Pictures of wounded men being shot censored by TV

[MORTARDUDE]

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http://www.informationclearinghouse....rticle6156.htm

Pictures of wounded men being shot censored by TV

By Robert Fisk

6 May 2004 "The Independent" -- The pictures are appalling, the words devastating. As a wounded Iraqi crawls from beneath a burning truck, an American helicopter pilot tells his commander that one of three men has survived his night air attack. "Someone wounded," the pilot cries. Then he received the reply: "Hit him, hit the truck and him." As the helicopter's gun camera captures the scene on video, the pilot fires a 30mm gun at the wounded man, vaporising him in a second.

British and most European television stations censored the tape off the air last night on the grounds that the pictures were too terrible to show. But deliberately shooting a wounded man is a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and this extraordinary film of US air crews in action over Iraq is likely to create yet another international outcry.

American and British personnel have been trying for weeks to persuade Western television stations to show the video of the attack. Despite the efforts of reports in Baghdad and New York, most television controllers preferred to hide the evidence from viewers. Only Canal Plus in France, ABC television in the United States and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation have so far had the courage to show the shocking footage. UK military personnel in the Gulf region have confirmed that the tape is genuine.

The camera, mounted beside the 30mm cannon of a US Apache helicopter on patrol over central Iraq on 1 December, first picks up movement on a country road, apparently several hundred metres from an American military checkpoint. A lorry and a smaller vehicle, probably a pick-up, come into view and a man - apparently unaware of the hovering helicopter - is seen moving to a field on the left of the screen. He is carrying what seems to be a tube with a covering; it may be a rocket-propelled grenade. One of two helicopter pilots is heard to say: "Big truck over here. He's having a little pow-wow." The driver of the pick-up looks around, reaches into the vehicle, takes out the tube-shaped object and runs from the road into the field. He drops the object and returns to the truck. The pilot then radios: "I got a guy running, throwing a weapon." Another pilot, or a ground controller, instructs him: "Engage - smoke him."

At this point, a tractor arrives close to where the man from the lorry dropped the object in the field. One of the Iraqis approaches the tractor driver. The Apache pilot opens fire with his 30mm cannon, killing first the Iraqi in the field and then the tractor driver. The camera registers the bullets hitting the first man. All that is left is a smudge on the ground.

The pilot then turns his attention to the large truck, opens fire and waits to see if he has hit the last of the three men. The third man is then seen crawling, obviously badly wounded, from his cover beneath the blazing truck. The pilot reports: "Wait. Someone wounded by the truck." An officer replies: "Hit him. Hit the truck and him."

The video tape shows that the incident took four minutes, during which the two helicopter pilots - whose names are listed as Nager and Alioto - expended 300 high-velocity cannon rounds at their targets. The tape shows that the first 15 rounds missed the men. One of the pilots says: "Fuck, switching to range auto." The tape then documents the firing of four bursts of 20 rounds each at the three men.

The pictures, apparently taken through thermal-imaging cameras, leave no doubt that the pilot knew his third victim was wounded and crawling along the ground - and that whoever gave him the order to hit him also knew this.

Coming only days after the appalling photographs of Iraqis being tortured and humiliated by US troops at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, the new pictures can only further inflame Arab opinion throughout the Middle East. It is common Israeli practice to kill wounded enemies from the air; a devastating helicopter assault by Israel on a Hizbollah training camp in Lebanon 10 years ago was accompanied by a series of attacks in which pilots sought out wounded guerrillas as they hid behind rocks in the Bekaa Valley and then fired at them.

The film, while it shows men acting in an apparently suspicious manner, does not prove they were handling weapons. The occupation authorities in Baghdad chose to keep the incident secret when it occurred in December. Watching the video images, it is easy to understand why.

Copyright: The Independent

[82Rigger]

...has been circulating on the internet for at least three months.

When I first viewed it, it was presented as a demonstration of "how effective the weapon is in actual combat".

The video is, in fact, as described above. I have the uncensored video (with audio). It is, to say the least, disturbing.

[Packo]

Not disturbing to me. That's 3 that won't be killing our men. I doubt they were just "3 Men and a truck". You must either trust our troops or you don't. I choose to trust that our men are not murderers and I will never feel any different.

Packo

[Bill Farnie]

I haven't seen the video but this is war for crying out loud. It was a target of opportunity. What was the chopper supposed to do, land and pickup the wounded man?
Also the statement:?"the film, while it shows men acting in an apparently suspicious manner, does not prove they were handling weapons" doesn't wash with me. So what does Robert Fisk think it was, a tube of toothpaste?

[Arrow]

Larry,

Your disclaimer doesn't fly with me.You may or may not disagreebutas far I'm concernedyou're carryin' the water for the other team each time you cut and paste a link totheir propaganda. Your right to do so and my right to disagree with you.

I've always believed you support the home team when they areplayin' out of town. It's impossible to change my mind.

Andno I'm not going tohit on this link or any other websitelike it to offer commentso they can down load theirtracking cookies to my machine for me to find and cleanup later.

What Packy and Bill said,

Arrow>>>>>>>>

[catman]

Three more we will not have to worry about. I concer with Sis, Bill and Packy.

Trav

[Houdini]

Now if we could get our Apache pilots to smoke more "just guys and trucks carrying toothpaste".

We have been bowing to these people since I left there in 91 and it's about time...HOOO RAAHHH!!

After all...we let them have their Rammadan and yet on Christmas we get mortars for 18 hours.Seems fair 3 less people to throw grenades at our troops.

[SEATJERKER]

...?In the field at night in a WAR ZONE? Gee the enemy is scurrying around at night, a novel concept, seems about right, until detected, and then they get waxed, what the Ph*#k is the problem with that, does everyone here on the ???left??? have any clue what happens out there in the twilight zone, No they would rather candy coat it in their feeble minds, and soften the actual blows so that their "it's not me, or mine" line of thinking kicks in, and they can go back to their manicure,...

..I see them walking around on the streets with RPG's, and being filmed , and not giving a shi+ about it either, on 24 hours notice, let those good people leave , and those that stay, just shoot them on sight, no prisioners, and let them scratch the sand face down, level the whole city, and drop a few million tents,...

...START OVER...

...

[reconeil]

Gotsta-go-along with your and others here like-minded way of thinking, regarding killing and wiping out Iraqi or multi-national assassins and/or merciless killers of even non-combattant men, women and children, at every opportunity (not that often since very sneaky, clandestine and always blending-in with population) possible.

To do otherwise would only please and appease obstructionist or Leftist Fools (both foreign and domestic), assist our fanatical enemy,...and last but not least put Americans (both civilian and military) in deeper peril than we already are.

Besides, isn't it the Order of The Day to kill or destroy any such vermin whenever discovered or ferreted-out? Also, what kind of nut would volunteer to drop down and give medical assistance to such murderous scum, in such a situation? Does The ACLU have Paramedics?

Neil

[phuloi]

Let`s cease and desist with the aid and comfort to the enemy bullshit,huh Larry?I don`t give a shit if you support the websites you get this crap from or not,or if you condone what they have to say.I`ve had a HUGE knot in my gut since 9/11 and this kind of garbarge only makes it worse.Where`s my Rolaids?