For a while I read about some American intelligence services trying to shutdown Wikileaks for a video of what I think can safely be called a senseless massacre. Today they finally released the video (below) with all it's gory details.
[youtube=425,350]5rXPrfnU3G0[/youtube]
The apparent justification for this "engagement" is the use of a large telephoto on a corner, which you can actually see in the footage, supposedly confused for a RPG. Perhaps my knowledge on weapons is low but the RPGs I've seen in TV, movies and games don't look like that although the lens certainly looks suspicious. The obvious detail is that everyone looks relaxed and pretty much "normal" and even during the shooting never looked (to me) trying to "engage" anyone. To top it off the guy who had the brilliant idea to help someone shot in the ground gets killed and his daughters wounded.
Beyond the obvious anger after watching the video, I wonder how many incidents like this happen in so called 'theatres of war' and how many people will attempt retribution after them (like the Moscow hits last week).
Life seems to be as cheap as the bullets used to extinguish it.
Horrible, just horrible. Definitely overzealous.
No words are adequate.
Quote from: MentalBlock996 on April 05, 2010, 10:42:29 PM
Horrible, just horrible. Definitely overzealous.
Not even over zealous. They were looking for any excuse to shoot "camel jockeys" or whatever slur you want to apply and others who get caught in the cross hairs don't matter (it was their fault for bringing their kids, remember?). They were the wrong color to be on our side and in the wrong part of the world, and I'd be willing to say that this probably wouldn't have happened in any other part of the world (except possibly Muslim Africa or Indonesia).
Yup, if you go by that we're (the US I mean) racist monsters. This is what trillions of dollars buys. They should take discharge everyone involved ride up the chain of command
There is a minor mitigating factor, according to the Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/wikileaks-exposes-video-o_n_525569.html):
Quote from: HuffPo articleThe helicopter crew, which was patrolling an area that had been the scene of fierce fighting that morning, said they spotted weapons on members of the first group -- although the video shows one gun, at most. The crew also mistook a telephoto lens for a rocket-propelled grenade.
Sounds like the classic shoot first ask questions later. Also questions the wisdom of having overworked crews overseeing areas full of civilians, they basically assumed that whomever was on the ground was "the enemy" and proceeded likewise.
As for the cover up, that is standard procedure everywhere, I'd like to see
any army admitting fault rather than claiming than they were engaged or any other plausible deniability to avoid the responsibility of their actions and/or policies.
Again, the stupidity of "collateral damage" only damages the cause of the offender and empowers the real enemy.
Just goes to show: If you equip young testosterone-filled youngsters with exceedingly lethal weapons, then run them to the limit of their endurance (paying little attention to their state of mind), you're going to get what you get.
If all you have is a hammer-- everything starts to look like a nail.
If all you have are massively deadly machine guns, everyone starts to look like a target.
Whereas the kids in the video were clearly hyped on "battle zone mentality", I only partially fault them-- the true fault lies in their commanders, failing to pull them back from the edge in a timely fashion.
I know the troops are spread thin and overworked.
But their training is exactly what the video shows: shoot first, maybe ask questions after.
Fine in a full-on war, where anyone not in your uniform is an enemy soldier.
Disaster in a limited police action.... as we saw in the video.
The commanders up to the general-in-charge ought to be charged with the full responsibility, whereas the actual soldiers in question just disciplined for failing to exercise initiative-- we are not the soviets...
That is really shocking.
I cannot for the life of me think why they attacked the van driver.
Even if he was an "enemy insurgent" he was taking a wounded man to safety.
I similar story of "Friendly Fire" against a british army convoy was in the press a while back
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/feb/07/iraq.military
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1541724/Transcript-of-the-friendly-fire-video.html
Again the american military announced first attempted to supress the tape and later decalired that the pilots had be acting correctly and that the matter would be resolved internally.
If the can't even identify their own allies. Whose positons should be recorded. Who are transmitting on radio and who have marked their vehciles in an agree manner then what hope does anyone else have the ground?
Ah here is the video that was shown at the inquest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I6-2NJhnf4
On other occasions all ambulances were deliberately targeted* because it was assumed that they were used to transport weapons or injured enemies to safety. A hospital near Fallujah was bombed during the operations there (that did not leave much of the town intact) with the same reasoning. No warning was issued in either case.
The idea seems to be that the enemy will use 'immune' locations (schools, hospitals, churches/mosques etc.) as operating bases and thus all those places should be the primary target. If the enemy does not wear uniforms then anyone without a uniform must be the enemy. But the cunning bastards also use police or military uniforms as disguise, so everyone wearing those must be considered to be the enemy too.** In other words: Kill 'em all, The Lord knows his own.
*Iirc this is also SOP of the Israeli military.
**If she admits to be awitch then she will be burned based on her confession. If she denies to be a witch, she will be burned since witches always lie and claim not to be witches.
You don't have to be particularily cynical to start wondering whether the difference between a terrorist and a legitimate state is the price of the weapons they use.
Besides, I am a bit surprised at the reactions this video has stirred up in media. This isn't anything new -not even the gun camera video part. Still, better late than never, I suppose.
There's stir in Europe? Here it was barely mentioned...
:smite:
Winning hearts and minds just like always! :mrgreen: I'm sure the engagement rules have a lot to do with a frustrated military. There's a reason why this place is the Graveyard of Empires. The US should declare victory and leave.