Ethan McCord, a soldier who arrived on the scene after the attack, stated in an interview for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: From being in the perspective of the Apache helicopter crew, I can see where a group of men gathering, when there's a firefight just a few blocks away, which I was involved in, and theyre carrying weapons, one of which is an RPG. "I grabbed him and ran to the Bradley myself". Wired.com: What did you understand that to mean? When he is rescued, suddenly that belief changed. [43], Assange responded to the investigation report released by the Army in an interview with Democracy Now!, stating that "the tone and language is all about trying to find an excuse for the activity. When this video first came out, there was a lot of outrage by the soldiers, just because it depicted us as being callous, cruel, heartless people, and we're not that way. [23] Among the group are two journalists working for Reuters, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. [43] He walks into a building which has been identified as the source of fire at U.S. ground troops. We heard the gunships open up. I think it is good that they're putting this stuff out there. There's no front lines here. [47] The Australian newspaper said the group was displaying "no obvious hostile action". [104][105][106][107] Pursuant to a commutation by President Obama, Chelsea Manning was released on May 17, 2017. McCord, together with another former member of the company, Josh Stieber, have addressed an open "Letter of Reconciliation" to the Iraqi people taking responsibility for their role in this. McCord: My platoon sergeant knew that I was having a hard time with it and that same night he came into the room and he told me, hey, just so you know, both of the children survived, so you can suck it up now. 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. It's painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. 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. According to Tom Raju, a reporter at CNN, "the soldiers of Bravo Company, 216 Infantry had been under fire all morning from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms on the first day of Operation Ilaaj in Baghdad". [113], The report states that at least two members of the group which were first fired on were armed, that two RPGs and one AKM or AK-47 rifle could be seen in the helicopter video, and that these weapons were picked up by the follow-up U.S. ground troops. China Is Relentlessly Hacking Its Neighbors. 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. Reuters also stated that local police described the attack as "random American bombardment". Assange responded:[69][70]. [18] Both helicopters strafe a group of ten men with 30 mm rounds once they became visible again. (quote begins at 5:15)", "Soldiers in 'Collateral Murder' video apologise", "Meet The New Public Face Of WikiLeaks: Kristinn Hrafnsson Forbes", "2 Iraqi Journalists Killed as U.S. Captain James Hall stated they couldn't drive in Bradleys in fear of running over bodies. There had been a lot of RPG, grenade fire and so on, and they were doing what journalists do. [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. I was pretty distraught over the whole situation with the children. I know the scene by heart; it's burned into my head. As the killing goes on, you obviously would see the killing of men who are lying on the ground in an operation where ground troops are approaching and perfectly capable of taking those people captive, but meanwhile you're murdering before the troops arrive. McCord's courage and integrity has nothing to do with his US army training. [81] In 2009, Stieber left the military as a conscientious objector and became a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. [2], After the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement", WikiLeaks released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing the rules before, during, and after the attacks. Manning's Providence Inquiry", "US military video showing 2007 Apache attack on Iraqi civilians released", "Leaked video shows US military killing of civilians, Reuters staff", "Permission to Engage: WikiLeaks collateral murder footage examined", "US soldier linked to Iraq helicopter video leak charged", "Leaked U.S. video shows deaths of Reuters' Iraqi staffers", "WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange tells Colbert permission to engage was given before the word RPG was ever used", "Leaked video reveals chaos of Baghdad attack", Investigation into Civilian Casualties Resulting from an Engagement on 12 July 2007 in the New Baghdad District of Baghdad, Iraq, "Gates said leaked military video of shooting in Iraq doesn't show the broader picture of Americans being fired upon", "Records released to the public, under the FOIA, that are or will likely become the subject of subsequent requests", "July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike transcript", "Video expands notoriety of WikiLeaks site", "WikiLeaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians", "The pictures that prove US helicopter gunships opened fire on Iraqi civilians", "Calls for inquiry into Apache attack on Iraqi civilians", "U.S. Military Releases Redacted Records on 2007 Apache Attack, Questions Linger", "Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians", "Video shows deaths of two Reuters journalists in Iraq in 2007", "Massacre Caught on Tape: US Military Confirms Authenticity of Their Own Chilling Video Showing Killing of Journalists", "Military Raises Questions About Credibility of Leaked Iraq Shooting Video", 'Let Us Shoot': US Troops Fire On Journalists, Legal Glance on the Baghdad Helicopter Shooting | Peanik, "U.S. He runs the girl to the Bradley. "Our forces were engaged in combat all that day with individuals that fit the description of the men in that video. 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]. Since then, McCord has been receiving threats to him and his family on a regular basis. "The helicopters were approximately a mile and a half away and they were zooming in on these guys . WIRED is where tomorrow is realized. "[32][77] He said that WikiLeaks "does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. Advertisement. "[112], On April 5, 2010, the same day as the release of the video footage by WikiLeaks, the United States Central Command, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, released a collection of documents including two investigative reports. I think that the bigger picture is what are we doing there? [19], As the tape resumes, two men, one holding an AK-47, are seen walking. [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. A draft version of the video WikiLeaks produced made reference to the AK-47s and RPGs, but WikiLeaks said that ultimately they became unsure about the RPG, believing the long object could have been a camera tripod, so they decided not to point it out in the released version. 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. 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. It was nominated as a Documentary Short Subject for the 84th Academy Awards. But for Army veteran Ethan McCord, it was just another day on duty. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The crew then reposition the helicopter and fire two more missiles into the upper floors of the building[44], WikiLeaks said in the preface to one of their videos of the incident 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. You don't just take somebody's life and then go on about your business for the rest of the day. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Josh states that these casualties demonstrate the impact of U.S. military policy on both the civilians and the soldiers on the ground. I have a huge place in my heart for children, having some of my own. [38] The children, a girl and boy, suffered injuries. "[32], The Guardian stated "It is unclear if some of the men are armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera". 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. WikiLeaks stated that the footage shows the "murder of Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists". Ethan applied for mental health support following this incident and was denied by his commanding officer. He was kind of sitting on the floorboard of the van, but with his head laying on the bench seat in the front. [84], Finkel had reported the day in his book The Good Soldiers,[62] including conversations which closely matched the subsequently leaked video footage. It happened because my content was bad. It wasnt like a cry of pain really. If you or I saw someone wounded on the ground what is your first inkling? It claimed reporters' "furtive attempts to photograph the Coalition Ground Forces made them appear as hostile combatants". [49], On Democracy Now!, Josh Stieber, who was at the time assigned to Bravo Company 216, said that although it's natural to "judge or criticize the soldiers", in fact "this is how [they] were trained to act". [8] The video, which WikiLeaks titled Collateral Murder, showed the crew firing on a group of men and killing several of them, then laughing at some of the casualties, all of whom were civilians, including two Reuters journalists. Plus: Microsoft fixes several zero-day bugs, Google patches Chrome and Android, Mozilla rids Firefox of a full-screen vulnerability, and more. Solemnly and Sincerely, Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army. McCord: When it was first released I don't think it was done in the best manner that it could have been. And I picked him up and started running with him over to the Bradley. 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. A third, an infantry solider named Ethan McCord, was one of the men who had scooped up the bodies of the wounded children in the apache helicopter attack, what is now known as the "Collateral. You are seeing only a very narrow picture of the events". Assange responded: Yes, absolutely Our promise to the public is that we will release the full source material. The missile hits the building, and the man is caught in the explosion. I always questioned it in the back of my mind. [57], Reuters reported that it could locate no witnesses who had seen gunmen in the immediate area. [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]. Fox News later stated that "although it could be argued AK-47 rifles are common household items, RPGs are not". In July 2007, McCord, a 33-year-old Army specialist, was engaged in a firefight with insurgents in an Iraqi suburb when his platoon, part of Bravo Company, 2-16 Infantry, got orders to investigate a nearby street. 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 Cord (Horsley) is still a man with a conscience, and kids, but he is also less reluctant to rely on his ability with a gun. FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/9 could not engage due to target obfuscation from buildings and dust. It shouldn't have surprised you what you saw. Apache helicopters were called in by a soldier in the Humvee (Hotel 26) under attack from the same position used by Namir Noor-Eldeen to photograph the vehicle. And cracking jokes is a way of pushing that stuff down. 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. [18][24][25][26][27] While the two are carrying media cards, a military officer claimed they were not wearing distinctive clothing identifying themselves as such. Both of these men, Chmagh and Tomal, were killed in the second strike, and two of Tomal's children were badly wounded. Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any steps to support you through the pain that we have caused. In the video, you can clearly see that they did have weapons to the trained eye. McCord states he was yelled at for not "pulling security". 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