I hit 'em" and another member of the crew responds "Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards".[29]. McCord added, "I don't say that Wikileaks did a bad thing, because they didn't. [16][18][30] After the lead helicopter fires, one of the crew shouts "Hahaha. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. I grabbed the medic and we went into the back. Soldier Ethan McCord's Eyewitness Story, "Shadowed, Clamoring, Blurry. 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. McCord, in New York for the festival premiere, told the story of what he experienced while saving two children wounded in the incident. Since then, McCord has been receiving threats to him and his family on a regular basis. Killing of Reuters Employees", "Dealing With Assange and the WikiLeaks Secrets", "Iraq war files: Apache Hellfire victims", "US soldier on aftermath of WikiLeaks Apache attack", Leaked U.S. video shows deaths of Reuters' Iraqi staffers, "Notes from the Courtroom: Alexa O'Brien's Transcript of Pfc. The review was not released in full until 2010, after the video of the incident had been released by WikiLeaks. McCord states he was yelled at for not "pulling security". We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months. For instance, the Web site takes special care to slow down the video and identify the two photographers and the cameras they are carrying. [20] According to a military review, soldiers in that company "had been under sporadic small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire since" the operationdescribed as "clearing their sector and looking for weapons caches"began. WikiLeaks also does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. [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. What we seek is to learn from our mistakes and do everything we can to tell others of our experiences and how the people of the United States need to realize we have done and are doing to you and the people of your country. [67], WikiLeaks released a 39-minute version, which shows all three incidents, and a 17-minute version, which shows only the first two incidents. (quote begins at 5:15)", "Soldiers in 'Collateral Murder' video apologise", "Meet The New Public Face Of WikiLeaks: Kristinn Hrafnsson Forbes", "2 Iraqi Journalists Killed as U.S. [17] Julian Assange said "permission to engage was given before the word 'RPG' was ever used". These people were operating in split second situations.". There's no front lines here. They also found 10-year-old Sajad Mutashar and his five-year-old sister Doaha covered in blood in a van. As the pilot positions the helicopter to attack the building, two unarmed men walk towards, and perhaps into, the building. As the killing goes on, you obviously would see the killing of men who are lying on the ground in an operation where ground troops are approaching and perfectly capable of taking those people captive, but meanwhile you're murdering before the troops arrive. The video doesn't show the broader picture of the firing that was going on at American troops. A school district is mourning the loss of a 13-year-old student who was found dead along with 3 other family members after a "potential murder-suicide" in Clermont County.It happened around 9:41 a . 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]. 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. US soldiers Ethan McCord's Eyewitness Story of coming across the aftermath of the infamous Wikileaks Collateral Murder in which over a dozen innocent civilians, 2 of which were Reuters journalists, were killed. [47] The Australian newspaper said the group was displaying "no obvious hostile action". Stuff like that happens on a daily basis in Iraq. And I picked him up and started running with him over to the Bradley. It's painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. [16] The military reported that it could not find its copy of the video. I was trying to wash it off in my room. [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. Ad Choices, U.S. We are doing what we can to speak out against the wars and military policies responsible for what happened to you and your loved ones. [58], On July 25, 2007, during an off-the-record briefing in Baghdad by the U.S. military, two Reuters editors were shown "less than three minutes of video from the Apaches gun camera, up to the exact moment it opened fire the first time." "These people can put out anything they want, and they're never held accountable for it. You can hear the medic saying on the video, "There's nothing I can do here, she needs to be evac'd." I based the account in my book on multiple sources, all unclassified". Ethan McCord, who was one of the first soldiers on the scene in the 2007 attack, told Wired.com that he saw several weapons at the scene, including a rocket propelled grenade launcher. The video makes plain that in this incident, as in almost all military encounters in both Iraq and Afghanistan, our soldiers are up against forces that do not wear uniformsa violation of international law precisely because it places innocent civilians in jeopardy. Two men were identified by Crazyhorse 1/8 as carrying an RPG launcher and an AKM or AK-47. "[60], Early in 2010, the Internet whistleblower site WikiLeaks made a public request for assistance in decrypting a video it described as "US bomb strikes on civilians", specifically requesting access to supercomputer time. 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. When a congressman tried to jail him for his actions that day he . Reuters responded, "It is absolutely untrue that this story was spiked. Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any steps to support you through the pain that we have caused. I don't think that [the] big picture is whether or not [the Iraqis who were killed] had weapons. Two men assisting in the rescue effort were from a group of five standing at an intersection seen in the upper right corner of the video when the Reuters employees arrive in the courtyard reported to Apaches as being a second position combatants were using to attack the Humvee. [57], Reuters reported that it could locate no witnesses who had seen gunmen in the immediate area. New details reveal that Beijing-backed hackers targeted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, adding to a string of attacks in the region. Michael Bailey a medic who treated some of. I was pretty distraught over the whole situation with the children. The boy's alive!" This is urban combat and we're taking the war to children and women and innocents. There is no bringing back all that was lost. [32] The Apache crew alerted the ground troops of the van and requested permission to engage the vehicle before the ground troops arrived. [25] Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com said that "the vast majority of the men were clearly unarmed". When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they reported finding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. The men become obscured behind a building as the Apache moves around the group. 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. It could be that since he and Amelia (Sigrid Thornton) have quit. Josh Stieber was not at the scene of the shooting but says similar incidents happened throughout his 14-month tour; "The acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war." classified video created its own firestorm. So if people have a different opinion, the full material is there for them to analyse and assess. However, personally I don't feel that the attack on the van was warranted. "[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". In the video, you can clearly see that they did have weapons to the trained eye. "[31], In May 2011 the Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival awarded the investigative film Collateral murder, Hellfire, done by Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks spokesperson, and Ingi Ingason, with the award for International Journalism and Human Rights. You don't just take somebody's life and then go on about your business for the rest of the day. They request permission to fire a missile at the building, describing it as "abandoned" or "under construction". 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. "[76], Captain 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. After the incident, we went back to the FOB [forward operating base] and that's when I was in my room. Highlighted in the 17-minute version of the video are Noor-Eldeen with a camera and Chmagh talking on his mobile phone. He added, "I think what this video shows is really a case that challenges whether the laws of war are strict enough. So, the first thing I did was grab the girl. This is why we called it Collateral Murder. Ethan McCord, a soldier who arrived on the scene after the attack, stated in an interview for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: From being in the perspective of the Apache helicopter crew, I can see where a group of men gathering, when there's a firefight just a few blocks away, which I was involved in, and theyre carrying weapons, one of which is an RPG. There's no before and there's no after". [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. Wired.com: The first thing you saw was the little girl in the van. McCord's courage and integrity has nothing to do with his US army training. 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. In refusing to recognize this, the US military fails both its own soldiers and their victims. [25] 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 U.S. ground forces who arrived on the scene. [68], Stephen Colbert, in an interview with Assange in April 2010, asked him about the title: "You have edited this tape, and you have given it a title called 'Collateral Murder'. [55], Assange stated that the attack on the van was the most damning part of the video: "I'm very sceptical that was done under the rules of engagement; and, if it was legal, the rules of engagement must be changed". A third, an infantry solider named Ethan McCord, was one of the men who had scooped up the bodies of the wounded children in the apache helicopter attack, what is now known as the "Collateral. [88], McCord requested mental health assistance following his experiences on July 12, but was told by his superior officers to "get the sand out of [his] vagina" and to "suck it up and be a soldier". . McCord: There were approximately two to three other people who were moving who were still somewhat alive, and the medics were attending to them. I always questioned it in the back of my mind. I just kept telling him, "Don't die; don't die." [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. 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. On the same day as the NPR interview, Finkel was asked how he had seen the unedited video and whether WikiLeaks had shown it to him. 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. According to Tom Raju, a reporter at CNN, "the soldiers of Bravo Company, 216 Infantry had been under fire all morning from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms on the first day of Operation Ilaaj in Baghdad". A passing van then stopped and attempted to load a wounded man. [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. Home: Laytonsville, Maryland Served in: Baghdad (Rustamiyah) 07-08 Fort Riley, KS 06-07, 08-09, BACKGROUND ON ETHAN MCCORD: Branch of service: United States Army (USA) Unit: 1st ID Rank: Spc. [61] The longer video shows the third attack, in which Hellfire missiles were fired into a building.[43]. [29], A crew member requests authorization to engage after seeing five or six of the men moving in the direction of U.S. Ethan McCord describes the moment he realised Sajad Toman was alive In July 2007, 19 people were killed when an Apache helicopter opened fire on a group of Iraqis whom the pilots had identified. The promise we make to our sources is that not only will we defend them through every means that we have available technologically, legally and politically but we will try and get the maximum possible political impact for the material that they give to us. 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. [60] The Pentagon eventually blocked the FOIA request[25] despite several follow-up requests by Reuters. "[32][77] He said that WikiLeaks "does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. I know the scene by heart; it's burned into my head. [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".
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