they want, and they're never held accountable for it. There's no before and there's no after". Gates remarked that the video provides the public a view of warfare "as seen through a soda straw." Gates stated: "They're in a combat situation. The video doesn't show the broader picture of the firing that was going on at American troops. It's obviously a hard thing to see. It's painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. But you -- you talked about the fog of war. These people were operating in split second situations."
The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
praised its release, calling it "a striking artifact – an unmediated representation of the ambiguities and cruelties of modern warfare". Julian Assange said "it’s ludicrous to allege that we have taken anything out of context in this video".
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg
Daniel Ellsberg, PhD, is a former United States military analyst who, while employed by the RAND Corporation, precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of U.S. government decision-making in relation to the Vietnam War,...
, a former United States military analyst best known for leaking the Pentagon Papers
Pentagon Papers
The Pentagon Papers, officially titled United States – Vietnam Relations, 1945–1967: A Study Prepared by the Department of Defense, is a United States Department of Defense history of the United States' political-military involvement in Vietnam from 1945 to 1967...
to the media, said of the airstrike:
Gabriel Schoenfeld
Gabriel Schoenfeld
Gabriel Schoenfeld is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. and a resident scholar at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, New Jersey.-Biography:From 1994 to 2008 he was senior editor of Commentary...
, Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute
Hudson Institute
The Hudson Institute is an American think tank founded in 1961, in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, by futurist, military strategist, and systems theorist Herman Kahn and his colleagues at the RAND Corporation...
said of the airstrike:.
Subsequent mainstream media coverage
Publicity of the incident ballooned following the release of the footage. The event was covered by Al Jazeera English, RTRT (TV network)
RT, previously known as Russia Today, is a global multilingual television news network based in the Russian Federation run by the state-owned state-run RIA Novosti....
and Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
, and was also followed by organizations including The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, the New York Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
.
Assange stated that some of the press had not reported on the third airstrike, in which three Hellfire missiles were fired onto an apartment complex, which only appears in the longer unedited version of the two videos.
In an interview on NPR on April 6th, the day after the Collateral Murder video release, David Finkel
David Finkel
David Louis Finkel is an American journalist. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 as a staff writer at the Washington Post. He is currently assigned to the national staff as an enterprise reporter. He has also worked for the Post's foreign staff division...
pointed out that the Reuters reporters were not embedded with anyone, but working independently. He also gave his view of the context of the killings:
Finkel had reported the day in his book, The Good Soldiers
The Good Soldiers
The Good Soldiers is a 2009 book about the 2007 troop surge in Iraq written by David Finkel, chronicling the deployment of 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich....
, including conversations which closely matched the subsequently leaked video footage. On the same day as the NPR interview, Finkel was asked how he had gotten a chance to see the unedited video and whether WikiLeaks had shown it to him. He responded, "I hadn't heard of WikiLeaks before yesterday. I based the account in my book on multiple sources, all unclassified".
WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
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.
The Washington Post has denied having any copy of the unedited video prior to WikiLeaks release of their edited version, and Finkel (who was on book leave from the Washington Post at the time) has said that he has never made any statement about his sources for the story, except that it was "sourced [...] from unclassified information and my presence in the area that day".
Interviews with Ethan McCord
Ethan McCord, the soldier seen in the video carrying the injured boy, recalled in an interview on The Marc Steiner Show that on arrival at the scene, "The first thing I did was run up to the van...". After attending the girl's wounds and handing her to a medic, he was ordered to take position on roof but he returned to the van to find the boy moved his hand. "I grabbed him and ran to the Bradley myself". He claims he "got yelled at" for not "pulling security". "The first thing I thought of ... was my children at home". He later sought help for psychological trauma, but was then ridiculed by his NCO and told that if he were to go to the mental health officer, "there would be repercussions".McCord further discussed his experience in the battle in an interview with the World Socialist Web Site
World Socialist Web Site
The World Socialist Web Site is the online news and information center of the International Committee of the Fourth International . The site publishes articles and analysis covering a wide range of topics and events all around the world. The daily 'Perspective' article presents the position of the...
on April 28th, 2010. In this interview, he reports the above "repercussions" could include being labeled as a "malingerer," or one who exaggerates incapacity to avoid work or duty. As malingering is a crime under U.S. military law, McCord infers that refusing to "get the sand out of [his] vagina" or to "suck it up and be a soldier" could result in criminal prosecution. McCord recounts the airstrike as an "everyday" military proceeding in Iraq.
When interviewed by Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, McCord was asked if he supported Wikileaks in releasing the video. McCord said:
"When it was first released I don’t think it was done in the best manner that it could have been. They were stating that these people had no weapons whatsoever, that they were just carrying cameras. In the video, you can clearly see that they did have weapons … to the trained eye." And: “I don’t say that Wikileaks did a bad thing, because they didn’t…. I think it is good that they’re putting this stuff out there. I don’t think that people really want to see this, though, because this is war…. It’s very disturbing."
Arrest of Bradley Manning
In May 2010, a 22-year-old American Army intelligence analyst named Bradley Manning was arrested after telling Adrian LamoAdrian Lamo
Adrian Lamo is a threat analyst and "grey hat" hacker. He first gained media attention for breaking into several high-profile computer networks, including those of The New York Times, Yahoo!, and Microsoft, culminating in his 2003 arrest...
he had leaked the airstrike video, along with a video of another airstrike and around 260 000 diplomatic cables, to WikiLeaks. As of June 7, Manning had not yet been formally charged. Manning said that the diplomatic documents expose "almost criminal political back dealings" and that they explain "how the first world exploits the third, in detail". WikiLeaks said "allegations in Wired that we have been sent 260,000 classified US embassy cables are, as far as we can tell, incorrect". WikiLeaks have said that they are unable as yet to confirm whether or not Manning was actually the source of the video, stating "we never collect personal information on our sources", but saying also that "if Brad Manning [is the] whistleblower then, without doubt, he's a national hero" and "we have taken steps to arrange for his protection and legal defence".
As of April 2011 he has been charged with 34 separate counts, including 4 counts that directly mention a "2007 July 12 Baghdad video". The counts that mention the video include violation of (the McCarran Internal Security Act
McCarran Internal Security Act
The Internal Security Act of 1950, , also known as the Subversive Activities Control Act or the McCarran Act, after Senator Pat McCarran , is a United States federal law of the McCarthy era. It was passed over President Harry Truman's veto...
of 1950 modification of the Espionage Act of 1917
Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code but is now found under Title 18, Crime...
), as well as (the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986), and Army Regulation 25-2 Paragraph 4-6(k).
Legality of the attacks
In an June 7 article in The New Yorker, Raffi Khatchadourian addressed several issues involved in determining the legality of the attacks, including "proportionality", "positive identification" ("reasonable certainty" that the target has hostile intent), and "the treatment of casualties during an ongoing military operation". Mark Taylor, an expert on international law and a director at the Fafo Institute for International Studies in Norway, has stated that there is "a case to be made that a war crime may have been committed". An article in Gawker stated that Reuters reporter Luke Baker had written an article claiming that the airstrikes may have been war crimes, but the editor in chief of Reuters declined to run the story.Military legal review
On April 5, 2010, the same day as the release of the video footage by WikiLeaks, the United States Central Command, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, released a collection of documents including two investigative reports. Pentagon officials told the Reuters news agency that US military lawyers were reviewing the video and could reopen an investigation into the incident, but said more recently that there are no plans to reopen the investigation.The report states that at least two members of the group which were first fired on were armed, that two RPGs and one AKM
AKM
The AKM is a 7.62mm assault rifle designed by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is an upgraded version of the AK-47 rifle and was developed in the 1950s....
or AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
rifle could be seen in the helicopter video, and that these weapons were picked up by the follow-up U.S. ground troops. The report concludes that the Reuters employees were in the company of armed insurgents. 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". The report recommends encouraging journalists in Iraq to wear special vests to identify themselves, and to keep the U.S. military updated about their whereabouts. Reporters "furtive attempts to photograph the Coalition Ground Forces made them appear as hostile combatants"
Attack on personnel and a van per US army report account
According to the U.S. Army investigation report released by the United States Central Command
United States Central Command
The United States Central Command is a theater-level Unified Combatant Command unit of the U.S. armed forces, established in 1983 under the operational control of the U.S. Secretary of Defense...
, the engagement started at 10:20 Iraqi local time and ended at 10:41. A unit from Bravo Company 2–16 was within 100 meters of the individuals that were fired upon with 30mm AH-64 Apache cannons. 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). The company was supported by two Apache helicopters from the 1st Cavalry Division's Aviation Brigade, callsigns "Crazyhorse 1/8" and "Crazyhorse 1/9". Two men were identified by Crazyhorse 1/8 as carrying an RPG launcher and an AKM or AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
. When the cameraman on the ground aimed his camera in the direction of Bravo Company 2–16, a pilot remarked "He's getting ready to fire". An Apache maneuvered around a building to get a clear field of fire and shot all nine men, killing eight. A van then arrived and attempted to load a wounded man. After getting permission to fire, the Apache crew fired on the van. When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they reported finding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. They also found two Canon EOS
Canon EOS
The Canon EOS autofocus 35 mm film and digital SLR camera system was introduced in 1987 with the Canon EOS 650 and is still in production as Canon's current DSLR system...
digital cameras with telephoto lenses. Two children were found in the van, a four year old girl with gunshot wounds and embedded windscreen glass wounds and an eight year old boy with multiple wounds, including brain damage arising from shrapnel damage to his right temporal lobe
Temporal lobe
The temporal lobe is a region of the cerebral cortex that is located beneath the Sylvian fissure on both cerebral hemispheres of the mammalian brain....
. Both children were evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base
Forward Operating Base
A forward operating base is any secured forward military position, commonly a military base, that is used to support tactical operations. A FOB may or may not contain an airfield, hospital, or other facilities. The base may be used for an extended period of time. FOBs are traditionally supported...
Loyalty
Forward Operating Base Loyalty
-References:FOB Loyalty was attacked 6 June 2011, killing 5 US Service-Members and injuring 12 others....
, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day. This account of first bringing the wounded children to the Combat Support Hospital appears to be contradicted by orders by radio that form part of the video record, which forbids it and orders that the children be handed over to local police.
While the Air Weapons Team was providing support at the first engagement area they were informed by ground troops that they were receiving small arms fire from the south/southwest. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/8 then located multiple individuals with weapons about 400 meters east of coalition forces and was given clearance to engage the targets. However, the co-pilot/gunner then observed a child and some other non-combatants in the vicinity of the individuals and decided to hold off on the engagement until the non-combatants were clear. After the non-combatants were clear Crazyhorse 1/8 engaged the targets. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/9 could not engage due to target obfuscation from buildings and dust.
The team observed several individuals from this group, some possibly wounded, run into a large multistory building. The co-pilot/gunner for Crazyhorse 1/9 spotted three individuals near this building get into a red SUV and drive away to the west. For about 5 to 10 minutes the team diverted its attention to this vehicle. 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.
Attack on building per US army report account
The events between the attack on the van and the attack on the building (approximately 30 minutes) were not captured on the leaked video footage. The military did not include the attack on the building in their report.
Assange responded to the investigation report released by the Army in an interview with Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
, stating that "the tone and language is all about trying to find an excuse for the activity... It’s very clear that that is the approach, to try and find any mechanism to excuse the behavior, and that is what ended up happening". Assange also stated that the building attacked by missiles was not abandoned, and that WikiLeaks had evidence that "there were three families living in that apartment complex, many of whom were killed, including women".
Awards
In June 2011 the Federation of German Scientists (VDW) awarded the "Whistleblower Award" to the person who made the video "Collateral Murder" public via Wikileaks.External links
- Collateral Murder – WikiLeaks-owned alternate site, includes full footage of the video as originally released
- USA Collateral Murder in Iraq (39m 13s) (616 MB), The Pirate BayThe Pirate BayThe Pirate Bay is a Swedish website which hosts magnet links and .torrent files, which allow users to share electronic files, including multimedia, computer games and software via BitTorrent...
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QEdAykXxoM WikiLeaks editor on Apache combat video: No excuse for US killing civilians - April 2010. Russia TodayRussia TodayRussia Today may refer to:* Russia Today, an English language 24-hour television news channel from Russia. It was launched in 2005 and is not related to an online news service of the similar name operated by EIN News...
via You tube] - Families of Victims of 2007 US Helicopter Killing React to Leaked Video – video report by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
- Ethan McCord Describes Emotional Toll of Witnessing Killings – video interview by Democracy Now!Democracy Now!Democracy Now! and its staff have received several journalism awards, including the Gracie Award from American Women in Radio & Television; the George Polk Award for its 1998 radio documentary Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship, on the Chevron Corporation and the deaths of...
- 'Collateral Murder' in Baghdad Anything But, a Rebuttal by Bill RoggioBill RoggioBill Roggio is an American commentator on military affairs.Roggio is notable for having his opinions quoted, or criticized, by a variety of newspapers and broadcasters.Roggio is currently the managing editor of The Long War Journal....
- http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/41934.html"Julian Assange Is Not Your Friend" from the Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
]