"It showed an aerial view of a group of men moving about a square in a Baghdad neighborhood. The fliers identified some of the men as armed.
WikiLeaks said the men in the square included Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, who were killed in the incident.
"The gathering at the corner that is fired up on has about nine people in it," Julian Assange, a WikiLeaks spokesman, told reporters at the National Press Club.
The gunsight tracks two of the men, identified by WikiLeaks as the Reuters news staff, as the fliers identify their cameras as weapons. Military spokesman Turner said that during the engagement, the helicopter mistook a camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
The helicopter opened fire on the small group, killing several people and wounding others. Minutes later, when a van approached and began trying to assist the wounded, the fliers became concerned the vehicle was occupied by militants trying to collect weapons and help wounded comrades escape." [Emphasis mine]
Now, going to the second link, we read the description of the video as such:
"5th April 2010 10:44 EST WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff." [Emphasis mine]
Was the killing done without judgement? Without consideration? They weren't just firing on civilians. They were firing on what they could make out as militants.
You can argue that the rules of engagement are wrong. That we can't just rely on the eyes on the ground to give us reports. That someone saying they see a weapon is not a strong enough reason for allowing them to open fire. You can argue that we have to wait until people are fired upon, or die, before reacting. But your comment just spreads misinformation.
Yes. What you are leaving out is the rest of the story. Let's go to a neutral source:
Leaked U.S. video shows deaths of Reuters' Iraqi staffers http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/06/us-iraq-usa-journa...
"It showed an aerial view of a group of men moving about a square in a Baghdad neighborhood. The fliers identified some of the men as armed.
WikiLeaks said the men in the square included Reuters photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his assistant and driver Saeed Chmagh, 40, who were killed in the incident.
"The gathering at the corner that is fired up on has about nine people in it," Julian Assange, a WikiLeaks spokesman, told reporters at the National Press Club.
The gunsight tracks two of the men, identified by WikiLeaks as the Reuters news staff, as the fliers identify their cameras as weapons. Military spokesman Turner said that during the engagement, the helicopter mistook a camera for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
The helicopter opened fire on the small group, killing several people and wounding others. Minutes later, when a van approached and began trying to assist the wounded, the fliers became concerned the vehicle was occupied by militants trying to collect weapons and help wounded comrades escape." [Emphasis mine]
Now, going to the second link, we read the description of the video as such:
"5th April 2010 10:44 EST WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff." [Emphasis mine]
Was the killing done without judgement? Without consideration? They weren't just firing on civilians. They were firing on what they could make out as militants.
You can argue that the rules of engagement are wrong. That we can't just rely on the eyes on the ground to give us reports. That someone saying they see a weapon is not a strong enough reason for allowing them to open fire. You can argue that we have to wait until people are fired upon, or die, before reacting. But your comment just spreads misinformation.