Plus: Irans secret torture black sites, hacking a bank account with AI-generated voice, and Lance Bass unhinged encounter in Russia. Eamonn McCann Mon Aug 19 2013 - 20:49 Bradley Manning was scheduled to speak yesterday at the sentencing phase of his trial for having leaked 750,000 pages of classified documents and videos to. Both children were said to have been evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base Loyalty, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day. A Pentagon spokesman said 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 were carrying a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). 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. McCord: When it was first released I don't think it was done in the best manner that it could have been. After getting permission to fire, the Apache crew fired on the van. Ethan was on the ground at the scene of the shooting, and is seen on the video rushing one of the injured children to a U.S. The film received an Oscar nomination in January. I do know that there was a teenage girl [in there], just because I saw the pictures when I was there, that one of the soldiers took. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. [16][18][30] After the lead helicopter fires, one of the crew shouts "Hahaha. They also found 10-year-old Sajad Mutashar and his five-year-old sister Doaha covered in blood in a van. She continued, "the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are inflicting huge psychological damage on combatants". Well in all actuality, we brought the battle to your kids. And cracking jokes is a way of pushing that stuff down. More than a dozen people were killed in three attacks captured in the video, including two Reuters journalists, one carrying a camera that was apparently mistaken for a weapon. 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. When the cameraman on the ground aimed his camera in the direction of Bravo Company 216, a pilot remarked "He's getting ready to fire". Their 43-year-old father, Saleh, had been driving them to a class when he spotted one of the wounded men moving in the street and drove over to help him, only to become a victim of the Apache guns. 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". They arrived on station in New Baghdad at 9:53a.m., where sporadic attacks on coalition forces continued. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. Wired's Kim Zetter reached McCord at his home in Kansas. 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. If you or I saw someone wounded on the ground what is your first inkling? I know the scene by heart; it's burned into my head. Ethan McCord who says he scooped up the children and at least one of his comrades say the incident revealed the bankrupt brutality of the war. When this video first came out, there was a lot of outrage by the soldiers, just because it depicted us as being callous, cruel, heartless people, and we're not that way. I'm guilty of it, too, myself. The ground troops that secured the site of the first two strikes then receive small arms fire from nearby buildings. [43] He walks into a building which has been identified as the source of fire at U.S. ground troops. Lawmakers are increasingly hellbent on punishing the popular social network while efforts to pass a broader privacy law have dwindled. Fox News reported in 2010 that the rules of engagement in Iraq had not been changed since the incident occurred. Ethan Mccord and Josh Stieber deployed to Baghdad with Bravo Company 2-16 in 2007. Series of air-to-ground attacks conducted in New Baghdad during the Iraqi insurgency, An AH-64 Apache helicopter, the type used in the attack, Arrest, convictions and sentencing of Manning, Attack on personnel and a van per U.S. Army report account, Attack on building per U.S. Army report account, Julian Assange's comments regarding U.S. Army report, List of coalition military operations of the Iraq War 2007, "In Disclosing Secret Documents, WikiLeaks Seeks 'Transparency', "Video Shows U.S. They did have weapons there. Ethan McCord, a 33-year-old Army specialist, was engaged in a firefight with insurgents in an Iraqi suburb in July 2007, when his platoon, part of Bravo Company, 2-16 Infantry, got orders to. [97] On July 30, Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge, that of aiding the enemy, for giving secrets to WikiLeaks. You don't just take somebody's life and then go on about your business for the rest of the day. Wired.com: What did you understand that to mean? "Our forces were engaged in combat all that day with individuals that fit the description of the men in that video. [94], WikiLeaks said they were unable to confirm whether or not Manning was the source of the video, stating "we never collect personal information on our sources", but saying that "if [Manning is the] whistleblower then, without doubt, [s]he's a national hero"[95] and "we have taken steps to arrange for [her] protection and legal defence". 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. Gabriel Schoenfeld, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, said of the airstrike: It is precisely the presence of weapons, including RPGs, that goes a long distance toward explaining why cameramen for Reuterspointing television cameras around corners in a battle zonewere readily mistaken by our gunships for insurgents. The soldier in the video said that your husband shouldn't have brought your children to battle, but we are acknowledging our responsibility for bringing the battle to your neighborhood, and to your family. [22], In the video on the morning of July 12, 2007, the crews of two United States Army AH-64 Apache helicopters observe a gathering of men near a section of Baghdad in the path of advancing U.S. ground troops, some armed with AKMs and RPGs. [23] Among the group are two journalists working for Reuters, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. WikiLeaks stated that the footage shows the "murder of Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists". We're sorry for the system that we were involved in that took their father's life and injured them. [25] Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com said that "the vast majority of the men were clearly unarmed". Ad Choices, U.S. We've been there for so long now and it seems like nothing is being accomplished whatsoever, except for we're making more people hate us. When a congressman tried to jail him for his actions that day he . [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. As the ground troops advanced, a wounded Chmagh was seen crawling and attempting to stand. It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically injured or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your country. [47] The Australian newspaper said the group was displaying "no obvious hostile action". In the video, you can clearly see that they did have weapons to the trained eye. It was nominated as a Documentary Short Subject for the 84th Academy Awards. He gave his view of the context of the killings: the Reuters guys walked into the hottest spot of a very hot morning. It claimed reporters' "furtive attempts to photograph the Coalition Ground Forces made them appear as hostile combatants". [32] The legal review carried out by the U.S. Army stated that the two children were evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base Loyalty, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day. They split up and the footage follows one who appears to be armed. I was trying to wash it off in my room. This is urban combat and we're taking the war to children and women and innocents. US Soldiers from Wikileaks Collateral Murder Video Apologize. [103], On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment, reduction in rank from private first class to private, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge. I've lived with seeing the children that way since the incident happened. From our own experiences, and the experiences of other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region. 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. He later sought help for psychological trauma, but was ridiculed by his NCO and told that if he were to go to the mental health officer, "there would be repercussions". [65][66] I can accept their apology, because they saved my children, and if it were not for them, maybe my two little children would be dead. In 2009, Stieber left the military as a conscientious objector and became a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. Ethan McCord was a U.S. soldier on patrol in Baghdad in July 2007 when he came upon a scene he says he'd never encountered. Minutes after the first engagement ended, the van returned traveling in an opposite direction (north) once again on this same road. 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. I always questioned it in the back of my mind. Soldier Ethan McCord speaking about the civilian massacre documented in WikiLeaks's April 2010 vid. The missile hits the building, and the man is caught in the explosion. McCord: It was random sporadic spurts. McCord added, "I don't say that Wikileaks did a bad thing, because they didn't. For about 5 to 10 minutes the team diverted its attention to this vehicle. It shouldn't have surprised you what you saw. WikiLeaks identified the leak's source as "a number of military whistleblowers". Personally, I believe the first attack on the group standing by the wall was appropriate, was warranted by the rules of engagement. They're smoking you, they're making you tired. When the crew were informed that a child had been injured by their attack, one initially responded, "Ah damn. [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." They're like, oh yeah, we're the "collateral murder" company. The majority of us aren't. In fact, that's one of the reasons I went to the van immediately, because I could hear her crying. She said that she was "aghast" at Finkel's portrayal of the incident. But the video and accompanying audio make clear that the soldiers in the helicopter said they spotted 'weapons' among those in the grouplater identified by an internal army investigator as an AK-47 and an RPG. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Soldier on 2007 Apache Attack: What I Saw", "Redacted internal US Army report: "Investigation into Civilian Casualties Resulting from an Engagement on 12 July 2007 in the New Baghdad District of Baghdad", "WikiLeaks releases video of slaughter in Iraq", "Military shooting of Reuters men online", "Joan Smith: Now we see what war does to those who wage it", "US soldier on Baghdad airstrike: "Not out of the ordinary in Iraq", "2 soldiers in 'Collateral Murder' video apologize. McCord: I doubt that they were a part of that firefight. Wired.com: Wikileaks presented the incident as though there was no engagement from insurgents. Daniel Ellsberg, a former United States military analyst who was known for having leaked the Pentagon Papers to the media, said of the airstrike: It would be interesting to have someone speculate or tell us exactly what context would lead to justifying the killing that we see on the screen. They're trained as soldiers to go into a building and clear a building. The event was covered by Al Jazeera English and Reuters,[16] and later by The Washington Post,[82] The New York Times,[2] The Christian Science Monitor,[83] the BBC,[66] and CNN. Josh states that these casualties demonstrate the impact of U.S. military policy on both the civilians and the soldiers on the ground. I think it is good that they're putting this stuff out there. In addition to five[98][99] or six[100][101][102] espionage counts, she was also found guilty of five theft specifications, two computer fraud specifications and multiple military infractions. We have been speaking to whoever will listen, telling them that what was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering we have created. Apache helicopters were called in by a soldier in the Humvee (Hotel 26) under attack from the same position used by Namir Noor-Eldeen to photograph the vehicle. A unit from Bravo Company 216 was within 100 meters of the individuals that were fired upon with 30mm AH-64 Apache cannons. We humbly ask you what we can do to begin to repair the damage we caused. One second later he screams, "He's got an RPG!" And I picked him up and started running with him over to the Bradley. I grabbed the medic and we went into the back. I was pretty distraught over the whole situation with the children. Please accept our apology, our sorrow, our care, and our dedication to change from the inside out. "These people can put out anything they want, and they're never held accountable for it. A passing van then stopped and attempted to load a wounded man. 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). These people were operating in split second situations.". There's houses behind where the van was. The story was then overtaken by a more updated one out of Washington that incorporated reporting from the original piece. [38] The children, a girl and boy, suffered injuries. So I just sucked it up and tried to move on with everything. [96] Her trial on the remaining charges began on June 3, 2013. [60] The Pentagon eventually blocked the FOIA request[25] despite several follow-up requests by Reuters. 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. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. [45][114], "Cameramen and armed insurgents" (all captions from the Army report), "Cameraman peering around corner of wall", "Pictures taken by ground forces after reaching the site". Our government may ignore you, concerned more with its public image. From our own experiences, and the experiences of other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region. [18][19] The crew estimates the group is twenty men. When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they reported finding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. How to Make Sure Youre Not Accidentally Sharing Your Location, Security News This Week: Sensitive US Military Emails Exposed. [58] Reuters subsequently asked the U.S. military to probe the deaths. [118][119], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}331849N 443043E / 33.3137N 44.512E / 33.3137; 44.512 (Airstrike of 2007-07-12).