If you have not seen WikiLeak’s “Collateral Murder” video then you really should Read/Listen to news other than Fox. While it is a good thing that this video was released I do not believe WikLeak did a fair or impartial job at all of doing it and honestly shame on them for passing judgement.
Good interview from Wired:
Ethan McCord had just returned from dropping his children at school earlier this month, when he turned on the TV news to see grainy black-and-white video footage of a soldier running from a bombed-out van with a child in his arms. It was a scene that had played repeatedly in his mind the last three years, and he knew exactly who the soldier was.
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. When they arrived, they found a scene of fresh carnage – the scattered remains of a group of men, believed to be armed, who had just been gunned down by Apache attack helicopters. They also found 10-year-old Sajad Mutashar and his five-year-old sister Doaha covered in blood in a van. Their 43-year-old father, Saleh, had been driving them to a class when he spotted one of the wounded men moving in the street and drove over to help him, only to become a victim of the Apache guns.
First off, I maintain skepticism about any claims regarding this whole issue.
For one, WikiLinks is blatantly obscuring the whole story in an extremely partial manner that I would conservatively call politically-motivated. “Collateral Murder” is the title, already pushing the casual reader towards one conclusion. If you read the rest of the WikiLinks page, there is nothing but accusations by people who were no where near any of it.
They claimed that the group were just AP journalists and innocent civilians just trying to “get the story”. No where in the video does the group make it clear to anyone that they are press (Real press commonly wear high-vis clothing with PRESS clearly marked, except for those who tag along with the actual insurgents). The Apache crew was well within their ROE to fire upon the van, especially since they requested and was given permission to engage.
Now, this interview, there’s a lot of things this guy is saying that is very suspect.
“McCord: I was called a pussy and that I needed to suck it up and a lot of other horrible things. I was also told that there would be repercussions if I was to go to mental health.
Wired.com: What did you understand that to mean?
McCord: I would be smoked.”
Really? I don’t believe that for a second.
This smacks of dishonesty to me. And a former soldier making up “US atrocities” has happened before. At one point in his narrative, he even goes to touch on “why are we even there” topic, hinting that this whole thing might be politically motivated.
I don’t buy into this narrative, too many holes, too much dishonesty, too much political motivation.
And no, I don’t get my news from Fox. Hell, Fox is by far not the worst news organization.
Anyway, more airsoft news, less politics.