In times of war, it is important that the public is made aware of the actions taken by the military, especially since some acts are horrifying beyond words and need to be witnessed. One such avenue that exists to expose such acts is Wikileaks, the infamous website created by Julian Assange that has been integral towards exposing multiple crimes committed by the US government. One of the most shocking and important events it has exposed has been come to be known as “Collateral Murder.”
On July 12, 2007, two US Apache helicopters stationed in New Baghdad opened fire on a group of men standing on the Baghdad streets. This event would receive widespread attention from the media and be broadcast on the world stage three years later, when footage of the attack from the inside of the helicopters accompanied by audio recordings of the soldiers commanding the attack was uploaded onto Wikileaks, provided by US Army soldier Chelsea Manning.
The footage was brutal and horrifying. It exposed that the men they had shot at were not insurgents. All of deceased were civilians, and two of them were even journalists for Reuters. The “guns” that the soldiers had supposedly seen were cameras that the journalists were carrying. Children who had been in a van that had stopped to help the injured had been injured, and the footage clearly showed the children visible in the window of the van. To make the situation worse, the soldiers are recorded laughing about the deceased and making jokes about the deceased and their bodies. One is even recorded joyously saying “Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards. Nice shoot’n.” Another remarks about how he drove over a body, to which another laughs in response.
The video was powerful and caused waves in the media. Assange was interviewed by the media and was often attacked. In an interview with Stephen Colbert, he was accused of being too editorial with his title and preface for the footage, to which Assange defended the title, explaining that while they protect their sources and promise to give the entire footage, that they “will try and get the maximum possible political impact for the material that they give to us. Assange was also probed about whether any of the men had guns, to which he admitted that some likely do, but that “I’m not sure that means anything.”
Unfortunately, much of the US government and army were critical of the video, accusing it of being released without context and being too brief to offer any complete picture of the events that had occurred. The men who led the attack did not apologize, however one of the ground soldiers seen in the video, did write a letter of reconciliation and responsibly, apologizing for the events of the video. Still, no apology will ever make up for the atrocities the military has committed, and it is important that websites like Wikileaks exist in order to keep them in check and expose such events.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12,_2007,_Baghdad_airstrike
https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/15/all-lies-how-the-us-military-covered-up-gunning-down-two-journalists-in-iraq
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