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. Ethan McCord was a U.S. soldier on patrol in Baghdad in July 2007 when he came upon a scene he says he'd never encountered. [18][19][25] Once the group is eliminated, the Apache pilots direct the ground troops to move up to the position of the attack to clear the area. It was a scene that had played repeatedly in his mind the last three years, and he knew exactly who the soldier was. 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." [32], On the day of the attack the U.S. military reported that the two journalists were killed along with nine insurgents, and that the helicopter engagement was related to a U.S. troop raid force that had been attacked by small-arms fire and RPGs. classified video created its own firestorm. 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. I think that the bigger picture is what are we doing there? Please accept our apology, our sorrow, our care, and our dedication to change from the inside out. 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. McCord: Yeah. McCord: I would be smoked. As the pilot positions the helicopter to attack the building, two unarmed men walk towards, and perhaps into, the building. It's very disturbing. Two men were identified by Crazyhorse 1/8 as carrying an RPG launcher and an AKM or AK-47. But for Army veteran Ethan McCord, it was just another day on duty. The Web site does not slow down the video to show that at least one man in that group was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a clearly visible weapon that runs nearly two-thirds the length of his body. We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months. [92][93] The Internet chats between Manning and Lamo were revealed to the public by Wired. McCord's courage and integrity has nothing to do with his US army training. 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. They're smoking you, they're making you tired. All rights reserved. Reuters responded, "It is absolutely untrue that this story was spiked. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/8 then located multiple individuals with weapons about 400 meters east of coalition forces and was given clearance to engage the targets. The company was charged with clearing their sector of any small armed forces, and had been under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Eamonn McCann Mon Aug 19 2013 - 20:49 Bradley Manning was scheduled to speak yesterday at the sentencing phase of his trial for having leaked 750,000 pages of classified documents and videos to. Ethan and Josh claim that though their unit was following the Rules of Engagement that day, they are taking responsibility for their role in the incident and initiating a dialogue around it; "Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. The soldier, Ethan McCord, has since been discharged from the military and has been an outspoken voice against the Iraq War. I'm guilty of it, too, myself. And With Reason", July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike radio traffic, US intelligence analyst arrested over Wikileaks video, WikiLeaks editor on Apache combat video: No excuse for US killing civilians, Families of Victims of 2007 US Helicopter Killing React to Leaked Video, Ethan McCord Describes Emotional Toll of Witnessing Killings, 'Collateral Murder' in Baghdad Anything But, Use of white phosphorus by the United States, United States and the International Criminal Court, A Responsible Plan to End the War in Iraq, "The wrong war, at the wrong place, at the wrong time", AfghanIraqi Freedom Memorial (Salem, Oregon), The Iraq War: A Historiography of Wikipedia Changelogs, Democratic National Committee v. Russian Federation, WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstrike&oldid=1140602029, Articles with dead external links from May 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Articles with dead external links from July 2022, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Press reports of the number killed vary from 12, Representation (including audio) by Banksy, October 9, 2013. 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]. "[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. [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. [61], Washington Post reporter David Finkel, who at the time was embedded with Bravo Company 216 Infantry, later covered the incidents of the day in his book, The Good Soldiers. [20] According to a military review, soldiers in that company "had been under sporadic small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire since" the operationdescribed as "clearing their sector and looking for weapons caches"began. 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. A Pentagon spokesman said the video did not contradict the official finding that the helicopters' crew acted within the rules of engagement and said that the inquiry backed the assessment that the group of men were carrying a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). Wired.com: The first thing you saw was the little girl in the van. [96] Her trial on the remaining charges began on June 3, 2013. It was the video that put WikiLeaks on the map: "Collateral Murder" turned the tide of war in Iraq and landed Private first class Bradley Manning in military detention. Soldier Ethan McCord's Eyewitness Story, "Shadowed, Clamoring, Blurry. It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically injured or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your country. 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. So I went to a sergeant and asked to see [the mental health person], because I was having a hard time dealing with it. 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. The review was not released in full until 2010, after the video of the incident had been released by WikiLeaks. There were some people taking pot shots, sniper shots, at us on the rooftop. [16] The military reported that it could not find its copy of the video. [94], WikiLeaks said they were unable to confirm whether or not Manning was the source of the video, stating "we never collect personal information on our sources", but saying that "if [Manning is the] whistleblower then, without doubt, [s]he's a national hero"[95] and "we have taken steps to arrange for [her] protection and legal defence". I did see a guy moving from a rooftop from one position to another with an AK-47, who was firing at us. [21], The Air Weapons Team (AWT) of two Apache AH-64s from the 1st Cavalry Division had been requested by the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment (216), 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, before July 12 to support Operation Ilaaj. [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. [92], On February 28, 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of 22 specified charges. I know the van, I know the faces of everybody that was there that day. I hit 'em" and another member of the crew responds "Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards".[29]. However, I don't feel that the attack on the [rescue] van was necessary. Oh well", and a minute later continued, "Well, it's their fault for bringing kids into a battle". The flood of emotions came back. After the incident, we went back to the FOB [forward operating base] and that's when I was in my room. Well in all actuality, we brought the battle to your kids. I would like the American people and the whole world to understand what happened here in Iraq. We were engaged in our own conflict roughly about three or four blocks away. Wired.com: Have you heard from any other soldiers since the video came out? I based the account in my book on multiple sources, all unclassified". We did unto you what we would not want done to us.". With such pain, friendship might be too much to ask. 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. Both of these men, Chmagh and Tomal, were killed in the second strike, and two of Tomal's children were badly wounded. However, the long version of the video shows that this van had already been targeted by one Apache (Crazyhorse 1/8), prior to the second strike, as it traveled south toward the Reuters employees who were simultaneously targeted by the other Apache (Crazyhorse 1/9) as they walked with the group of men north on the same road toward the van. I'm going to help that person. They were destroyed. [38] The children, a girl and boy, suffered injuries. I don't think that people really want to see this, though, because this is war. I was pretty distraught over the whole situation with the children. Ethan McCord: Right. I don't think that [the] big picture is whether or not [the Iraqis who were killed] had weapons. [23] Among the group are two journalists working for Reuters, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. "[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. 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April 2
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