Footage of US Slaughter Leaked

[Happy Face 29]

Wikileaks has obtained and decrypted this previously unreleased video footage from a US Apache helicopter in 2007. It shows Reuters journalist Namir Noor-Eldeen, driver Saeed Chmagh, and several others as the Apache shoots and kills them in a public square in Eastern Baghdad. They are apparently assumed to be insurgents. After the initial shooting, an unarmed group of adults and children in a minivan arrives on the scene and attempts to transport the wounded. They are fired upon as well. The official statement on this incident initially listed all adults as insurgents and claimed the US military did not know how the deaths ocurred.

 

 

 

http://wikileaks.org/

 

Edited April 6, 2010 by Happy Face

[trophyshy 6502]

[Happy Face 29]

On a related note....

 

US special forces soldiers dug bullets out of their victims’ bodies in the bloody aftermath of a botched night raid, then washed the wounds with alcohol before lying to their superiors about what happened, Afghan investigators have told The Times.

 

Two pregnant women, a teenage girl, a police officer and his brother were shot on February 12 when US and Afghan special forces stormed their home in Khataba village, outside Gardez in eastern Afghanistan.

 

....

 

The claims were made as Nato admitted responsibility for all the deaths for the first time last night. It had initially claimed that the women had been dead for several hours when the assault force discovered their bodies.

 

“Despite earlier reports we have determined that the women were accidentally killed as a result of the joint force firing at the men,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Todd Breasseale, a Nato spokesman. The coalition continued to deny that there had been a cover-up and said that its legal investigation, which is ongoing, had found no evidence of inappropriate conduct.

 

more

 

[JawD 48]

Shocking that like.

[Cid_MCDP 0]

Fuckin' hell...

[Park Life 71]

Happens all the time.

 

iirc people weren't allowed to leave Fallujah before the full spectrum bombing started.

[Matty 0]

Cunts.

[ewerk 27108]

Happens all the time.

 

Aye, the only difference is that nowadays we have technology to capture such actions and leak it all over the world.

 

It's always went on.

[Happy Face 29]

On a related note....

 

US special forces soldiers dug bullets out of their victims’ bodies in the bloody aftermath of a botched night raid, then washed the wounds with alcohol before lying to their superiors about what happened, Afghan investigators have told The Times.

 

Two pregnant women, a teenage girl, a police officer and his brother were shot on February 12 when US and Afghan special forces stormed their home in Khataba village, outside Gardez in eastern Afghanistan.

 

....

 

The claims were made as Nato admitted responsibility for all the deaths for the first time last night. It had initially claimed that the women had been dead for several hours when the assault force discovered their bodies.

 

“Despite earlier reports we have determined that the women were accidentally killed as a result of the joint force firing at the men,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Todd Breasseale, a Nato spokesman. The coalition continued to deny that there had been a cover-up and said that its legal investigation, which is ongoing, had found no evidence of inappropriate conduct.

 

more

 

 

 

The pay-off....

 

A top US special forces commander visited a family in rural Afghanistan yesterday to plead for forgiveness after finally admitting that his troops killed five innocent people in a botched raid, which, Afghan officials said, the soldiers then tried to cover up.

 

“I am the commander of the soldiers who accidentally killed your loved ones. I came here to send my condolences. I also came to ask your forgiveness for these terrible tragedies,” he said.

...

“Sir, you and I are very different,” Admiral McRaven said, addressing Haji Sharabuddin directly. “You are a family man with many children and many friends. I am a soldier. I have spent most of my career overseas away from my family, but I have children as well and my heart grieves for you. But we have one thing in common. We have the same god. He is a god who shows great love and compassion. I pray for you today, sir, that in your grief he will show you love and compassion and ease your pain ... I also pray today that he will show mercy on me and my men for this awful tragedy.”

 

The Afghan generals then gave the family a wad of cash wrapped in a handkerchief. Relatives said there was almost $30,000 (£19,000).

 

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle7092604.ece

 

I wonder if they had to sign anything to keep it.

[Guest Barrack Road]

Yank cunts.

[Happy Face 29]

Obama's campaign pledge...

 

Protect Whistleblowers: Often the best source of information about waste, fraud, and abuse in government is an existing government employee committed to public integrity and willing to speak out. Such acts of courage and patriotism, which can sometimes save lives and often save taxpayer dollars, should be encouraged rather than stifled. We need to empower federal employees as watchdogs of wrongdoing and partners in performance. Barack Obama will strengthen whistleblower laws to protect federal workers who expose waste, fraud, and abuse of authority in government. Obama will ensure that federal agencies expedite the process for reviewing whistleblower claims and whistleblowers have full access to courts and due process.

 

http://change.gov/agenda/ethics_agenda/

 

Now he's in power...

 

The Obama administration’s crackdown on leaks to the press has snared a high-profile conviction of an FBI linguist, who was sentenced to 20 months in prison Monday after pleading guilty to giving classified information to a blogger.

 

The sentence for Shamai Leibowitz is likely to become the longest ever served by a government employee accused of passing national security secrets to a member of the media. His case represents only the third known conviction in U.S. history for a government official or contractor providing classified information to the press.

 

And it reflects a surprising development: President Barack Obama’s Justice Department has taken a hard line against leakers, and Obama himself has expressed anger about disclosures of national security deliberations in the press.

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/...l#ixzz0oxyteF9v

[ewerk 27108]

Isn't there a difference between whistleblowing and leaking information to the press?

Edited May 25, 2010 by ewerk

[Toonpack 7200]

Tragic, but there's a war on and shit happens.

[ewerk 27108]

Tragic, but there's a war on and shit happens.

 

Shit happens?

[LeazesMag 0]

Tragic, but there's a war on and shit happens.

 

Shit happens?

 

yep. Shit happens. Why don't you tell those friendly muslim plane hijackers etc to fuck off back home and put their own country in order instead of having a go at the west for trying to do it for them.

[ewerk 27108]

As usual, missing the point altogether.

[LeazesMag 0]

As usual, missing the point altogether.

 

 

No. I think you are missing the point. As always.

[Happy Face 29]

Tragic, but there's a war on and shit happens.

 

[the US]have been at "war" the entire last decade (as well as largley non-stop for the decades which preceded it), and continue now to be at "war" with no end in sight. That's clearly true of our specific wars (in Afghanistan). And, worse, the way in which The War, more broadly, has been defined (i.e., against Islamic extremism/those who wish to harm Americans) makes it highly likely that it will never end in our lifetime. The decree that we are "at war" has been repeated over and over for a full decade, drumbed into our heads from all directions without pause, sanctified as one of those Bipartisan Orthodoxies that nobody can dispute upon pain of having one's Seriousness credentials immediately and irrevocably revoked. With war this normalized, is it really surprising that nobody debates it any longer? It'd be like debating the color of the sky.

 

That's why I always find the War Excuse for anything the Government does so baffling and nonsensical. Any objections one voices to what the Executive Branch does -- indefinite detentions, presidential assassinations of citizens, extreme secrecy, etc. -- will be met with the justification that such actions are permissible "during wartime," as though "wartime" is some special, temporary, fleeting state of affairs which necessitates vesting powers in the government which, during "normal" times, would be impermissible.

 

But the contrast between "war and "normal times" is totally illusory. For the United States, war is normalcy. The "war" we're fighting has been defined and designed to be virtually endless. Political leaders from both parties have been explicit about that. Here's how Obama put it last May in his "civil liberties" speech:

 

Now this generation faces a great test in the specter of terrorism. And unlike the Civil War or World War II, we can't count on a surrender ceremony to bring this journey to an end. Right now, in distant training camps and in crowded cities, there are people plotting to take American lives. That will be the case a year from now, five years from now, and -- in all probability -- 10 years from now.

 

All the way back in September, 2001, with the World Trade Center still smoldering, George Bush said basically the same thing: "Now, this war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. . . . Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen." Thus: to justify new and unaccountable powers based on the fact that we are "at war" is, in essence, to change the American political system permanently, because the "war," and the accompanying powers that it justifies, are not going anywhere for many, many years to come.

[Happy Face 29]

Tragic, but there's a war on and shit happens.

 

Shit happens?

 

yep. Shit happens. Why don't you tell those friendly muslim plane hijackers etc to fuck off back home and put their own country in order instead of having a go at the west for trying to do it for them.

 

 

Shamai Leibowitz isn't a very muslim name.

[The Fish 9340]

Tragic, but there's a war on and shit happens.

 

[the US]have been at "war" the entire last decade (as well as largley non-stop for the decades which preceded it), and continue now to be at "war" with no end in sight. That's clearly true of our specific wars (in Afghanistan). And, worse, the way in which The War, more broadly, has been defined (i.e., against Islamic extremism/those who wish to harm Americans) makes it highly likely that it will never end in our lifetime. The decree that we are "at war" has been repeated over and over for a full decade, drumbed into our heads from all directions without pause, sanctified as one of those Bipartisan Orthodoxies that nobody can dispute upon pain of having one's Seriousness credentials immediately and irrevocably revoked. With war this normalized, is it really surprising that nobody debates it any longer? It'd be like debating the color of the sky.

 

That's why I always find the War Excuse for anything the Government does so baffling and nonsensical. Any objections one voices to what the Executive Branch does -- indefinite detentions, presidential assassinations of citizens, extreme secrecy, etc. -- will be met with the justification that such actions are permissible "during wartime," as though "wartime" is some special, temporary, fleeting state of affairs which necessitates vesting powers in the government which, during "normal" times, would be impermissible.

 

But the contrast between "war and "normal times" is totally illusory. For the United States, war is normalcy. The "war" we're fighting has been defined and designed to be virtually endless. Political leaders from both parties have been explicit about that. Here's how Obama put it last May in his "civil liberties" speech:

 

Now this generation faces a great test in the specter of terrorism. And unlike the Civil War or World War II, we can't count on a surrender ceremony to bring this journey to an end. Right now, in distant training camps and in crowded cities, there are people plotting to take American lives. That will be the case a year from now, five years from now, and -- in all probability -- 10 years from now.

 

All the way back in September, 2001, with the World Trade Center still smoldering, George Bush said basically the same thing: "Now, this war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. . . . Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign unlike any other we have ever seen." Thus: to justify new and unaccountable powers based on the fact that we are "at war" is, in essence, to change the American political system permanently, because the "war," and the accompanying powers that it justifies, are not going anywhere for many, many years to come.

 

 

I guess there's a lot more money to be made during war. There are many things that can be done in the name of war which would be more dimly viewed.

 

To be honest, I think there are certain (I hesitate to use the word) advantages when the country is at "war". Certainly research and developmental companies benefit.

 

I would just wish the military dominance of the larger nations were put to use quashing tyranny regardless of the mineral value of the country.

[Happy Face 29]

I guess there's a lot more money to be made during war. There are many things that can be done in the name of war which would be more dimly viewed.

 

To be honest, I think there are certain (I hesitate to use the word) advantages when the country is at "war". Certainly research and developmental companies benefit.

 

I would just wish the military dominance of the larger nations were put to use quashing tyranny regardless of the mineral value of the country.

 

"I don't want to see a single war millionaire created in the United States as a result of this world disaster" Roosevelt on WW2

 

"Our people risk their lives, friendly coalition folks risk their lives, and therefore the contracting is going to reflect that." Bush on Iraq

 

[The Fish 9340]

"When your neighbours house is on fire, you don't haggle over the price of a hose" Roosevelt as well, I think.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not in favour of profiteering from war, I just can see their reasoning behind taking arms against a barely corporeal foe

[Toonpack 7200]

Whatever the rights or wrongs (which outweigh the rights IMO) of the war, there is one going on and where is the righteous indignation and mournfull youtube clips about the victims of the bastards who drive laden petrol tankers into markets in Iraq and blow them up (for example).

 

There's a big difference between mistakes made by men in combat and downright murder.

 

After D-Day as a pre-cursor to Pattons break out, there was a huge bombing raid planned on the facing German defences, they gave the front line units coloured smoke to identify them from the air, unfortunately they gave them the same colour of smoke as that was used to mark the target, they changed the colour of the smoke for the next day, but unbelieveably planes and ground troops got the same colour as each other again.

 

Wars are bad and shit happens.

[NJS 4030]

"Our people risk their lives, friendly coalition folks risk their lives, and therefore the contracting is going to reflect that." Bush on Iraq

 

Didn't his family - in particular his Grandfather - make their fortune selling arms to the Nazis in the 30s?

[Happy Face 29]

Whatever the rights or wrongs (which outweigh the rights IMO) of the war, there is one going on and where is the righteous indignation and mournfull youtube clips about the victims of the bastards who drive laden petrol tankers into markets in Iraq and blow them up (for example).

 

Those clips are frequently on the news. Here's a recent one...

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8639223.stm

 

There's a big difference between mistakes made by men in combat and downright murder.

 

Wars are bad and shit happens.

 

If wars are bad and shit happens, can you give one example in this 'war' where the opposition killing someone was unfortunate collateral damage or where our side commited downright murder?

 

If you still think the entire resistance (little r) consists of blood thirsty murderers while we're nothing more than fallible victims you've been grotesquely propagandised.