Wikileaks releases video of US troops gunning down civilians and reporters

But they weren't in any danger; that's the point. The first time i watched that video (not in full screen mode either) i could see immediately that the men on the ground had nothing that could accurately identified as weapons to begin with and clearly were shown to be unarmed just before the helicopter opened fire.
The US army knew that this was an illegal slaughter as well as i do, that's why they covered it up and told their officials to lie about it.

 

Theres a lot more goes on than anyone knows, at least there was a few years ago.

Its just war, you try been on the ground in iraq scared for your life, seeing people get blown up etc its not very nice and you have a split second to decide to shoot or end up like the young woman you just saw screaming with her legs blown off. people make mistakes.
its a hard job, i think people that complain should go out there and experience it before crying about things from the safety of their home.

in a helicopter its a bit different i suppose, i can see where your coming from with this

im just trying to help people understand its not like the games you play and the films

 

The situation in the video wasn't a case of killing for the sake of self preservation; it was a case of trigger happy Americans gunning down innocent people without following correct procedures to properly identify whether or not they posed any threat at all. The life of any one of those people is equal to that of any given western troop; life is too valuable to be taken so frivolously.
Yes, people do make mistakes; some mistakes are of a greater magnitude than others. This mistake was of the highest magnitude and responsibility should have been taken by the perpetrators as with any mistake. It wasn't, and the fact that these troops were not punished suggests that the lives of those poor men and children are apparently worthless to American army officials.

UPDATE: The Guardians take on events: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack

 

Funny thing, the Nazis did the exact same thing. Are you telling me that soldiers should never consult their consciences?!

You disgust me. The Holocaust has no meaning to you, doesn't it?

 

Huh?

Look up the FLQ in Quebec, Canada. The FLQ was a terrorist group hell bent on separating Quebec from Canada, and the Canadian govenment put army personnel on the streets and issued War Measures Act, which took away all rights from civilians.

If someone suspected that you were part of the FLQ, the army has the right to kill you. That's very nice.

 

Reminds me of the Spanish Inquisition. A lot of people were framed by angry neighbours. I actually did a report on it in the sixth grade.

Anyone who SHOOTS a child with MILITARY GRADE ARTILLERY and shrugs it off like they accidentally pushed someone should be cast into a pit of suffering for all of eternity, IMO.

 

its amazing how much better trained the british troops are compared to the americans.
not our infantry mind, god their piss poor, full of young idiots. But the royal marines are just head and shoulders above anything the americans have.
were far better led and organised too.
im probably going to get americans now saying im an idiot etc etc dont know what im talking about.
yes i do.

 

An article on the founder of Wikileaks, make of it what you will.
Personally, i think that it's important that Wikileaks keeps going; things like this shouldn't be left unquestioned.

 

Not only is America a developed country, but it's also fairly isolationist. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with the attitude of the troops.

I've met lots "kids" (fifteen-years-old and over may or may not be kids, depending on who you ask) who talk about wanting to join the army and shooting down the enemy. I ask, "You wanna join the army to kill other people?" "Not people man, the enemy!" It always comes out like that, and it's pretty disgusting. And everyone else just doesn't care what happens outside American borders. Maybe, it's just here, the town/quasi-city I'm living in, but...

Is it like that in the UK?

Anyway, I can't imagine killing the sons of anxious mothers and enjoying myself. I just can't. I suppose I can kill people, but not like that... Of course, that's just me.

 

That isn't just America, it's most countries (including the UK) sadly. You shouldn't judge those kids too harshly though; it's probably they are just not mature enough to comprehend the value of human life. Unfortunately; it doesn't seem like those soldiers in the video matured emotionally, perhaps this is because their military hasn't taught them or perhaps because they failed to learn or didn't try to.
I watched a documentary by the BBC on the subject of how soldiers are mentally conditioned to be able to kill, a British sniper talked about how he has killed quite a lot of people and felt no negative emotions because of it; he didn't see it as anything more than a job. I think that that's fair enough, i don't see why soldiers killing legitimate enemies in a war zone should be expected to feel terrible about it. However, it's disgusting that those soldiers seem to enjoy it so much, one of them actually hopes for the reporter to reach for a weapon so as to have a reason to finish him off. And the children; it was despicable.

UPDATE: Wikileaks was wrongly accused off editing the video to mislead people, it was claimed that the full version showed that the helicopter was responding to being alerted to the fact that the large group of people were likely insurgents whom fired upon nearby troops. This was easily proven to be a lie, as Wikileaks released the full version at the same time as the edited one and it shows no such thing: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/04/06/myths

 

you get them, but a 6 month tour makes them grow up.
i really wish they brought back national service, seriously, that would sort out the young idiots.

 

And an army of feckless chavs taken in by the army indiscriminately, armed and sent into a foreign land to abuse the authority that having a gun and being in uniform gives them is a sharp shock that kids in places like Afghanistan need like a bullet through the windscreen.

 

they would learn respect, discipline and ambition
haven't you seen bad lads army?
it turns those people around and gives them something they cant learn robbing grannies on the streets

 

I would've shot at em too if i thought they were carrying rpgs. Especially if i was in a chopper a 100 feet above ground. Its Just another case of people making mistakes on both sides, the Iraqi reporters should've had a badge or anything that would identify themselves, The Guys in the chopper should've taken a closer look as to what the reporters were carrying. Everyone's human we all make mistakes. And anyone complaining that these soldiers are heartless should know that American recruits are broken down to nothingness and rebuilt into a person who follows orders. Insubordination isn't taken lightly over here in the states.

 

Blood, Fire, War, Hate......no peace can be had......

 

It was blatantly obvious that they had no weapons and posed no threat, as for identifying themselves; so what if they weren't wearing identifying body armour, the civilians wouldn't have been wearing it anyhow; it's the American's responsibility to identify their targets before firing, not the targets responsibility to give the Americans a reason why they shouldn't.
It isn't the thought of soldiers killing without emotional burden that bothers me and others; it's the fact that they seem to actually be enjoying murdering helpless people.
They wouldn't have been insubordinate in not shooting those people as they weren't told to fire upon them, they requested for permission to do so on the grounds that the people on the ground were a threat; THEY CLEARLY WEREN'T. And anyhow; as msg said; soldiers are allowed to disobey orders if they conflict with the rules of engagement of their army; shooting unarmed civilians would do so.

 

The guys who you can see on the video are shooting like they think it is computergame. It was not just "a mistake". It whas STUPID AND DUMB.