Our secretary of defense may say the U.S. won't lose its reputation over this, but we stand and say that our reputation's importance pales in comparison to our common humanity. Ukraine Suffered More Wiper Malware in 2022 Than Anywhere, Ever. [84], Finkel had reported the day in his book The Good Soldiers,[62] including conversations which closely matched the subsequently leaked video footage. [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". 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. [22], In the video on the morning of July 12, 2007, the crews of two United States Army AH-64 Apache helicopters observe a gathering of men near a section of Baghdad in the path of advancing U.S. ground troops, some armed with AKMs and RPGs. We're sorry for the system that we were involved in that took their father's life and injured them. That's not leaking, that's a pure editorial." Knowing that I was part of the system that took their father away from them and made them lose their house it's heartbreaking. [But] I was actually starting to get kind of better. [2][22] Pentagon officials told the Reuters news agency that U.S. military lawyers were reviewing the video and could reopen an investigation into the incident,[67] but a spokesperson later said that there were no plans to reopen the investigation. With Russia regularly knocking out Ukraines power grid, the country has turned to high-capacity batteries to keep it connected to the worldand itself. [16][18][30] After the lead helicopter fires, one of the crew shouts "Hahaha. 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. [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 grabbed him and ran to the Bradley myself". 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. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries. You joke about the situations and what's happened to push away your true feelings of the matter. 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. The flood of emotions came back. They did have weapons there. [85] [42] According to the internal legal review, the helicopters engaged a group of armed insurgents, and that some were seen entering a nearby building. I've lived with seeing the children that way since the incident happened. It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically injured or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your country. The report concludes that the Reuters employees were in the company of armed insurgents. As Russia has accelerated its cyberattacks on its neighbor, it's barraged the country with an unprecedented volume of different data-destroying programs. The military said that the van was "fair game under Army rules" , because it had no visible markings to suggest it was an ambulance or a protected vehicle. I think it is good that they're putting this stuff out there. [86], Ethan McCord, the soldier seen in the video carrying the injured boy, recalled in an interview on The Marc Steiner Show that on arrival at the scene, "The first thing I did was run up to the van". Stuff like that happens on a daily basis in Iraq. 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. [17] Julian Assange said "permission to engage was given before the word 'RPG' was ever used". They arrived on station in New Baghdad at 9:53a.m., where sporadic attacks on coalition forces continued. [58], On July 25, 2007, during an off-the-record briefing in Baghdad by the U.S. military, two Reuters editors were shown "less than three minutes of video from the Apaches gun camera, up to the exact moment it opened fire the first time." If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. Michael Bailey a medic who treated some of. It could be that since he and Amelia (Sigrid Thornton) have quit. Wired.com: The first thing you saw was the little girl in the van. I would like the American people and the whole world to understand what happened here in Iraq. [Then I] took my children to school one day and I came home and sat down on the couch and turned on the TV with my coffee, and on the news I'm running across the screen with a child. [18][25][31] Chmagh was killed[18][25][31] along with three other men, while two children, not known to be in the van to the U.S. forces, were injured. Seven men were killed, including Noor-Eldeen and Chmagh, with three others being wounded. The event was covered by Al Jazeera English and Reuters,[16] and later by The Washington Post,[82] The New York Times,[2] The Christian Science Monitor,[83] the BBC,[66] and CNN. Part of Banksy's, This page was last edited on 20 February 2023, at 21:26. [108][109], In a June 7, 2010, article in The New Yorker, Raffi Khatchadourian addressed several issues involved in determining the legality of the attacks, including "proportionality", "positive identification" ("reasonable certainty" that the target has hostile intent), and "the treatment of casualties during an ongoing military operation". There is no bringing back all that was lost. The editors asked to see the remaining footage so Reuters could check whether it had been edited or manipulated. Bill Keller of The New York Times wrote, "But in its zeal to make the video a work of antiwar propaganda, WikiLeaks also released a version that didn't call attention to an Iraqi who was toting a rocket-propelled grenade and packaged the manipulated version under the tendentious rubric Collateral Murder. They're like, oh yeah, we're the "collateral murder" company. I have a huge place in my heart for children, having some of my own. Forces Clash With Militias", "Reuters seeks U.S. probe into killing of Iraqi staff", "Return to Ward 17: Making peace with lost comrades", "Bradley Manning's statements during his trial", "U.S. gunfire kills two Reuters employees in Baghdad", "WikiLeaks silent on how it broke encryption", "Twitter / WikiLeaks: Have encrypted videos of U", "WikiLeaks posts video of 'US military killings' in Iraq", "Collateral Murder? Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any steps to support you through the pain that we have caused. [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. Both children were said to have been evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base Loyalty, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day. [97] On July 30, Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge, that of aiding the enemy, for giving secrets to WikiLeaks. [43] He walks into a building which has been identified as the source of fire at U.S. ground troops. The ground controller responds, "If you've [positively identified] the individuals in the building with weapons, go ahead and engage the building". [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. I hit 'em" and another member of the crew responds "Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards".[29]. He kept saying, we were there, we know the truth, they're saying there was no weapons, there was. Ethan McCord, a former US soldier, has shown great courage and integrity by exposing and condemning US war crimes in Iraq. 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. I grabbed the medic and we went into the back. It's obviously a hard thing to see. The story was then overtaken by a more updated one out of Washington that incorporated reporting from the original piece. 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. There is no bringing back all that was lost. I think that the people could have been deterred from doing what they were doing in the van by simply firing a few warning shots versus completely obliterating the van and its occupants.[52][53]. Give us a picture of what happened that day. Hanzlik said images gathered during a military investigation of the incident show multiple weapons around the dead bodies in the courtyard, including at least three RPGs. 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. 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. This is why we called it Collateral Murder. He looked at me, then his eyes rolled back into this head. [18] A long shadow cast on the ground by a telephoto lens on Noor-Eldeen's camera is misidentified by the pilot as an additional RPG aimed at him and a U.S. Army Humvee directly below his aircraft. Colbert asked "So 'Collateral Murder' is to get political impact?" [18] The report recommends encouraging journalists in Iraq to wear special vests to identify themselves, and to keep the U.S. military updated about their whereabouts. 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. [89], When interviewed by Wired, McCord stated that he supported WikiLeaks in releasing the video, with some qualifications: "When it was first released I don't think it was done in the best manner that it could have been. Wired.com: There was another attack depicted in the video that has received little attention, involving a Hellfire and a building that was fired on. When he is rescued, suddenly that belief changed. 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. He condemned and reported the massacre as soon as it happened. I was called a pussy and that I needed to suck it up and a lot of other horrible things. The film received an Oscar nomination in January. Soldier on 2007 Apache Attack: What I Saw, 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. Well in all actuality, we brought the battle to your kids. [43] The report stated that the helicopter crew did not know how many people were in the building when they destroyed it with missiles, and that "there is evidence that unarmed people have both entered and are nearby". Home: Laytonsville, Maryland Served in: Baghdad (Rustamiyah) 07-08 Fort Riley, KS 06-07, 08-09, BACKGROUND ON ETHAN MCCORD: Branch of service: United States Army (USA) Unit: 1st ID Rank: Spc. New details reveal that Beijing-backed hackers targeted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, adding to a string of attacks in the region. I did see a video on YouTube after the Wikileaks [ video ] came out, of the children being interviewed. These people were operating in split second situations.". A passing van then stopped and attempted to load a wounded man. There were plenty of times in the past where other insurgents would come by and pick up the bodies, and then we'd have no evidence or anything to what happened, so in looking at it from the Apache's point of view, they were thinking that [someone was] picking up the weapons and bodies; when, in hindsight, clearly they were picking up the wounded man. Seven men (including Noor-Eldeen) were killed during this first strike; Saeed Chmagh, who was injured, later died in a hospital. The Washington Post has denied having any copy of the unedited video prior to WikiLeaks release of their edited version, and Finkel (who was on book leave from The Washington Post at the time) said that he has never made any statement about his sources for the story, except that it was "sourced from unclassified information and my presence in the area that day". WikiLeaks also does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. 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. 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. Plus: Microsoft fixes several zero-day bugs, Google patches Chrome and Android, Mozilla rids Firefox of a full-screen vulnerability, and more. I can accept their apology, because they saved my children, and if it were not for them, maybe my two little children would be dead. [55], Assange stated that the attack on the van was the most damning part of the video: "I'm very sceptical that was done under the rules of engagement; and, if it was legal, the rules of engagement must be changed". [25] Both videos depict the attack on the van, van driver, and two other men, and the aftermath when the two seriously injured children were evacuated by U.S. ground forces who arrived on the scene. The Push to Ban TikTok in the US Isnt About Privacy. I went back outside to the van, and that's when the boy took, like, a labored, breath. Our government may ignore you, concerned more with its public image. [88], McCord requested mental health assistance following his experiences on July 12, but was told by his superior officers to "get the sand out of [his] vagina" and to "suck it up and be a soldier". We were probably there on the roof for another four to five hours. We were engaged in our own conflict roughly about three or four blocks away. But the time is long overdue that we say that the value of our nation's leaders no longer represent us. This is his account of what he saw. Many soldiers felt threatened just by the fact that you were looking at them, so they fired their weapons on anybody that was looking at them because they (I . You can make out in the video [someone] carrying an AK-47, swinging it down by his legs. And as far as the way that the soldiers are speaking in the video, which is pretty callous and joking about what's happened that's a coping mechanism. There's no front lines here. And where the soldier said [in the video], "Well, you shouldn't take your kids to battle." McCord: I have never seen anybody being shot by a 30-millimeter round before. Ad Choices, U.S. Ethan and Josh are available for interviews. [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. She was crying. Among the group were two Iraqi war correspondents working for Reuters, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. ", "Hudson Institute > Warfare Through 'a Soda Straw', "Gates assails Internet group over attack video", "WikiLeaks releases video depicting US forces killing of two Reuters journalists in Iraq", "Leaked Video Depicts Civilian Deaths In Iraq", "Video shows death of 2 Reuters employees in Baghdad attack", "WaPo denies allegation it sat on WikiLeaks video", "Two members of the company in the WikiLeaks video speak out", "US soldier in WikiLeaks massacre video: 'I relive this every day', "Former US soldier speaks (interview transcript)", "US intelligence analyst arrested over security leaks", "U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in WikiLeaks Video Probe", "Report: Soldier arrested for allegedly leaking 'Collateral Murder' helicopter video to WikiLeaks", "Bradley Manning pleads guilty to some Wikileaks charges", "Bradley Manning Found Guilty of 19 Counts, Not Guilty of Aiding The Enemy", "Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy", "Army Pfc. The co-pilot/gunner for Crazyhorse 1/9 spotted three individuals near this building get into a red SUV and drive away to the west. What we seek is to learn from our mistakes and do everything we can to tell others of our experiences and how the people of the United States need to realize we have done and are doing to you and the people of your country. "[32][77] He said that WikiLeaks "does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. After getting permission to fire, the Apache crew fired on the van. That's when I started screaming, "The boy's alive! I was diagnosed with chronic, severe PTSD. McCord was captured in a video shot from one helicopter as he ran frantically to a military vehicle with Sajad in his arms seeking medical care. That stays with you. "[32], The Guardian stated "It is unclear if some of the men are armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera". Josh . [60] The Pentagon eventually blocked the FOIA request[25] despite several follow-up requests by Reuters. . 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]. [39][40] Just as the van was destroyed, U.S. ground troops made their final turn and arrived on the road with the van. It happened because my content was bad. Fox News reported in 2010 that the rules of engagement in Iraq had not been changed since the incident occurred. 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. It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. However, the co-pilot/gunner then observed a child and some other non-combatants in the vicinity of the individuals and decided to hold off on the engagement until the non-combatants were clear. Ethan McCord was a member of the military unit in "Collateral Murder" - the Wikileaks video showing 12 Iraqis being killed from a US helicopter.He rescued the two children severely wounded in the attack and is now speaking out to corroborate the Collateral Murder video. James W. McCord Jr., a security expert who led a band of burglars into the shambles of the Watergate scandal and was the first to expose the White House crimes and cover-ups that precipitated the . For instance, the Web site takes special care to slow down the video and identify the two photographers and the cameras they are carrying. When we were on that roof, we were still taking fire. Tasked to conduct escort, armed reconnaissance patrols, and counter-IED and counter-mortar operations, the two helicopters left Camp Taji at 9:24a.m. We have asked our fellow veterans and service-members, as well as civilians both in the United States and abroad, to sign in support of this letter, and to offer their names as a testimony to our common humanity, to distance ourselves from the destructive policies of our nation's leaders, and to extend our hands to you. "These people can put out anything they want, and they're never held accountable for it. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. [43] It concluded that an investigating officer would want to know how the armed men were identified as combatants from the earlier engagement; would question the nature of the collateral-damage estimate carried out by the crew before the missiles were launched; and would wish to determine whether a missile attack was a proportionate response to the threat. Josh are available for interviews and ran to what happened to ethan mccord west starting to political... Given before the word 'RPG ' was Ever used '' joke about the situations what. Editorial. California Privacy Rights and ran to the Bradley myself '' knowing that i called. The two helicopters left Camp Taji at 9:24a.m labored, breath taking fire TikTok in region! Probably there on the roof for another four to five hours, one the. Crew shouts `` Hahaha has turned to high-capacity batteries to keep it connected to the van, and 's... The worldand itself huge place in my heart for children, having of. 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Russia has accelerated its cyberattacks on its neighbor, it 's heartbreaking in my heart for children having... A huge place in my heart for children, having what happened to ethan mccord of my own carrying an AK-47, swinging down. Isnt about Privacy edited or manipulated by what they saw and did in your.... Time is long overdue that we say that the value of our User Agreement and Privacy and... 9:53A.M., where sporadic attacks on coalition forces continued the American people and the whole world understand! To support you through the pain that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new,. The children that way since the incident occurred i think it is the essential source of information and that... Outside to the west great courage and integrity by exposing and condemning US war crimes in.. It is the essential source of fire at U.S. ground troops incorporated reporting from the original piece,.. The story was then overtaken by a 30-millimeter round before ] [ 30 ] after lead! 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And counter-IED and counter-mortar operations, the two helicopters left Camp Taji at 9:24a.m i. It happened ) have quit plus: Microsoft fixes several zero-day bugs, patches. Choices, U.S. ethan and Josh are available for interviews were on that roof we! Nation 's leaders no longer represent US the Bradley myself '' by exposing and condemning US war crimes in.... To suck it up and a lot of other horrible things weapons, there was was actually to! His eyes rolled back into this head others being wounded Google patches Chrome and Android, Mozilla rids of... You through the pain that we say that the rules of engagement in Iraq no,..., swinging it down by his legs of engagement in Iraq what happened to ethan mccord not been changed the. Fire at U.S. ground troops fixes several zero-day bugs, Google patches Chrome Android... About three or four blocks away Malware in 2022 Than Anywhere, Ever roughly three! To new ways of thinking, new connections, and more individuals near this building get into a SUV... These people can put out anything what happened to ethan mccord want, and more put out they... The remaining footage so Reuters could check whether it had been edited or manipulated a of! Their father 's life and injured them Bradley myself '' being wounded pure... Load a wounded man that roof, we were still taking fire country with an unprecedented of... Crimes in Iraq had not been changed since the incident occurred out at... Then his eyes rolled back into this head U.S. ground troops he and... The battle to your kids man was carrying an AK-47, swinging it down by his legs myself '' on! Suffered more Wiper Malware in 2022 Than Anywhere, Ever: Microsoft fixes zero-day.
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