Video cannot deny! US shotdead of 2 Reuters in Baghdad

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy...04/05/AR2010040503778.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Web site releases video of Baghdad attack that killed 2 journalists

By Garance Franke-Ruta
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 5, 2010; 5:41 PM

The WikiLeaks Web site on Monday released long-sought footage of what it said was a classified aerial video of a 2007 attack in a Baghdad suburb that killed two Reuters employees.

The Reuters new agency has pressed for release of the video since a helicopter strike on July 12, 2007, killed staff photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40, in a contested neighborhood of eastern Baghdad. The attack and its aftermath were detailed in depth in The Washington Post and in "The Good Soldiers," a book by Post reporter David Finkel.

WikiLeaks said that it had "obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a number of military whistleblowers" and verified its authenticity in conversations with "witnesses and journalists directly involved in the incident."

In the 17-minute black-and-white video, U.S. forces can be overheard targeting a group of men who were thought to be armed insurgents, then attacking a van as it attempted to load a wounded individual who had crawled away from the scene. Eldeen and Chmagh, part of the first group, are identified in the video.

WikiLeaks also released a transcript of conversations between the U.S. forces firing on the site. At one point, soldiers can be heard complimenting each other on their "good shoot."

"WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives gets the attention it deserves," the site, which publishes classified or otherwise hard-to-find material from whistleblowers, announced in releasing the video. "In this particular case, some of the people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting their lives at risk in order to report on war."
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The U.S. Central Command declined to offer immediate comment on the video's release, or to confirm its authenticity, but said it would be issuing a statement.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/wo.../story-e6frf7lf-1225850254984?from=public_rss

Leaked United States military video shows the shooting death of two Reuters journalists, 25 civilians near Baghdad, Iraq


Military video of reporters' deaths

A leaked US military video shows an attack on a group of allegedly unarmed men in Baghdad. Source: Herald Sun
U.S. helicopter allegedly fires on unarmed reporters
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SHOCKING FOOTAGE: A GRITTY war video circulating on the internet that shows US troops firing repeatedly on a group of men in Baghdad is authentic, a senior US military official says.

The video, posted on whistleblower website WikiLeaks, shows an attack helicopter circling a group of men, some of whom were unarmed, before opening fire.

WARNING: Video contains graphic scenes

The military official said the footage was of a July 12, 2007 firefight involving Army helicopters in the New Baghdad District of eastern Baghdad.

Among those believed to have been killed in the attack was Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver Saeed Chmagh, 40. Two children also were wounded.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the video, said the military could not confirm the identities of the Reuters employees in the film.


The Pentagon would not officially confirm the video's authenticity, despite repeated requests from The Associated Press.

"At this time, we are working to verify the source of the video, its veracity, and when or where it was recorded," a statement from US military headquarters in Iraq said.

The military also provided copies of portions of its inquiry into the July 2007 incident, again without confirming that the incident described in those documents was the same one posted by WikiLeaks.

According to a summary of the investigation, US troops acted appropriately.

Reuters employees were likely "intermixed among the insurgents" and difficult to distinguish because of their equipment, the document said.

"It is worth noting the fact that insurgent groups often video and photograph friendly activity and insurgent attacks against friendly forces for use in training videos and for use as propaganda to exploit or highlight their capabilities," it said.

The incident has been reported before, but the video had not been released.

The video provides a rare, disturbing close-up of modern urban warfare at a time when violence was near its peak in Baghdad and the US death toll was mounting.

In this incident, soldiers flying attack helicopters were called to assist ground troops who had been pinned down by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

According to US officials, the pilots arrived at the scene to find a group of men approaching the fight with what looked to be AK-47s and at least one rocket-propelled grenade.

A military investigation later concluded that what was thought to be an RPG was really a long-range photography lens. Likewise, the camera looked like an AK-47.

WikiLeaks posts video and documents passed along by anonymous sources. They posted the video of the July 2007 firefight at "collateralmurder.com".

The shooters can be heard asking for permission to engage, and one says "Light 'em up!"

Some men drop immediately, while at least one can be seen scrambling to get away.

"Ah, yeah, look at those dead bastards. Nice," one shooter says.

The helicopters later destroy a vehicle that arrived on the scene to help a wounded man.

When ground forces arrive, the video shows what looks to be a child being carried from the vehicle and US troops saying the child should be sent to a local Iraqi hospital.

"Well, it's their fault bringing their kids into the battle," a cockpit voice can be heard saying.

Navy Captain Jake Hanzlik, a spokesman for US Central Command, said US forces in Iraq recognise many of the images in the video posted at WikiLeaks and have no reason to believe it is a fake.

However, he said, they were still comparing the video and audio to see if it matched their own.

Headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida, Central Command is responsible for US military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Reuters said it could not verify the video was of its employees dying, even though it looks like one of the men killed had a camera over his shoulder.

The video was "graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result", said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters news.

Read more here

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100406...DeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDYXBzb3VyY2Vjb25m


AP source confirms video of Baghdad firefight
AP

AP source confirms video of Baghdad firefight Play Video AP – AP source confirms video of Baghdad firefight

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* Iraqis count cost of embassy attacks Play Video Iraq Video:Iraqis count cost of embassy attacks Reuters

This frame grab image taken from a video shot from a U.S. army Apache helicopter gun-sight, posted at Wikileaks.org and confirmed as authentic by a se AP – This frame grab image taken from a video shot from a U.S. army Apache helicopter gun-sight, posted at …
By ANNE FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer Anne Flaherty, Associated Press Writer – Mon Apr 5, 9:32 pm ET

WASHINGTON – A gritty war video circulating on the Internet that shows U.S. troops firing repeatedly on a group of men — some of whom were unarmed — walking down a Baghdad street is authentic, a senior U.S. military official confirmed Monday.

The official said the video posted at Wikileaks.org was of a July 12, 2007, firefight involving Army helicopters in the New Baghdad District of eastern Baghdad.

Among those believed to have been killed in that attack was Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver Saeed Chmagh, 40. Two children also were wounded.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the video, said the military could not confirm the identities of the Reuters employees in the film.

The Pentagon would not confirm the video's authenticity on the record, despite repeated requests from The Associated Press.

"At this time, we are working to verify the source of the video, its veracity, and when or where it was recorded," a statement from U.S. military headquarters in Iraq said late Monday.

The military also provided redacted copies of portions of its inquiry into the July 2007 incident, again without confirming that the incident described in those documents is the same one posted by Wikileaks.

According to a July 19 summary of the investigation, U.S. troops acted appropriately. Reuters employees were likely "intermixed among the insurgents" and difficult to distinguish because of their equipment, the document states.

"It is worth noting the fact that insurgent groups often video and photograph friendly activity and insurgent attacks against friendly forces for use in training videos and for use as propaganda to exploit or highlight their capabilities," the document concludes.

The incident has been reported before, but the video had not been released.

The video provides a rare, disturbing close-up of modern urban warfare at a time when violence was near its peak in Baghdad and the U.S. death toll was mounting.

In this incident, soldiers flying attack helicopters were called in to assist ground troops who had been pinned down by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades.

According to U.S. officials, the pilots arrived at the scene to find a group of men approaching the fight with what looked to be AK-47s slung over their shoulders and at least one rocket-propelled grenade.

A military investigation later concluded that what was thought to be an RPG was really a long-range photography lens; likewise, the camera looked like an AK-47.

Wikileaks.org posts video and documents passed along by anonymous sources. They posted the video of the July 2007 firefight at "collateralmurder.com."

The shooters can be heard asking for permission to engage, and one says "Light 'em up!"

Some men drop immediately, while at least one can be seen scrambling to get away.

"Ah, yeah, look at those dead bastards. Nice," one shooter says.

The helicopters later destroy a vehicle that arrived on the scene to help a wounded man. When ground forces arrive, the video shows what looks to be a child being carried from the vehicle and U.S. troops saying the child should be sent to a local Iraqi hospital.

"Well, it's their fault bringing their kids into the battle," a cockpit voice can be heard saying.

Navy Capt. Jake Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said U.S. forces in Iraq recognize many of the images in the video posted at Wikileaks.org and have no reason to believe it is a fake. However, he said, they were still comparing the video and audio to see if it matched their own.

Headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Fla., Central Command is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Reuters said it couldn't verify that the video was of its employees dying, even though it looks like one of the men killed had a camera slung over his shoulder.

The video is "graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result," said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters news.

Can defend Reporters of Iraq, but can NEVER defend SPH & Media Corpse!





http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/04/05/in_defense_of_iraq_war_reporters

In defense of Iraq war reporters
Posted By Ellen Knickmeyer Monday, April 5, 2010 - 3:17 PM Share


The morning of Feb. 22, 2006, Baghdad lurched into its deadliest three days of the Iraq conflict and came as close as it would to full-on sectarian war. It was clear in the first hours after that day's bombing of the golden-domed Shiite shrine in Samarra that Shiite militias would launch massive attacks in retaliation for the mosque's destruction. Myself and Jon Finer, then my colleague at the Washington Post bureau in Baghdad, headed with our Iraqi colleagues to the headquarters of Muqtada al Sadr's Jaish-al-Mahdi headquarters in Baghdad's Sadr City -- I in a Western female reporter's usual disguise of a black abaya that covered all but my face; Jon in his usual clever disguise of a swarthy, not-exceptionally tall guy, indistinguishable from most Iraqi men (see picture above).

Crossing Baghdad, we passed through the normal number of armed militia checkpoints. At the borders of Sadr City, we experienced the not-normal event of a car loaded with gunmen leaning out their windows, AK-47s pointed, to force our car to the side of the road. They stuck their guns through the car window in my face. Our Iraqi security chief rushed to insert himself between myself and the guns. He calmed down the gunmen. Once in Sadr City, we watched cars similarly loaded with Shiite gunmen spread out into Baghdad proper to exact revenge wholesale from Baghdad's Sunnis. In the courtyard of the Sadr offices, filled with excited, milling men with AKs, we heard a Western voice cry out -- a little louder than Jon and I would have liked in the circumstances. "Jon! Hey, Jon!" It was Borzou Daragahi, of the Los Angeles Times, also in the headquarters of what for that day was Murder Inc. It became evident that many other Western reporters were out in Baghdad that day, and the following ones as well.

The day after the bombing, Iraqi colleagues at the Washington Post and I went to the Baghdad morgue to try to determine just how bad the week's Shiite slaughter of Sunnis was. We bypassed the morgue's front office -- the morgue, as part of the Health Ministry, was under Sadr's control; I didn't expect to get any honest numbers from the Sadr-affiliated morgue directors about the extent of the killing by Shiite militias. At the morgue, we saw crowds of Sunni families who'd come to try to find the bodies of men and boys who'd been taken away by Shiite militias. The morgue registrar helpfully showed myself and the Sunni families a computer photo album of the dead inside, punching with an index finger through screen after screen of photos of tortured faces streaked with blood and bearing grimaces or vacant looks. Leaning over a counter, the Washington Post Iraqi staffers and I heard the morgue's computer registrar remark repeatedly -- by way of explaining the day's poor customer service to the bereaved families -- that the morgue had taken in the bodies of more than 1,300 victims of Shiite-Sunni violence since the Samarra bombing. The 1,000-plus figure was also later confirmed by U.N. officials in Baghdad, drawing on their own sources within the Iraqi government, and by one of our Iraqi staffers via an official and acquaintance inside the Health Ministry.

When our story and others came out, every U.S. official from Gen. George Casey -- then the head commander in Iraq -- on down denied them. The military issued a press release quoting Casey as stating that Baghdad was "stable, calm, and peaceful." "So the country is not awash in sectarian violence,'' Casey told the talk shows, even as Sadr's Health Ministry was setting up refrigerated trucks outside the morgue to handle the overflow of victims slain by Sadr's militias and others. "I don't see it happening, certainly anytime in the near term." Only later, as reporting on the killing persisted through 2006, did U.S. officials finally back down from the pretense that all was hunky-dory in Iraq. How gratifying it was for me this year, hearing a Bush administration official who'd been influential in Iraq casually mention in a speech that more than 1,000 people died in Iraq in one day after the Samarra bombing. Yeah. Like I said.

My point: contrary to Marc Lynch's concern that "For years, journalists (even those not living in the Green Zone) were forced either to huddle down in offices and rely on stringers, or else go out into the field with the military as embeds," not all Western reporters in Iraq were huddled down, nor reliant on embeds. After the Samarra bombing, we didn't all turn anxiously to the U.S. military to tell us what they were seeing, and how we should interpret it. We were doing what reporters are supposed to do: tell what they see, and make people in power uncomfortable about it if possible. With the great exception of the Anbar province, the stronghold of the Sunni insurgency, where only a very few reporters ventured independently during the worst of the violence, we managed to do that.

<object width="640" height="385">


<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r-FvRngn81Y&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></object>

Pict: seconds before they were gunned down by 'CH18': view U tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is9sxRfU-ik&#t=3m13s.

​

US Troops Kill Civilians in Iraq and Cover it up Wikileaks Video 1 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-FvRngn81Y
US Troops Kill Civilians in Iraq and Cover it up Wikileaks Video 2 of 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvA6hGjttdw
WikiLeaks Iraq Shooting Video Analysis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20LkYvEZOZs