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. There's houses behind where the van was. In the first example maybe it's collateral exaggeration or incompetence when they strafe the initial gathering, this is recklessness bordering on murder, but you couldn't say for sure that was murder. In fact, that's one of the reasons I went to the van immediately, because I could hear her crying. The girl suffered from a stomach wound and glass in her eyes, and the boy a head injury. 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. 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. Just from looking into the van, and the amount of blood that was on the boy and the father, I immediately figured they were dead. Since then, McCord has been receiving threats to him and his family on a regular basis. After the incident, we went back to the FOB [forward operating base] and that's when I was in my room. There is no bringing back all that was lost. But you're not supposed to do that in Iraq. I was pretty distraught over the whole situation with the children. I think it is good that they're putting this stuff out there. 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. All rights reserved. What was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering we have created. It shouldn't have surprised you what you saw. You can see in this particular image he is lying on the ground and the people in the van have been separated, but they still deliberately target him. [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. I had blood all down the front of me from the children. I don't think that people really want to see this, though, because this is war. [16][18][30] After the lead helicopter fires, one of the crew shouts "Hahaha. Our government may ignore you, concerned more with its public image. 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. Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy, convicted of six counts of espionage", "Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy for giving secrets to WikiLeaks", "BBC News Bradley Manning guilty of espionage in Wikileaks case", "Manning Gets 35 years for wikileaks disclosures", "Bradley Manning Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison For WikiLeaks Disclosures", "Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison live updates", "Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years", "Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's prison sentence", "Obama's final press conference: Chelsea Manning commutation is 'appropriate', "The WikiLeaks Video and the Rules of Engagement", "Exclusive: Reuters Chief Spikes Story on Killing of His Own Staffers In Baghdad", "US 'reviewing' Iraq killing video posted on WikiLeaks", "Ingi Ingason Ragnar and Kristinn Hrafnsson awarded International Journalism and Human Rights Award at Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival", "Verleihung des Whistleblower-Preises 2011", Whistleblower-Preis 2011 geht an Kernforscher, Collateral Murder: U.S. It's painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. [57], Reuters reported that it could locate no witnesses who had seen gunmen in the immediate area. I grabbed the medic and we went into the back. So I just sucked it up and tried to move on with everything. [115], 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. I did see a guy moving from a rooftop from one position to another with an AK-47, who was firing at us. I have a huge place in my heart for children, having some of my own. It could be that since he and Amelia (Sigrid Thornton) have quit. Both of these men, Chmagh and Tomal, were killed in the second strike, and two of Tomal's children were badly wounded. [17] Julian Assange said "permission to engage was given before the word 'RPG' was ever used". The Wikileaks videos also do not reveal the hundreds upon hundreds of cases in which American forces refrain from attacking targets precisely because civilians are in harm's way.[80]. She was crying. [62] At a February 2013 pretrial hearing, Manning stated that Finkel "was quoting, I feel in verbatim, the audio communications of the aerial weapons team crew". The boy's alive!" I did see a video on YouTube after the Wikileaks [ video ] came out, of the children being interviewed. Wired.com: Have you heard from any other soldiers since the video came out? 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. We were engaged in our own conflict roughly about three or four blocks away. 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". When the helicopter pilots discover that they have killed a number of Iraqi civilians and wounded two children, one of them is heard to say: "Well, its their fault for bringing their kids into a battle".[41]. Wired.com: Did you try to get information about the two children after the shooting? [39][40] Just as the van was destroyed, U.S. ground troops made their final turn and arrived on the road with the van. The company was supported by two Apache helicopters from the 1st Cavalry Division's Aviation Brigade, call signs "Crazyhorse 1/8" and "Crazyhorse 1/9". Ethan McCord, a former US soldier, has shown great courage and integrity by exposing and condemning US war crimes in Iraq. Many soldiers felt threatened just by the fact that you were looking at them, so they fired their weapons on anybody that was looking at them because they (I . They were stating that these people had no weapons whatsoever, that they were just carrying cameras. However, I do know some soldiers went in to clear that building afterwards and there were some people with weapons in there, but there was also a family of four that was killed. [59][16] In a personal statement during her court-martial, Chelsea Manning stated that the military had access to the video, and was actively examining it, yet it told Reuters in response to the FOIA request that the information might no longer exist. [17], In an interview with Fox News Assange said that "it's likely some of the individuals seen in the video were carrying weapons" and "based upon visual evidence I suspect there probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything. We did unto you what we would not want done to us. [96] Her trial on the remaining charges began on June 3, 2013. We acknowledge our part in the deaths and injuries of your loved ones as we tell Americans what we were trained to do and what we carried out in the name of "god and country". Part of Banksy's, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 21:26. There had been running gun battles. On June 7, 2010, The New Yorker reported that Kristinn Hrafnsson, an investigative reporter who worked on the Collateral Murder video and later became a spokesman for WikiLeaks,[54] said he had found the owner of the building involved in the incident. Solemnly and Sincerely, Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army. Among the group were two Iraqi war correspondents working for Reuters, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. McCord: I wasn't around that building when it happened. FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. As the pilot positions the helicopter to attack the building, two unarmed men walk towards, and perhaps into, the building. We have asked our fellow veterans and service-members, as well as civilians both in the United States and abroad, to sign in support of this letter, and to offer their names as a testimony to our common humanity, to distance ourselves from the destructive policies of our nation's leaders, and to extend our hands to you. One second later he screams, "He's got an RPG!" "[32], The Guardian stated "It is unclear if some of the men are armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera". The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. McCord's courage and integrity has nothing to do with his US army training. They were destroyed. I wasn't thinking about it as much. Advertisement. They did have weapons there. These people were operating in split second situations.". 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. [65][66] Nearly every Iraqi household has a rifle or an AK. That stays with you. On July 12, 2007, a series of air-to-ground attacks were conducted by a team of two U.S. AH-64 Apache helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, New Baghdad, during the Iraqi insurgency which followed the invasion of Iraq. He runs the girl to the Bradley. [32] Assange also said "it's ludicrous to allege that we have taken anything out of context in this video". She had a stomach wound? Using short sentences, similar punctuation, or using the same words frequently as well as using Grammarly can boost your content as AI written. Ad Choices, U.S. "When I did come up on the scene, there was an RPG as well as AK-47s there," he said. Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. In the first strike, the crews of two Apaches directed 30mm cannon fire at a group of ten Iraqi men, including some armed,[17][18][19] standing less than 100 meters away from U.S. ground troops at a location where insurgents earlier that day had attacked an American Humvee with small arms fire. I don't think that [the] big picture is whether or not [the Iraqis who were killed] had weapons. In July 2007, McCord, a 33-year-old Army specialist, was engaged in a firefight with insurgents in an Iraqi suburb when his platoon, part of Bravo Company, 2-16 Infantry, got orders to investigate a nearby street. On April 5, 2010, the attacks received worldwide coverage and controversy following the release of 39 minutes of gunsight footage by the Internet whistleblower website WikiLeaks. It's very disturbing. Reuters also stated that local police described the attack as "random American bombardment". [2], After the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement", WikiLeaks released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing the rules before, during, and after the attacks. Assange responded:[69][70]. [60] The Pentagon eventually blocked the FOIA request[25] despite several follow-up requests by Reuters. 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. That's a violation of the laws of war and of course what the mainstream media have omitted from their stories is this context. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. McCord: I have never seen anybody being shot by a 30-millimeter round before. The second strike, also using 30mm rounds, was directed at a van whose driver, Saleh Matasher Tomal, appeared to happen to drive by and who proceeded to help the wounded Chmagh. 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." BACKGROUND ON JOSH STIEBER: Branch of service: United States Army (USA) Unit: 1st ID Rank: Spc. 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. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. [Then] we were just told to move to this [other] location. Was it reasonable for the Apache soldiers to think that maybe the people they attacked were part of that insurgent firefight? She draws parallels with soldiers who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder in earlier wars. You don't just take somebody's life and then go on about your business for the rest of the day. [38] The children, a girl and boy, suffered injuries. 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. I was trying to wash it off in my room. Wired.com: Do you support Wikileaks in releasing this video? He gave his view of the context of the killings: the Reuters guys walked into the hottest spot of a very hot morning. Those guys could have just been protecting their area". 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 . Ethan and Josh are available for interviews. They request permission to fire a missile at the building, describing it as "abandoned" or "under construction". There's no easy way to kill somebody. Since then, McCord has been receiving threats to him and his family on a regular basis. McCord was captured in a video shot from one helicopter as he ran frantically to a military vehicle with Sajad in his arms seeking medical care. [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. They split up and the footage follows one who appears to be armed. There is no bringing back all that was lost. "[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. McCord: There were approximately two to three other people who were moving who were still somewhat alive, and the medics were attending to them. [18][25][31] Chmagh was killed[18][25][31] along with three other men, while two children, not known to be in the van to the U.S. forces, were injured. 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]. Josh states that these casualties demonstrate the impact of U.S. military policy on both the civilians and the soldiers on the ground. On 19 April 2010, Ethan McCord, who appears on the ground in the video, and Josh Steiber, a member of the same company who was not present on the day, wrote an open Letter of Reconciliation & Responsibility to the Iraqi People apologising for the events in the video. The flood of emotions came back. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. When he is rescued, suddenly that belief changed. The review was not released in full until 2010, after the video of the incident had been released by WikiLeaks. [23] Among the group are two journalists working for Reuters, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. He opened his eyes when I was carrying him. Well in all actuality, we brought the battle to your kids. It happened because my content was bad. Give us a picture of what happened that day. I think that the bigger picture is what are we doing there? [61] Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, a U.S. Defense official confirmed the authenticity of the leaked audio and video. China Is Relentlessly Hacking Its Neighbors. 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. [42] According to the internal legal review, the helicopters engaged a group of armed insurgents, and that some were seen entering a nearby building. US Soldiers from Wikileaks Collateral Murder Video Apologize. It claimed reporters' "furtive attempts to photograph the Coalition Ground Forces made them appear as hostile combatants". But youyou talked about the fog of war. "[111] An article at Gawker stated that Reuters reporter Luke Baker had written an article claiming that the airstrikes may have been war crimes, but Reuters refused to run the story. There had been a lot of RPG, grenade fire and so on, and they were doing what journalists do. Seven men (including Noor-Eldeen) were killed during this first strike; Saeed Chmagh, who was injured, later died in a hospital. Josh . This is why we called it Collateral Murder. Lawmakers are increasingly hellbent on punishing the popular social network while efforts to pass a broader privacy law have dwindled. 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 would be smoked. Ethan McCord: Right. (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. That's the hard part to swallow. Two former soldiers from the Army unit responsible for the Wikileaks "Collateral Murder" incident have written an open-letter of "Reconciliation and Responsibility" to those injured in the July 2007 attack, in which U.S. forces wounded two children and killed over a dozen people, including the father of those children and two Reuters employees. The film received an Oscar nomination in January. There's also some soldiers who joke about it [as a] coping mechanism. [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. They also found 10-year-old Sajad Mutashar and his five-year-old sister Doaha covered in blood in a van. [Then I] took my children to school one day and I came home and sat down on the couch and turned on the TV with my coffee, and on the news I'm running across the screen with a child. "These people can put out anything they want, and they're never held accountable for it. [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. "I grabbed him and ran to the Bradley myself". When a congressman tried to jail him for his actions that day he . In an interview on NPR on April 6, the day after the Collateral Murder video release, David Finkel said that the Reuters reporters were not embedded with anyone, but working independently. Their overall mission that day was to protect us, to provide support for us, so I can see where the initial attack on the group of men was warranted. 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