Disturbing footage, doesn't bode well for the USAs image!
I'm starting to doubt the source a little bit, and kinda starting to think this is just another anti-american video. Hopefully more information comes out.
you rekn it's a fake video?
Nope, what I'm saying is that a portion of those killed were in fact insurgents. Yeah its terrible that some journalists were killed, but hey, what do you expect when you hang around with insurgents in a warzone? How come I don't see an outcry over journalists hanging with American and Allied soldiers getting killed by Iraqi insurgents?
That was unbelievable. Ok war is war but those guys were enjoying that, they were laughing. No remorse that children were hurt, just shift the blame to parents for taking them into a battle. Unbelievable. made me feel sick.
Errr hello? That's how all soldiers talk. Spend too much time dwelling on combat stress reaction, that pretty much makes you ineffective. Why do you think SAS, and other military training is so tough? It's to get them used to the sights and sounds of war.
And yes it's terrible that kids were injured, but how do you expect the pilot to see kids in a mini-van? Guarantee you that had they known kids were in the van, they wouldn't have fired.
What soldiers all laugh as they pick off civilians as though they're on a play station game? I thought soldiers protected civilians.
And they werent exactly in the heat of battle, they had plenty of time to check things out properly, they were under no personal threat.
And the lack of remorse about killing the children?
I think it’s easy to watch that video and condemn those men, especially when you hear the final, rather sickening, comment about bringing children to a battle.
However, I do think it’s necessary to consider the situation they were in and according to the report:
- “Bravo Company had been in near continuous contact since dawn, the pilots were looking primarily for armed insurgents”
- “there was no information leading anyone to believe or even suspect that noncombatants were in the area”
- “Bravo Company 2-16 soldiers were within 100 meters of the location of a group of armed insurgents and two individuals carrying cameras when Apache helicopters engaged”
- “Bravo Company 2-16 infantry had been under sporadic small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire since OPERATION ILAAJ began at dawn on the morning of 12th of July. The company had a mission of clearing their sector and looking for weapons caches. Two Apache helicopters from the 1st Cavalry Division’s Aviation Brigade (Call signs “Crazyhorse 18” and “Crazyhorse 19”) were in direct support to the ground manoeuvre force and were monitoring the Bravo Company radio frequency”.
In other words, it
was a battle zone. Ground forces had begun an operation to clear that sector and had been exchanging fire with insurgents since dawn; the ground troops were within 100m of the group of men in the video footage. The helicopters were there to look out for armed men and communicate back to the ground troops (Bravo Company). They were specifically looking for “small arms and rocket propelled grenades” and some of the men
were carrying AK-47s and RPGs.
It’s easy to watch that footage now, knowing that the man behind the wall is holding a camera, and say they were trigger happy. But at the time, in the middle of a battle, believing that the area was free of noncombatants, I can understand how such a mistake is made. They identified the cameras as “weapons” but they also clearly identified several “AK-47s” (3:39 on video).
The lack of remorse I do find unsavory.
