July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike

The July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrikes were a series of

air-to-ground attacks conducted by a team of two US AH64 Apache helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, New
Baghdad during the Iraqi insurgency which followed the
Iraq War. The attacks received worldwide coverage following the leaking of 39 minutes of classied gunsight
footage in 2010, provoking ongoing global discussion on
the legality and morality of the attacks.

der. Recorded from the gunsight Target Acquisition and

Designation System of one of the attacking helicopters,
the video shows the incident and the radio chatter between the aircrews and ground units involved. An anonymous U.S. military ocial conrmed the authenticity of
the footage.[7]

In the rst strike, the crews of two Apaches directed

30mm cannon re at a group of ten Iraqi men standing at a position (intersection) insurgents had previously
used to shoot an American Humvee with small arms
re. Among the group were two Iraqi war correspondents
working for Reuters, Saeed Chmagh and Namir NoorEldeen. Namir accomplished his objective with three
photos of the Humvee which included the large dirt pile
used as cover by insurgents to attack the Humvee earlier
that morning. Seven men (including Noor-Eldeen) were
killed during this rst strike, and Saeed Chmagh was injured.

1 Context
See also: 2007 in Iraq, Iraq War troop surge of 2007,
and List of coalition military operations of the Iraq War
2007
According to Tom Cohen, a reporter at CNN, the soldiers of Bravo Company, 2-16 Infantry had been under
re all morning from rocket-propelled grenades and small
arms on the rst day of Operation Ilaaj in Baghdad.[8]
Al Jazeera stated that the Army had received reports of
small arms re, but were unable to positively identify the
gunmen. Apache helicopters were called in by a soldier
in the Humvee (Hotel 2-6) under attack from the same
position used by Namir Noor-Eldeen to photograph the
vehicle.[9] According to a military review, soldiers in that
company had been under sporadic small arms and rocket
propelled grenade re since the operationdescribed as
clearing their sector and looking for weapons caches
began.[10]

The second strike, also using 30 mm rounds, was directed

at a van whose driver, Saleh Matasher Tomal, appeared
to happen to drive by and who proceeded to help the
wounded Chmagh. However, in the long version of the
video this van was targeted prior to the rst engagement
by one Apache (Crazyhorse 1/8) as it traveled south toward the Reuters employees who were, simultaneously,
targeted by the other Apache (Crazyhorse 1/9) as they
walked north on the same road toward the van. Minutes
after the rst engagement ended the van returned trav- The Air Weapons Team (AWT) of two Apache AH-64s
eling in an opposite direction (north) once again on this from the 1st Cavalry Division had been requested by
the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment (2-16), 4th
same road.
Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division under the
Two men assisting in the rescue eort were from a group command of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, beof ve standing at an intersection - seen in the upper right fore July 12 to support Operation Ilaaj. Tasked to concorner of the video when the Reuters employees arrive in duct escort, armed reconnaissance patrols, counter-IED
the courtyard - reported to Apaches as being a second and counter-mortar operations, the two helicopters left
position combatants were using to attack the Humvee. Camp Taji at 9:24am. They arrived on station in New
Both of these men, Chmagh and Tomal, were killed in Baghdad at 9:53am, where sporadic attacks on coalition
the second strike, and two of Tomals children were badly forces continued.[11]
wounded.
In a third strike Apache pilots watched people ee into
a building and engaged that building with several AGM114 Hellre missiles.

2 Incidents

Reuters had unsuccessfully requested the footage of the

2.1 Attack on personnel
airstrikes under the Freedom of Information Act in 2007.
The footage was acquired from an undisclosed source in
In the video on the morning of July 12, 2007, the crews
2009 by the leaks website WikiLeaks, which released the
of two United States Army AH-64 Apache helicopters
footage on April 5, 2010 under the name Collateral Murobserve a gathering of men near a section of Baghdad
1

The rst part of the video released by WikiLeaks, showing the

rst attack, on a group of men and the second attack, on a van.
This is 13 minutes of onboard footage from one of the two AH64 Apache helicopters involved in the incident released by WikiLeaks. This video is from the editorialized version of Collateral
Murder, but has had the editorial removed. (Full audio transcript) Other video clips including the full 39-minute footage and
clips corresponding to the Army report exhibits were also made
available by WikiLeaks.

in the path of advancing U.S. ground troops, some with

AKMs and RPGs.[8][12] The crew estimates the group
is twenty men.[13] Among the group are two journalists working for Reuters, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed
Chmagh.[8][14][15][16][17] (While the two are carrying media cards, they are not wearing distinctive clothing identifying themselves as such.)[18] A crew member requests
authorization to engage after seeing ve or six of the men,
some with AKMs and RPGs moving in the direction of
U.S. soldiers.[8] A long shadow cast on the ground by a
telephoto lens on Noor-Eldeens camera is misidentied
by the pilot as an additional RPG aimed at him and a
U.S. Army humvee directly below his aircraft. One second later he screams, Hes got an RPG!" Noor-Eldeen
fails to photograph the Apache but three pictures of the
U.S. Humvee appear on his cameras memory card when
it was recovered by U.S. soldiers. The men become obscured behind a building as the Apache moves around
the group.[8] Expecting an immediate attack on the U.S.
soldiers, both helicopters strafe a group of ten men with
30 mm rounds once they became visible again.[7][8][19]
Seven men are killed, including Noor-Eldeen, and three
others wounded, including Chmagh.[8][12][15] Once the
group was eliminated, the Apache pilots direct the ground
troops to move up to the position of the attack to clear the
area.

2 INCIDENTS
licopters sights onto Chmagh, checked to see if he had
or was moving towards a weapon but saw none, and expressed his disappointment because rules of engagement
prohibited him from ring on an unarmed person who
posed no threat. As the U.S. soldiers moved towards the
site of the attack, a van stopped near Chmagh. In the
van was Saleh Mutashar and his two children Sajad and
Doaha, age nine and six, whom he was driving to visit
his brother.[21] Mutashar told his children he was going
to take the injured man to a hospital.[22] The van had no
visible markings to suggest it was an ambulance or a protected vehicle.[23] The Apache crew alerted the ground
troops of the van and requested permission to engage the
vehicle before the ground troops arrived. The Apache
crew saw unarmed[15] men exit the vehicle and move to
Chmagh.[8][15][20] The Apache crew requested permission to engage, stating "... looks like [the men] possibly, picking up bodies and weapons from the scene,[24]
and repeated their request with Let me engage!" and
Come on, let us shoot!",[25][26][27][28][29] before they received permission to open up 30mm re on the van and
its occupants.[8][15][20] Chmagh was killed[8][15][20] along
with the childrens father and two other men, while the
two children were injured.[22] The young girl suered
from a stomach wound and glass in her eyes, and the
boy a head injury.[30][31] Just as the van was destroyed,
U.S. ground troops made their nal turn and arrived on
the road with the van. The Apache crew then alerted the
ground troops that they believed that they could see an injured child moving around inside the destroyed van. On
the video, it is then seen that Army soldiers establish a
perimeter around the site and extract the children from
the burning van.

2.3 Attack on a building

The ground troops that secured the site of the rst two
strikes then receive small arms re from nearby buildings.
There is a period of 20 minutes not included on the leaked
tape.[32] According to the internal legal review, the helicopters engaged a group of armed insurgents, and that
some were seen entering a nearby building.[12]

As the tape resumes, two men, one holding an AK-47,

are seen walking. They split up and the footage follows
one who appears to be armed.[33] He walks into a building which has been identied as the source of re at U.S.
ground troops. They request permission to re a missile
at the building, describing it at as abandoned or under
construction. The ground controller responds, If you've
[positively identied] the individuals in the building with
weapons, go ahead and engage the building. As the pilot
positions the helicopter to attack the building, two un2.2 Attack on a van
armed men walk towards, and perhaps into, the building.
As the gunner res the rst missile, another man is seen
As the ground troops advanced, a wounded Chmagh walking along the street in front of the building. The miswas seen crawling and attempting to stand on the sile hits the building, and the man is caught in the exploground.[8][15][15][20][20] An Apache gunner moved the he- sion. The crew then reposition the helicopter and re two

2.3

Attack on a building

more missiles into the upper oors of the building[34]

2.3.1

Commentary

3
Collateral Murder that the word RPG was not used
until after permission to engage was given, he leaves the
impression that the soldiers were given the okay to open
re on a group of unarmed men, or men believed to be
unarmed. But the video and accompanying audio make
clear that the soldiers in the helicopter said they spotted weapons among those in the grouplater allegedly
identied by an internal army investigator as an AK-47,
RPG rounds[37] and 2 RPG launchers, one of which was
loaded.[12][38] Assange later acknowledged Based upon
visual evidence, I suspect there probably were AKs and
an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything,[23] Assange stated that initial attempts to evacuate the wounded
children to a nearby US military hospital were blocked by
US military command.[39] The legal review carried out by
the US Army states that the two children were evacuated
to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base Loyalty, then transferred to an Iraqi medical
facility the next day.[12]
Fox News said that of the attack WikiLeaks appears to
have done selective editing that tells only half the story.
For instance, the Web site takes special care to slow down
the video and identify the two photographers and the
cameras they are carrying. ... The Web site does not
slow down the video to show that at least one man in that
group was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher,
a clearly visible weapon that runs nearly two-thirds the
length of his body. WikiLeaks also does not point out
that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rie.
He is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while
standing next to the man holding the RPG.[23]
The Guardian stated It is unclear if some of the men are
armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera.[15]
Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com said that the vast majority of the men were clearly unarmed.[40] Greenwald
called the second airstrike a plainly unjustied killing of
a group of unarmed men carrying away an unarmed, seriously wounded man to safety.[40] The Australian newspaper said the group was displaying no obvious hostile
action.[41]

Blurry still frames from the leaked video with individuals perhaps carrying long zoom cameras, weapons and/or plays of
shadow and light.[35]

WikiLeaks said in the preface to one of their videos of the

incident that some of the men appear to have been armed
[although] the behavior of nearly everyone was relaxed
in the introductory text of the shorter video.[36] Julian Assange said permission to engage was given before the
word 'RPG' was ever used.[36] Politifact states: When
Assange points out in the context of justifying the title

In The Independent on April 8, 2010, human rights activist Joan Smith asserts that the engagements were like
a game to the helicopter crew. She writes that the copilot urged a dying, unarmed journalist to pick up a
weapon as he tried to crawl to safety; and claims that
the footage shows "... the Apache crew opening re on
civilians....[42] When the crew were informed that a child
had been injured by their attack, one initially responded,
Ah damn. Oh well, and a minute later continued,
Well, its their fault for bringing kids into a battle.[42]
Smith describes this reaction as inhuman. She draws parallels with soldiers who suered post-traumatic stress disorder in earlier wars. She continues "... the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan are inicting huge psychological damage
on combatants.[42] In refusing to recognise this, the US
military fails both its own soldiers and their victims.[42]
Command structures need to be in place to identify com-

4 COVERAGE FROM 2010

batants with serious psychological problems,[42] she concludes.

3 20072009 coverage

On Democracy Now!, Josh Stieber, a conscientious objector who was at the time assigned to Bravo Company
2-16, said that although its natural to judge or criticize
the soldiers, in fact this is how [they] were trained to
act. He said that the debate should be re-framed, that it is
more appropriate to ask questions of the larger system
that teaches doing these things is in the best interests of
my own country.[43] In a later interview on the World
Socialist Web Site, Stieber said that the attack exposes so
clearly the fallacy of using war as a tool of foreign policy
or as a way to supposedly spread 'freedom and democracy' around the world.[44]

On the day of the attack the US military reported that

the two journalists were killed along with nine insurgents,
and that the helicopter engagement was related to a US
troop raid force that had been attacked by small-arms re
and RPGs.[49] US forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel
Scott Bleichwehl later stated: There is no question that
coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force.[49]

The Washington Post reported it was unclear whether the

journalists were killed by U.S. re or by shooting from the
targeted Iraqis. Captain James Hall stated they couldn't
drive in Bradleys in fear of running over bodies. Major
Ethan McCord, a soldier who arrived on the scene after Brent Cummings claimed they took great pains to prevent
the attack, stated in an interview for the Australian Broad- the loss of innocent civilian lives.[50]
casting Corporation:
Reuters reported that it could locate no witnesses who had
From being in the perspective of the
Apache helicopter crew, I can see where a
group of men gathering, when theres a reght
just a few blocks away, which I was involved
in, and theyre carrying weapons, one of which
is an RPG. ... Their overall mission that day
was to protect us, to provide support for us, so
I can see where the initial attack on the group
of men was warranted. However, personally I
dont feel that the attack on the van was warranted. I think that the people could have been
deterred from doing what they were doing in
the van by simply ring a few warning shots
versus completely obliterating the van and its
occupants.[45][46]
On June 7, 2010, The New Yorker reported that Kristinn
Hrafnsson, an investigative reporter who worked on
the Collateral Murder video and has since become a
spokesman for WikiLeaks,[47] claimed to have found the
owner of the building who said that three families had
been living in there and seven residents had died, including his wife and daughter.[33] The report stated that the
helicopter crew did not know how many people were in
the building when they destroyed it with missiles, and that
there is evidence that unarmed people have both entered
and are nearby.[33] It concludes that an investigating ofcer would want to know how the armed men were identied as combatants from the earlier engagement; would
question the nature of the collateral-damage estimate carried out by the crew before the missiles were launched;
and would wish to determine whether a missile attack was
a proportionate response to the threat.
A Pentagon spokesman insisted the video did not contradict the ocial nding that the helicopters crew acted
within the rules of engagement and said that the inquiry
backed the assessment that the group of men was carrying
a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).[48]

seen gunmen in the immediate area. Reuters also stated

that local police described the attack as random American bombardment.[51] Reuters subsequently asked the
US military to probe the deaths. They asked for an explanation of the conscation of the journalists two cameras,
access to the on-board footage and voice communications
from the helicopters involved, and access to the reports
of the units involved in the incident, particularly logs of
weapons taken from the scene.[51]
The Pentagon blocked an attempt by Reuters to obtain
the gunsight footage of the incident through the Freedom
of Information Act.[15] In a personal statement during
her court martial, Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley)
stated that the military did have access to this information, and that it was actively examining it, yet it denied
access partially on the basis that the information may no
longer exist.[52]
An internal legal review by sta at Forward Operating
Base Loyalty in Iraq during July 2007 stated that the helicopters had attacked a number of armed insurgents within
the rules of engagement, and that in an apparent case of
civilian casualties two reporters working for Reuters had
also been killed. The review would not be released in
full until 2010, after the video of the incident had been
released by WikiLeaks.[2]
Washington Post reporter David Finkel, who at the time
was embedded with Bravo Company 2-16 Infantry, later
covered the incidents of the day in his book, The Good
Soldiers.[53] However, this was later disputed by Mannings personal statements to court. In this statement,
Manning agrees that parts of Finkels account are quoted
from the same source verbatim, yet she asserts that
other events from the source were clearly fabricated by
Finkel.[52]

4 Coverage from 2010

4.1

4.1

Leaked video footage

Leaked video footage

Early in 2010, the internet leak site WikiLeaks made a

public request for assistance in decrypting a video it described as US bomb strikes on civilians, specically requesting access to supercomputer time.[54] The site stated
on its Twitter account on January 8, 2010, that it had
a copy of gunsight footage of the incidents,[55] and announced that it would release it by March 21.[56] The
footage was released during an April 5 press conference at the National Press Club, and subsequently under
a designated website titled Collateral Murder. WikiLeaks stated that the footage shows the murder of Iraqi
civilians and two Reuters journalists.[57][58] WikiLeaks
identied the leaks source as a number of military
whistleblowers.[39] Speaking to Reuters on condition of
anonymity, a U.S. Defense ocial conrmed the authenticity of the leaked audio and video.[7] The military reported that it could not nd its copy of the video.[59]

5
a comedian, who skewered him":
The army described this as a group that
gave resistance at the time, that doesnt seem to
be happening. But there are armed men in the
group, they did nd a rocket propelled grenade
among the group, the Reuters photographers
who were regrettably killed, were not identied...You have edited this tape, and you have
given it a title called collateral murder. Thats
not leaking, thats a pure editorial.

According to Harnden Assange admitted that he was

seeking to manipulate and create 'maximum political
impact'.[61][62][63][64][65] Dan Kennedy wrote in The
Guardian Even the comedian Stephen Colbert, in an interview with Assange, dropped his rightwing-blowhard
persona momentarily to make a serious point, calling the
[66]
WikiLeaks released a 39-minute version, which shows all edited version 'emotional manipulation'".
three incidents, and a 17-minute version, which shows Bill Keller of The New York Times wrote But in its zeal
only the rst two incidents. Highlighted in the 17-minute to make the video a work of antiwar propaganda, Wikversion of the video are Noor-Eldeen with a camera and iLeaks also released a version that didnt call attention
Chmagh talking on his mobile phone.[15] Both videos de- to an Iraqi who was toting a rocket-propelled grenade
pict the attack on the van, van driver, and two other men, and packaged the manipulated version under the tendenand the aftermath when the two seriously injured chil- tious rubric Collateral Murder.[4] The New York Times
dren were evacuated by US ground forces who arrived on reported that Critics contend that the shorter video was
the scene.[39] The longer video shows the third attack, in misleading because it did not make clear that the attacks
which Hellre missiles were red into a building.[33]
took place amid clashes in the neighborhood and that one
of the men was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade.[67]
4.1.1

WikiLeaks rationale for their title of the

footage

4.1.2 Reactions to the video footage

In an Al Jazeera English interview on April 19, 2010,

Capt. Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central ComWikiLeaks Julian Assange explained why WikiLeaks timand stated that the airstrike video gives you a limited
tled the video Collateral Murder":
perspective, [it] only tells you a portion of the activity
that was happening that day. Just from watching that
And you can see that they also delibervideo, people cannot understand the complex battles that
ately target Saaed, a wounded man there on
occurred. You are seeing only a very narrow picture of
the ground, despite their earlier belief that they
the events. Hanzlik said images gathered during a milididnt have the rules of engagementthat the
tary investigation of the incident show multiple weapons
rules of engagement did not permit them to kill
around the dead bodies in the courtyard, including at least
Saeed when he was wounded. When he is resthree RPGs. Our forces were engaged in combat all that
cued, suddenly that belief changed. You can
day with individuals that t the description of the men
see in this particular image he is lying on the
in that video. Their age, their weapons, and the fact that
ground and the people in the van have been
they were within the distance of the forces that had been
separated, but they still deliberately target him.
engaged made it apparent these guys were potentially a
This is why we called it Collateral Murder. In
threat.[23][68] Also, WikiLeaks does not point out that
the rst example maybe its collateral exagat least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rie. He
geration or incompetence when they strafe the
is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while standinitial gathering, this is recklessness bordering
ing next to the man holding the RPG. The Wikileaks
on murder, but you couldnt say for sure that
edited video did not add arrows pointing to these men,
was murder. But this particular eventthis is
nor did they label them, as was done with the men carryclearly murder.[60]
ing cameras. WikiLeaks did, in fact, state some of the
men appear to have been armed [although] the behavior
Regarding the title Toby Harnden in The Daily Telegraph of nearly everyone was relaxed in the introductory text
wrote: Oddly enough, it was Stephen Colbert, ostensibly of the shorter video.[36] In an interview with Fox News

4 COVERAGE FROM 2010

Assange acknowledged that its likely some of the individuals seen in the video were carrying weapons. He
explained, based upon visual evidence I suspect there
probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that
means anything. ... Nearly every Iraqi household has a rie or an AK. Those guys could have just been protecting
their area. Fox News later stated that although it could
be argued AK-47 ries are common household items,
RPGs are not. A draft version of the video WikiLeaks
produced made reference to the AK-47s and RPGs, but
WikiLeaks said that ultimately they became unsure about
the RPG, believing the long object could have been a
camera tripod, so they decided not to point it out in the
released version.[23]
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticised WikiLeaks
for releasing the video without providing any context.
These people can put out anything they want, and they're
never held accountable for it. Theres no before and
theres no after. Gates remarked that the video provides the public a view of warfare as seen through a soda
straw.[69] Gates stated: They're in a combat situation.
The video doesn't show the broader picture of the ring
that was going on at American troops. Its obviously a
hard thing to see. Its painful to see, especially when you
learn after the fact what was going on. But youyou
talked about the fog of war. These people were operating
in split second situations.[10][70]

gunships for insurgents. The video makes plain

that in this incident, as in almost all military
encounters in both Iraq and Afghanistan, our
soldiers are up against forces that do not wear
uniformsa violation of international law precisely because it places innocent civilians in
jeopardy.
Responsibility for civilian deaths in such
encounters rests with those who violate the
rules of war. The Wikileaks videos also do not
reveal the hundreds upon hundreds of cases in
which American forces refrain from attacking
targets precisely because civilians are in harms
way.[72]

4.2 Subsequent mainstream media coverage

Publicity of the incident ballooned following the release
of the footage. The event was covered by Al Jazeera
English, RT[73] and Reuters,[7] and was also followed
by organizations including The Washington Post,[74] The
New York Times,[2] The Christian Science Monitor,[75] the
BBC,[58] and CNN.[19]

Assange stated that some of the press had not reported on

the third airstrike, in which three Hellre missiles were
appears in
The New Yorker praised its release, calling it a striking red onto an apartment complex, which only [20]
the
longer
unedited
version
of
the
two
videos.
artifactan unmediated representation of the ambiguities and cruelties of modern warfare.[3] Julian Assange In an interview on NPR on April 6th, the day after the
said its ludicrous to allege that we have taken anything Collateral Murder video release, David Finkel pointed out
out of context in this video.[23]
that the Reuters reporters were not embedded with anyDaniel Ellsberg, a former United States military analyst one, but working independently. He also gave his view of
best known for leaking the Pentagon Papers to the media, the context of the killings:
said of the airstrike:
It would be interesting to have someone
speculate or tell us exactly what context would
lead to justifying the killing that we see on the
screen. As the killing goes on, you obviously
would see the killing of men who are lying on
the ground in an operation where ground troops
are approaching and perfectly capable of taking those people captive, but meanwhile youre
murdering before the troops arrive. Thats a violation of the laws of war and of course what
the mainstream media have omitted from their
stories is this context.[71]

the Reuters guys walked into the hottest

spot of a very hot morning. There had been
running gun battles. There had been a lot
of RPG, grenade re and so on, and they
were doing what journalists do. They heard
about something, they came to it and they just
wantedfrom everything I've learned since,
they were just there to get that side of the
story.[76]

Finkel had reported the day in his book, The Good Soldiers,[53] including conversations which closely matched
the subsequently leaked video footage. On the same
day as the NPR interview, Finkel was asked how he
Gabriel Schoenfeld, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute had gotten a chance to see the unedited video and
said of the airstrike:.
whether WikiLeaks had shown it to him. He responded, I hadn't heard of WikiLeaks before yesterday.
It is precisely the presence of weapons, inI based the account in my book on multiple sources, all
cluding RPGs, that goes a long distance toward
unclassied.[77] WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange
said that Finkel had seen the video and that at least one inexplaining why cameramen for Reuters
dividual at the oces of the Washington Post had a copy
pointing television cameras around corners in
of the video for at least a year, prior to its release by
a battle zonewere readily mistaken by our

7
WikiLeaks.[71] The Washington Post has denied having
any copy of the unedited video prior to WikiLeaks release of their edited version, and Finkel (who was on book
leave from the Washington Post at the time) has said that
he has never made any statement about his sources for the
story, except that it was sourced [...] from unclassied
information and my presence in the area that day.[78]

4.2.1

James Spione has made a short documentary lm about

the airstrikes called Incident in New Baghdad, featuring a rst-person account from Ethan McCord. It was
nominated as a Documentary Short Subject for the 84th
Academy Awards.[83]
In an interview with Russia Today, McCord stated that he
became suicidal after the incident, and attempted suicide
on two occasions.[84]

Interviews with Ethan McCord

Ethan McCord, the soldier seen in the video carrying the

injured boy, recalled in an interview on The Marc Steiner
Show that on arrival at the scene, The rst thing I did was
run up to the van .... After attending the girls wounds
and handing her to a medic, McCord was ordered to take
position on the roof but he returned to the van to nd
the boy moving his hand. I grabbed him and ran to the
Bradley myself. McCord states he was yelled at for not
pulling security. The rst thing I thought of ... was my
children at home. He later sought help for psychological
trauma, but was ridiculed by his NCO and told that if he
were to go to the mental health ocer, there would be
repercussions.[79]

5 Arrest, convictions and sentencing of Manning

Main articles: Chelsea Manning and United States v.
Manning

In May 2010, a 22-year-old American Army intelligence

analyst, Chelsea Manning (then Bradley) was arrested
after telling Adrian Lamo he had leaked the airstrike
video, along with a video of another airstrike and around
260,000 diplomatic cables, to WikiLeaks.[85][86] The
chats between Manning and Lamo were revealed to the
[87]
McCord discussed his experience in the battle in an inter- public by Wired.
view with the World Socialist Web Site on April 28, 2010, As of June 7, 2011, Manning had not yet been formally
stating, What happened then was not an isolated inci- charged.[85][86] Instead Manning was held under a Predent. Stu like that happens on a daily basis in Iraq.[80] vention of Injury assignment until April 2011, which
McCord also recalled being ordered to kill every moth- Daniel Ellsberg, source of the 1971 released Pentagon Paerfucker on the street in the event of an attack on their pers, and David House, founder of the Private Manning
convoy. Describing doubts over his initial enthusiasm in Support Network, called no-touch torture. House said
Iraq, McCord said that I didnt understand why people this caused Manning to degrade over timephysically,
were throwing rocks at us, why I was being shot at and mentally, and emotionally. Dennis Kucinich and Daniel
why were being blown up, when I have it in my head that Ellsberg compared the treatment to what happened inside
I was here to help these people. ... The rst real serious the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (e.g., nudity, isolation, hadoubt, where I could no longer justify to myself being rassment, sleep-deprivation).[88][89][90][91][92]
in Iraq or serving in the Army, was on that day in July
2007.[80] In this interview, McCord reports that reper- Manning said that the diplomatic documents exposed
cussions for seeking mental health help could include be- almost criminal political back dealings and that they
how the First World exploits the Third, in
ing labeled as a "malingerer, a crime under U.S. military explained
[93][94]
detail.
law.[80]
McCord requested mental health assistance following his WikiLeaks said allegations in Wired that we have been
sent 260,000 classied US embassy cables are, as far as
experiences in July 12, but was told by his superior o[94]
cers to get the sand out of [his] vagina and to suck it we can tell, incorrect. WikiLeaks said they were unable to conrm whether or not Manning was actually the
up and be a soldier.[81]
source of the video, stating we never collect personal inWhen interviewed by Wired, McCord stated that he sup- formation on our sources, but saying also that if [Manported Wikileaks in releasing the video, with some qual- ning is the] whistleblower then, without doubt, hes a naications: When it was rst released I dont think it was tional hero[94] and we have taken steps to arrange for
done in the best manner that it could have been. They his protection and legal defence.[85]
were stating that these people had no weapons whatsoever, that they were just carrying cameras. In the video, On February 28, 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of
you can clearly see that they did have weapons ... to the the 22 specied charges. Military judge Colonel Denise
trained eye. McCord added, I dont say that Wikileaks Lind accepted the guilty pleas, for which Manning faced
guilty to
did a bad thing, because they didn't. ... I think it is good up to 20 years in prison. Manning did not plead [95]
the
most
signicant
charge
of
aiding
the
enemy.
that theyre putting this stu out there. I dont think that
people really want to see this, though, because this is war. Manning acknowledged having provided archives of military and diplomatic les to WikiLeaks. The mate... Its very disturbing.[82]

rial leaked included videos of airstrikes in Iraq and

Afghanistan in which civilians were killed, logs of military incident reports, assessment les of detainees held
at Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, and a quarter-million cables
from American diplomats stationed around the world.
Manning read a statement recounting how she joined the
military, became an intelligence analyst in Iraq, decided
that certain les should become known to the American
public to prompt a wider debate about foreign policy,
downloaded them from a secure computer network and
then ultimately uploaded them to WikiLeaks.[96]

LEGALITY OF THE ATTACKS

to reopen the investigation.[114]

The report states that at least two members of the group
which were rst red on were armed, that two RPGs
and one AKM or AK-47 rie could be seen in the helicopter video, and that these weapons were picked up by
the follow-up U.S. ground troops. The report concludes
that the Reuters employees were in the company of armed
insurgents. It also states that The cameras could easily
be mistaken for slung AK-47 or AKM ries, especially
since neither cameraman is wearing anything that identies him as media or press.[8] The report recommends
encouraging journalists in Iraq to wear special vests to
identify themselves, and to keep the U.S. military updated
about their whereabouts. It claimed reporters furtive attempts to photograph the Coalition Ground Forces made
them appear as hostile combatants.[115][116]

The trial on the remaining charges began on June 3,

2013.[97] It went to the judge on July 26, 2013, and ndings were rendered on July 30.[98][99] Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge, that of aiding the
enemy, for giving secrets to WikiLeaks. In addition
to ve[100][101][102] or six[103][104][105] espionage counts,
she was also found guilty of ve theft specications,
two computer fraud specications and multiple military 6.1.1 Incident according to the report
infractions.[106]
Cameramen and armed insurgents (all captions
On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years
from the Army report)
imprisonment, reduction in rank from Private First Class
Insurgents with RPG and AKM weapons
to Private, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge.[107] She may be eligible for parole
Cameraman peering around corner of wall
after serving one third of the sentence, and together with
credits for time served and good behavior could be re Pictures taken by ground forces after reaching the
leased after eight years.[108][109][110]
site

Legality of the attacks

In an June 7, 2010, article in The New Yorker, Ra

Khatchadourian addressed several issues involved in determining the legality of the attacks, including proportionality, positive identication (reasonable certainty that the target has hostile intent), and the
treatment of casualties during an ongoing military
operation.[111] Mark Taylor, an expert on international
law and a director at the Fafo Institute for International
Studies in Norway, has stated that there is a case to be
made that a war crime may have been committed.[112]
An article in Gawker stated that Reuters reporter Luke
Baker had written an article claiming that the airstrikes
may have been war crimes, but the editor in chief of
Reuters declined to run the story.[113]

6.1

Military legal review

On April 5, 2010, the same day as the release of the video

footage by WikiLeaks, the United States Central Command, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
released a collection of documents including two investigative reports.[2][11] Pentagon ocials told the Reuters
news agency that US military lawyers were reviewing
the video and could reopen an investigation into the
incident,[59] but said more recently that there are no plans

Attack on personnel and a van per US Army report account According to the U.S. Army investigation report released by the United States Central Command, the engagement started at 10:20 Iraqi local time
and ended at 10:41. A unit from Bravo Company 216 was within 100 meters of the individuals that were
red upon with 30mm AH-64 Apache cannons. The
company was charged with clearing their sector of any
small armed forces, and had been under re from small
arms and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). The company was supported by two Apache helicopters from the
1st Cavalry Division's Aviation Brigade, callsigns Crazyhorse 1/8 and Crazyhorse 1/9. Two men were identied by Crazyhorse 1/8 as carrying an RPG launcher
and an AKM or AK-47. When the cameraman on the
ground aimed his camera in the direction of Bravo Company 2-16, a pilot remarked Hes getting ready to re.
An Apache maneuvered around a building to get a clear
eld of re and shot all nine men, killing eight. A passing
van then stopped and attempted to load a wounded man.
After getting permission to re, the Apache crew red on
the van. When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they
reported nding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. They
also found two Canon EOS digital cameras with telephoto lenses. Two children were found in the van, a fouryear-old girl with gunshot wounds and embedded windscreen glass wounds and an eight-year-old boy with multiple wounds, including brain damage arising from shrapnel damage to his right temporal lobe. Both children were

9
said to have been evacuated to the 28th Combat Support
Hospital via Forward Operating Base Loyalty, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day.[12] This account of rst bringing the wounded children to the Combat Support Hospital appears to be contradicted by orders
by radio that form part of the video record, which forbids
it and orders that the children be handed over to local
police.[117]

son, and Ingi Ingason, with the award for International

Journalism and Human Rights.[119]

While the Air Weapons Team was providing support at

the rst engagement area they were informed by ground
troops that they were receiving small arms re from the
south/southwest. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/8 then located multiple individuals with weapons about 400 meters east of coalition forces and was given clearance to
engage the targets. However, the co-pilot/gunner then
observed a child and some other non-combatants in the
vicinity of the individuals and decided to hold o on the
engagement until the non-combatants were clear. After
the non-combatants were clear Crazyhorse 1/8 engaged
the targets. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/9 could not engage
due to target obfuscation from buildings and dust.[12]

8 Media representations

The team observed several individuals from this group,

some possibly wounded, run into a large multistory building. The co-pilot/gunner for Crazyhorse 1/9 spotted three
individuals near this building get into a red SUV and drive
away to the west. For about 5 to 10 minutes the team diverted its attention to this vehicle. However, according
to the co-pilot for Crazyhorse 1/8 they failed to positively
identify the occupants as combatants and returned to the
previous engagement area.[12]

9 See also

Attack on building per US Army report account

The events between the attack on the van and the attack
on the building (approximately 30 minutes) were not captured on the leaked video footage.[118] The military did
not include the attack on the building in their report.[33]
Julian Assanges comments regarding US Army report Assange responded to the investigation report
released by the Army in an interview with Democracy
Now!, stating that the tone and language is all about
trying to nd an excuse for the activity. ... Its very
clear that that is the approach, to try and nd any mechanism to excuse the behavior, and that is what ended
up happening.[20] Assange also stated that the building
attacked by missiles was not abandoned, and that WikiLeaks had evidence that there were three families living
in that apartment complex, many of whom were killed,
including women.[20]

Awards

In May 2011 the Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival awarded the investigative lm Collateral murder, Hellre, done by Kristinn Hrafnsson, Wikileaks spokesper-

In June 2011 the Federation of German Scientists

(VDW) awarded the Whistleblower Award to the person who made the video Collateral Murder public via
WikiLeaks.[120][121]

Incident in New Baghdad a 2011 Oscar-nominated

short documentary lm about the Baghdad airstrike.
Documentary: Permission to Engage: Collateral
Murder through the eyes of victims families.[122]
Street art representation (including audio) by
Banksy, October 9, 2013. Part of Banksys Better
Out Than In month-long artwork series on the streets
of New York City.[123]

10 References
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10

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[119] Ingi Ingason Ragnar and Kristinn Hrafnsson awarded
International Journalism and Human Rights Award at
Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival. Wikileakspress.org. 2011-07-07. Retrieved 2013-08-22.
[120] Verleihung des Whistleblower-Preises 2011 [Whistleblower Award 2011]. Hintergrund (in German). Verlag
Selbrund. 2011-06-06. Archived from the original on
2013-10-23. Retrieved 2014-04-29.
[121] Whistleblower-Preis 2011 geht an Kernforscher. Heise.de
(2012-05-31).
[122] Permission to Engage Witness. Al Jazeera English.
[123] http://www.banksy.co.uk/2013/10/09/lower-east-side
Better Out Than In by Banksy, October 9, 2013.

11

External links

Collateral Murder WikiLeaks-owned alternate

site, includes full footage of the video as originally
released
USA Collateral Murder in Iraq (39m 13s) (616 MB),
The Pirate Bay
WikiLeaks editor on Apache combat video: No excuse for US killing civilians April 2010. Russia
Today via YouTube
Families of Victims of 2007 US Helicopter Killing
React to Leaked Video video report by Democracy
Now!

Julian Assange Is Not Your Friend from the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Videos at the old WikiLeaks site. Archived on 2
May 2012.
Archived by the Internet Archive.
Coordinates:
44.512E

331849N 443043E / 33.3137N

14

12

12
12.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July_12%2C_2007_Baghdad_airstrike?oldid=729386492 Contributors: Stevertigo, Michael Hardy, Kwertii, Dcljr, Kaihsu, Jonik, WhisperToMe, Tpbradbury, Furrykef, Oaktree b, Dimadick, Goethean,
Markewilliams, DocWatson42, 33 Degrees, Kaldari, One Salient Oversight, Simplicius, McCart42, Gimmick Account, Sladen, Michal Jurosz, Rama, Darren Olivier, Night Gyr, Bender235, Art LaPella, Themarcuscreature, TomStar81, Enric Naval, Spitzl, Avenue, GabrielF,
Coolgamer, April Arcus, ^demon, GregorB, Randy2063, Waldir, Toussaint, Stefanomione, Ronnotel, BD2412, Nanite, Rjwilmsi, Tim!,
Koavf, Vegaswikian, Bubba73, New Thought, OpenToppedBus, Visor, Bgwhite, Wavelength, Hairy Dude, Kafziel, Me and, GeeJo, Keithonearth, Howcheng, Awiseman, Brucevdk, Crisco 1492, Emijrp, Th1rt3en, Canley, BorgQueen, Victor falk, SmackBot, Cdogsimmons,
AnOddName, Gilliam, Skizzik, Chris the speller, Hibernian, Jerome Charles Potts, Sadads, Greenshed, Threeafterthree, Cybercobra,
RolandR, Kendrick7, Parrot of Doom, DoxTxob, Ohconfucius, HYC, Valfontis, Calvados~enwiki, John, Scientizzle, Gobonobo, Minna
Sora no Shita, Jpetersen46321, Gogowitsch~enwiki, Meco, Fluppy, Autonova, Jcrav2k6, Iridescent, Cowicide, CapitalR, Courcelles, SeL,
J Milburn, ShakespeareFan00, MarsRover, Penbat, Tex, Jac16888, Cydebot, Fnlayson, Meowy, Wideheadofknowledge, Trident13, Satori
Son, Epbr123, Daa89563, Activist, Ephery, AniRaptor2001, Ericoides, Fetchcomms, Geniac, Yakushima, JamesBWatson, Avicennasis, Judsonfeder, Contrib123456, Gwern, Gandydancer, MateoCorazon, Jesant13, LedRush, Thucydides411, Veriss1, Catwizzle, Olegwiki, Joshua Issac, Number3son, WRE451, Logicman1966, Yitzhak1995, Fences and windows, Toddy1, Kww, Anonymous Dissident,
Crohnie, Mcculley, Gollings, Thegong21, Doc James, Tumadoireacht, The Realms of Gold, DVoit, CMBJ, Subh83, SieBot, Lipsticked
Pig, Mcompton69, Xxavyer, Jack Merridew, Belorn, Universalcosmos, Alethe, Ericjul, VanishedUser sdu9aya9fs787sads, Sfan00 IMG,
Beeblebrox, General Epitaph, Gregcaletta, Dlabtot, VQuakr, Piledhigheranddeeper, Multipole~enwiki, Ybtcphk, Rockfang, Jusdafax,
Roro1993roro1993, Eeekster, Megiddo1013, V7-sport, NuclearWarfare, Diaa abdelmoneim, Redthoreau, C628, Yomangan, Adamnmo,
Wnt, Rossen4, Thymefromti, Boyd Reimer, Feinoha, Fred the Oyster, C. A. Russell, Critical Chris, TomPointTwo, Hunter Kahn, Addbot,
CurtisSwain, M.nelson, WikedKentaur, Micro360, Squandermania, 84user, OlEnglish, MuZemike, Albeiror24, Ben Ben, Luckas-bot,
Yobot, AzureFury, Miletus, Jimderkaisser, AnomieBOT, VanishedUser sdu9aya9fasdsopa, Plastichandle, JackieBot, Simon the Likable,
Bluerasberry, Seelefant, Eumolpo, Flipping Mackerel, SuperDaveMusic, LilHelpa, Xqbot, TPaineTX, Winged Brick, TracyMcClark, CnrFallon, ManasShaikh, Srich32977, Mark Schierbecker, Amaury, WhisperingWisdom, Leuchars, Celuici, FrescoBot, Urgos, MoreThings,
HJ Mitchell, Iqinn, A little insignicant, JD Caselaw, I dream of horses, Cowtowner, BigDwiki, TedderBot, December21st2012Freak,
Julien1978, Enemenemu, Ghost650, Comet Tuttle, Arkelweis, Ivanvector, Tbhotch, MegaSloth, Bernd.Brincken, RjwilmsiBot, ButOnMethItIs, Woken Wanderer, Sam113101, GoingBatty, Jonte93, Finn Bjrklid, Dcirovic, Jamesnd, BurtAlert, Illegitimate Barrister, Galerita, Akerans, Xabier Armendaritz, , H3llBot, SporkBot, General Fiasco, OCDMonk, Thewolfchild, Bofogon, HandsomeFella, Afranelli, ClueBot NG, Abc-mn-xyz, SMA.Haseeb, KateVan, Joefromrandb, Snotbot, Helpful Pixie Bot, SkyOnFire, Gob Lofa,
Srithikdatta, Kaltenmeyer, Darouet, No-conjecture, Crtew, ProudIrishAspie, Chez.panisse, Below Power Curve, BattyBot, Usedshoes,
ChrisGualtieri, Takemenow, SatenikTamar, XsHoa10pSogRcAVgjAxsVMs1C1BbYUspRh, Stumink, The User 567, GentleCollapse16,
Mogism, Cerabot~enwiki, Fomeister, Frosty, MVZRT, Delayower, 7bristol, Epicgenius, Nixin06, Redarrows12, Mandruss, Martuch,
P.p.japonensis, Khorak77, Zozs, Monkbot, Opencooper, Star72, Prinsgezinde, Crusader8968, Sackopickles, Michael Reed, Ferpalnum
and Anonymous: 144

12.2

Images

File:CollateralMurder.ogv Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/CollateralMurder.ogv License: Public domain Contributors: Wikileaks at http://collateralmurder.com/ Original artist: US Apache helicopter
File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Emblem_of_the_United_States_Department_of_the_Army.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/
19/Emblem_of_the_United_States_Department_of_the_Army.svg License: Public domain Contributors: http://www.defense.gov/
multimedia/web_graphics/ Original artist: U.S. Dept. of Defense
File:Flag_of_Iraq.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Flag_of_Iraq.svg License: Public domain Contributors:
This image is based on the CIA Factbook, and the website of Oce of the President of Iraq, vectorized by User:Militaryace Original artist:
Unknown, published by Iraqi governemt, vectorized by User:Militaryace based on the work of User:Hoshie
File:Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/48/Folder_Hexagonal_Icon.svg License: Cc-bysa-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:July_12,_2007_Baghdad_airstrike_targets_(1).png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/July_12%
2C_2007_Baghdad_airstrike_targets_%281%29.png License: Public domain Contributors: Still frames (2:08, 2:10, 2:41) from the full
length (39:13) Wikileaks video Original artist: Filmed by the United States Army, released by Wikileaks, and edited by CMBJ
File:Wikinews-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Wikinews-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: This is a cropped version of Image:Wikinews-logo-en.png. Original artist: Vectorized by Simon 01:05, 2 August 2006 (UTC)
Updated by Time3000 17 April 2007 to use ocial Wikinews colours and appear correctly on dark backgrounds. Originally uploaded by
Simon.
File:Wikisource-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Contributors: Rei-artur Original artist: Nicholas Moreau

12.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0