Wikileaks footage of US army gunship killing innocent people

[Fox 6]

Pretty stirring, and graphic footage.

[magus113]

I watched the short version of the video, no less horrible to watch.
Seriously that's fucked up.

[Dylflon]

This is infuriating.

Fuck the military.

[Typhoid]

This is what happens when you train 20-something's to hate a faceless skin colour, get them full of testosterone and adrenaline, take away hobbies or activities, then give them guns.

[Professor S]

I agree that this was a horrible accident, but by all accounts it was still an accident. There was a lot of fighting in that area before the attack shown in the video and there were armed men that were left out of much of the video.

I don't defend the action, but I think this situation needs a little perspective.

[thatmariolover]

Regardless, the video reveals two specific acts that constitute war crimes under the Geneva Conventions: firing on a wounded or disabled combatant and firing on a provider of aid. The Army claims the van didn't bear a red cross (international sign of aid required to be on ambulances) and that similar vans had been giving aid to the insurgents. So killing the wounded combatant was apparently just collateral damage and not a war crime. If I was an insurgent, I'd start painting red crosses on all my vans - what a terrible way of distinguishing genuine targets.

The US government should have investigated it themselves and made a press release. I'm not saying it wasn't an accident. We just shouldn't be learning about it from a whistleblower.

[Xantar]

Sorry, Satan. I'm going to freeze your home and agree with Professor S.

This was a hot zone. The military had recently been fighting some actual insurgents in the area. Those very same helicopter pilots might have been fighting people who were really trying to kill them a few hours ago.

Moreover, from what I've read, the pilots followed the rules of engagement correctly. They assessed the threat, called it in, got permission to open fire and then did so. Some of their remarks seem callous, but the fact of the matter is that being a professional killer tends to dehumanize the people you're trying to kill. It's human nature.

I've also read that someone in the van actually did have an RPG. We don't know what it was for, but it was there.

I would say that there was no need to fire on a van that was just trying to rescue people. But the bigger point to be made by this video is that despite all good intentions, this is the stuff that happens when you go to war. People are going to die. Sometimes it's going to be the wrong people. Sometimes it's going to be people who don't deserve it. You can't avoid that no matter how much you try. That's why war is the last resort.