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.
Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of
Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video,
shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked
slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children
involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.
The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and
stated that they did not know how the children were injured.
After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S.
military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance
with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".
Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement
for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after
the killings.
WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a shorter
version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to both
versions from the radio transmissions.
WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a
number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to
verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have analyzed
the information about this incident from a variety of source material. We
have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly involved in the
incident.
WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives
gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the
people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting
their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very dangerous
place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while
doing their work.
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