When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they reported finding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. The Washington Post has denied having any copy of the unedited video prior to WikiLeaks release of their edited version, and Finkel (who was on book leave from The Washington Post at the time) said that he has never made any statement about his sources for the story, except that it was "sourced from unclassified information and my presence in the area that day". 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. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. There were some people taking pot shots, sniper shots, at us on the rooftop. 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. [87], McCord discussed his experience in the battle in an interview with the World Socialist Web Site on April 28, 2010, stating, "What happened then was not an isolated incident. Solemnly and Sincerely, Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army. You joke about the situations and what's happened to push away your true feelings of the matter. He runs the girl to the Bradley. They're like, oh yeah, we're the "collateral murder" company. 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. 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." They arrived on station in New Baghdad at 9:53a.m., where sporadic attacks on coalition forces continued. That's not leaking, that's a pure editorial." McCord, who served seven years in the military before leaving in the summer of 2009 due to injuries, recently posted an apologetic letter online with fellow soldier Josh Steiber supporting the release of the video and asking the family's forgiveness. Ethan McCord, a former US soldier, has shown great courage and integrity by exposing and condemning US war crimes in Iraq. [42] According to the internal legal review, the helicopters engaged a group of armed insurgents, and that some were seen entering a nearby building. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. "[4] The New York Times wrote that "Critics contend that the shorter video was misleading because it did not make clear that the attacks took place amid clashes in the neighborhood and that one of the men was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade. So I went to a sergeant and asked to see [the mental health person], because I was having a hard time dealing with it. [58] Reuters subsequently asked the U.S. military to probe the deaths. We did unto you what we would not want done to us. One of the first soldiers on the scene after the air attack, Ethan McCord, is now the subject of a short documentary, Incident in New Baghdad, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. I'm guilty of it, too, myself. WikiLeaks identified the leak's source as "a number of military whistleblowers". [16] The military reported that it could not find its copy of the video. 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. 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. WikiLeaks stated 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. Ad Choices, U.S. [61] The longer video shows the third attack, in which Hellfire missiles were fired into a building.[43]. After the incident, we went back to the FOB [forward operating base] and that's when I was in my room. The footage was portrayed as classified,[7] but the individual who leaked it, U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning,[a] testified in 2013 that the video was not classified. Wired's Kim Zetter reached McCord at his home in Kansas. Towards the end of the show, the star actor became an active member of the Screen Actors Guild and after he left "Adam-12." [59], An internal legal review by staff at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Iraq during July 2007 stated that the helicopters had attacked a number of armed insurgents within the rules of engagement, and that in an apparent case of civilian casualties two reporters working for Reuters had also been killed. Josh . 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]. Tasked to conduct escort, armed reconnaissance patrols, and counter-IED and counter-mortar operations, the two helicopters left Camp Taji at 9:24a.m. [23] Among the group are two journalists working for Reuters, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. He is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while standing next to the man holding the RPG". [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. He gave his view of the context of the killings: the Reuters guys walked into the hottest spot of a very hot morning. It's very disturbing. 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 Apache crew then alerted the ground troops that they believed that they could see an injured child moving around inside the destroyed van. Minutes after the first engagement ended, the van returned traveling in an opposite direction (north) once again on this same road. I didn't know if he was telling me that just to get me to shut up and to do my job or if he really found something out. You can hear the medic saying on the video, "There's nothing I can do here, she needs to be evac'd." McCord: She had a stomach wound and she had glass in her eyes and in her hair. Home: Wichita, Kansas, AN OPEN LETTER OF RECONCILIATION & RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE From Current and Former Members of the U.S. Military. It was sent back for more reporting in an effort to incorporate a wider range of experts. The review was not released in full until 2010, after the video of the incident had been released by WikiLeaks. [92][93] The Internet chats between Manning and Lamo were revealed to the public by Wired. "[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. Assange responded: Yes, absolutely Our promise to the public is that we will release the full source material. [91], In May 2010, a 22-year-old American Army intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning, was arrested after telling hacker Adrian Lamo she had leaked the airstrike video, along with a video of another airstrike and around 260,000 diplomatic cables, to WikiLeaks. Wired.com: Was anyone moving when you got there other than the two children? 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]. The story was then overtaken by a more updated one out of Washington that incorporated reporting from the original piece. 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. [81], Publicity of the incident ballooned following the release of the footage. Fox News reported in 2010 that the rules of engagement in Iraq had not been changed since the incident occurred. That's a violation of the laws of war and of course what the mainstream media have omitted from their stories is this context. Josh Stieber was in the same company but was not there that day, though he contributed to the your pain, and the pain of your community on many other occasions. I was trying to wash it off in my room. It could be that since he and Amelia (Sigrid Thornton) have quit. [81] When the crew were informed that a child had been injured by their attack, one initially responded, "Ah damn. Give us a picture of what happened that day. BACKGROUND ON JOSH STIEBER: Branch of service: United States Army (USA) Unit: 1st ID Rank: Spc. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Soldier Ethan McCord speaking about the civilian massacre documented in WikiLeaks's April 2010 vid. That classified video created its own firestorm when the whistleblower site Wikileaks posted it April 5 on a website titled "Collateral Murder" and asserted that the attack was unprovoked. 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 the hard part to swallow. [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". 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. I based the account in my book on multiple sources, all unclassified". [117], In June 2011 the Federation of German Scientists (VDW) awarded the "Whistleblower Award" to the person who made the video Collateral Murder public via WikiLeaks. Lying dead on a street were inanimate objects that turned out to be. It happened because my content was bad. WikiLeaks also does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. Both of these men, Chmagh and Tomal, were killed in the second strike, and two of Tomal's children were badly wounded. 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. We were probably there on the roof for another four to five hours. [18] Both helicopters strafe a group of ten men with 30 mm rounds once they became visible again. 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. All rights reserved. [28] Noor-Eldeen has a camera and Chmagh is talking on his mobile phone. And that in turn is what helped me and Josh write the letter, hoping that it would find its way to them to let them know that we're sorry. Soldier on 2007 Apache Attack: What I Saw, Ethan McCord had just returned from dropping his children at school earlier this month, when he turned on the TV news to see grainy black-and-white video footage of a soldier running from a bombed-out van with a child in his arms. [84], Finkel had reported the day in his book The Good Soldiers,[62] including conversations which closely matched the subsequently leaked video footage. They heard about something, they came to it and they just wantedfrom everything I've learned since, they were just there to get that side of the story. Major Brent Cummings claimed they took great pains to prevent the loss of innocent civilian lives. [64] The footage was released during an April 5 press conference at the US National Press Club, and subsequently on a designated website titled Collateral Murder. You don't just take somebody's life and then go on about your business for the rest of the day. Since then, McCord has been receiving threats to him and his family on a regular basis. Just from watching that video, people cannot understand the complex battles that occurred. 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. I don't think that [the] big picture is whether or not [the Iraqis who were killed] had weapons. [56] U.S. forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Scott Bleichwehl later stated: "There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force". The soldier, Ethan McCord, has since been discharged from the military and has been an outspoken voice against the Iraq War. If there's anything I can to do help, I would be more than happy to. Michael Bailey a medic who treated some of. Wired.com: Civilians are supposed to know that they're not supposed to pick up a wounded person crawling in the road? China Is Relentlessly Hacking Its Neighbors. Wired.com: What did you understand that to mean? She concluded that command structures need to be in place to identify "combatants with serious psychological problems". Wired.com: But you had been in combat before. One second later he screams, "He's got an RPG!" Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. It was pretty much a shock when we got there to see what had happened, the carnage and everything else. 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. It's obviously a hard thing to see. And where the soldier said [in the video], "Well, you shouldn't take your kids to battle." We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months. [16][18][30] After the lead helicopter fires, one of the crew shouts "Hahaha. [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'. It's painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. But this particular eventthis is clearly murder. In a third strike, Apache pilots watched people, including some armed men, run into a building and engaged that building with several AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. And I picked him up and started running with him over to the Bradley. It was a scene that had played repeatedly in his mind the last three years, and he knew exactly who the soldier was. [43] It concluded that an investigating officer would want to know how the armed men were identified as combatants from the earlier engagement; would question the nature of the collateral-damage estimate carried out by the crew before the missiles were launched; and would wish to determine whether a missile attack was a proportionate response to the threat. [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. That classified video created its own firestorm. 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". 2023 Cond Nast. Ethan McCord: From Atrocities in Iraq to Resisting U.S. Wars Tweet This interview was done by and first appeared in Revolution newspaper Revolution: In the attack shown in the WikiLeaks video, you were part of the unit that was at the scene, on the ground. You Cant Trust App Developers Privacy Claims on Google Play, Mozilla researchers found that apps often provide inaccurate data use disclosures, giving people a false sense of security., Batteries Are Ukraines Secret Weapon Against Russia. I was pretty distraught over the whole situation with the children. 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. Smoked is basically like you're doing pushups a lot, you're doing sit-ups crunches and flutter kicks. [18] The report recommends encouraging journalists in Iraq to wear special vests to identify themselves, and to keep the U.S. military updated about their whereabouts. The WikiLeaks edited video did not add arrows pointing to these men, or label them, as it did with the men carrying cameras. 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. [50] In a later interview on the World Socialist Web Site, Stieber said that the attack "exposes so clearly the fallacy of using war as a tool of foreign policy or as a way to supposedly spread 'freedom and democracy' around the world".[51]. And cracking jokes is a way of pushing that stuff down. We humbly ask you what we can do to begin to repair the damage we caused. 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