Legal Commentary

Wikileaks Posts Video of U.S. Soldiers Killing Iraqi Civilians

By Jeralyn

WikiLeaks, a military "whistleblower" website has obtained and posted a video showing the 2007 attack by U.S. soldiers in in a suburb of Baghdad that killed 12 civilians, including two Reuters journalists. You can view the full unedited 39 minute version on You Tube here.

The video, released on Monday, is of high quality and appears to be authentic, the BBC's Adam Brookes in Washington says. It is accompanied by a recording of the pilots' radio transmissions and those of US troops on the ground.

The video shows a street in Baghdad and a group of about eight people, whom the helicopter pilots deem to be insurgents. It then shows the individuals on the street being shot dead with the Apache's cannon. Then, a van drives onto the scene, and its occupants appear to start picking up the wounded. It, too, is fired upon. Altogether, around 12 people die. Two children appear to be injured.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on April 05, 2010 (boomark / email).