No major US media stations are covering this and it's ridiculous. I don't care how controversial this topic is, this is something that Americans need to be aware of that the military is doing. The only reason this is even news is because two Reuters employees are among the dead. This literally happens to thousands of people in the middle east and we never hear about it. Fuck every american that supports the wars in the middle east, you're worthless human shit.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0[/ame]
07:18 Bushmaster; Crazyhorse. We have individuals going to the scene, looks like possibly uh picking up bodies and weapons.
07:25 Let me engage.
07:28 Can I shoot?
07:31 Roger. Break. Uh Crazyhorse One-Eight request permission to uh engage.
07:36 Picking up the wounded?
07:38 Yeah, we're trying to get permission to engage.
07:41 Come on, let us shoot!
16:49 Roger, I've got uh eleven Iraqi KIAs [Killed In Action]. One small child wounded. Over.
16:57 Roger. Ah damn. Oh well.
17:46 Well it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle.
17:48 That's right.
I'm terrified of brown people. I need to be protected. I need you to buy the most expensive weapons to protect me. I need you to buy missiles that can destroy people's homes from a thousand miles away. I need you to buy helicopters that fire a million rounds of depleted uranium bullets per minute. I need you to have supersonic fighter jets that can drop laser-guided bombs on places of worship. I need gigantic steel ships that float in the ocean, waiting for the opportunity to release a storm of metal hail onto the mainland, where they live. Where they lived. I need robots. I need robots that can hunt. I need hunting robots to hunt them out no matter where they run and to launch missiles that will chase them. I need chasing, hunting missiles to hunt and chase them no matter where they run. I want robots to chase them becuase robots never get tired. I want inexhaustible solar powered flying robots to chase them across the desert where the sun never sets. I want the light from the weapons to make the sun seem insignificant. I want tireless robots in pursuit of brown people across the entire earth. I need your machine to defend me. I need you to kill thousands of brown people until I feel safe." - An Average American, 2010
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in reality, there's no war where a military hasn't been responsible for some fucked up shit. There's always gonna be some evil people within a military. What's disappointing is the cover up. I don't really see t he need for it. Is it really so damaging to prosecute our own soldiers?
The American military is also engaged in a military conflict with a force that intentionally tries to blend in with civilians and mimic civilian activity, with the specific aim of muddying the fog of war and causing civilian casualties. Just because the US army has much, much better means to record this shit doesnt mean they're the only player in this 'war' that's leading to danger to civillians.
How is war in the middle east any more evil than any other war? Do you oppose war universally, or only for specific reasons in this case, or only when a major western nation is involved?
To clarify this a bit, if you just oppose war in general then i have a lot of respect for that, governments are fucking barbaric when it comes to that shit. But to oppose something so isolated, specific, and complex as 'evil yanks playing god with helicopters and killing possible civilians due to false intelligence and errors in judgement potentially effected by racism in the west' is stupid sensationalist bullshit.
What cover up? Do you know how many soldiers are prosecuted for shit like this? The american military is not the BEST beurocracy in the world when it comes to internal affairs, but they still do a pretty damn good job. These people are almost certainly going to be prosecuted in military court, which is a largely private matter.
Just because the american media isnt interested in picking the story up for whatever silly reasons doesn't mean there's some kind of evil government conspiracy going down here.
Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-site, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.
The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured.
After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement".
Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after the killings.
WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a shorter version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to both versions from the radio transmissions.
WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have analyzed the information about this incident from a variety of source material. We have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly involved in the incident.
WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very dangerous place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while doing their work."
Yeah who would have imagined that paying people to kill people would bring out the people who want to kill people. There will ALWAYS be people who are there not to help people but just because they get to shoot people. It's the job of the commanding officer to keep them on a leash so that things like this don't happen. The people who did this should be tried for war crimes, as well as the commanding officers who didn't stop it.
What war crimes? War is a horrible environment, where a minor mistake in your job -- pulling the trigger when a good guy picks up a gun instead of when an identical 'bad guy' picks up a gun -- results in several innocent deaths. That does not, however, mean that the individuals in question committed some evil murderous act, it just means that war fucking sucks and videos like this should be a lesson to people that we need to stop that shit when it isnt necessary.
I'd say you have to be pretty silly not to oppose it universally. Not saying that it shouldn't happen when you are attacked, but on the universal level, why would you not oppose it? The only time war is needed is when someone else starts a war. :P
the u.s. should stop playing world police and start funding education.
/end of my political comments on this forum.
I agree with you up to the part that i bolded.
That, however, is a massive grey area. Find me a single war in history where you can clearly say whether the aggressor or defender started it. For example, the mainstream american view was for quite some time that iraq started it. Depending on how you interpret history, you could easily, decisively argue that they did if you want. Additionally, is, like, lining up missile silos right outside of another nation an act of aggression? If not, can you really defend yourself after they've leveled all of your cities and military bases?
Like it or not, war as a political entity is extremely complex. If war is ever okay, then deciding when exactly it is okay and when it isnt is not going to be an easy task.
Are you joking?
Nobody ever thinks that's okay. However, who's to blame? The guy who fires his rifle out of a building full of civillians, or the guy who cant stop him without risking hitting them?
(correct answer is:
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Its scary, if they can just go with that amount of intell.
Its their fault for walking down their own street in their own city.
I think even the UK has rules where they dont engage anyone unless they are specifically under threat and are very clear of what and where that threat is.
the fuck, dude.
Do you know what following those rules looks like in a small video snippet out of context?
Seriously, i'm not pro war at all, but i'm anti sensationalist propagandized bullshit. This is dishonest hysteria fueled nonsense. War sucks, and should be stopped, but this is not a couple of guys going out on a murder joyride in a million dollar machine.
I didn't see any children in that video. It's also ridiculous to stat that anyone here would approve of killing children. Its horrible.
most americans approve of nuking japan right? I don't think I'm out of line saying that.
Now your just blowing things way out of context man.
I support a strong national defense, because like it or not, believe it or not...there are assholes like this in other countries(everywhere really) too who would, given 1/2 an opportunity do this type of thing to you, your children, and everybody you know and love. For fun. For their god. For their country. For any reason they can justify/rationalize. Human beings are fucked up.
I have to ask though...is this any worse than the videos of journalists or contractors getting their heads chopped off? This is just a peek at the horrible, brutal nature of humanity, not America in particular. Welcome to life on Planet Earth.
All I'm saying is they appeared to pose no immediate threat to anyone. Its that kind of behaviour that doesnt enamour anyone. The way it looks(the reality could be another way) a premediated, first strike against, civilians.
Few people sympathise with the ones that hit first, unless they are really provoked and they didnt appear to have been provoked.
Saying that though, the UK rules kind of go in the opposite direction. Theres stories of the soldiers being mortar'd and can clearly see those doing it but not being allowed to engage them because of the rules.
The military obviously thought otherwise, or this helicopter wouldnt have been out there. Do you know what had been going on in the area in the hours leading up to this? Do you know what kind of weapons they were thought to have? Do you know what kinds of possible targets were in the area?
I don't know the answer to any of those questions, if you've got some kind of magic war crimes ESP that lets you know this was reckless by all means keep criticizing.
People are stupid, this is what happens if you let them be stupid behind Weapons that require mere Videogame Skills to use.
"Got some guy crawling around. We'll shoot some more. Nice. Nice. Good shooting."
Why am i getting pictures in my head of some kids trying to get an XBox achievement ?
Sorry i get really wound up watching something like this.
Your wish is granted.
The idea of sending our military to Afghanistan to bring to justice the terrorists we enabled in the first place is a noble one. Well, maybe not noble, rational? Justifiable? Indeed, America needs to clean up after it's cold war mess, or better yet, how about we never fund a bunch of opium-crazed religious radicals ever again? Ok, fair enough. Then the Iraq war came, and while Sadam Husein certainly deserved to hang for his genocidal tendencies toward the Kurds, the Dujail Massacre of 82, etc. it should have been handled by the UN and certainly not by the US while it was already in a "war".
And that's the thing. The war on terrorism, just like the war on drugs, or poverty isn't really a war. Terrorism, drug use and poverty fall under the idea category of nouns, meaning that even if we killed everybody and I mean EVERYBODY who is considered a terrorist from Al Qaeda's highest ranking officials to any Klansman that lights a cross the idea would still live on.
a righteous man would have waited for sound evidence they had weapons or were an actual threat. these guys just saw what they wanted... an excuse to pull the trigger
Poop/Ben: Enough trolling polycount. We get that you have strong feelings about a variety of topics as you've vented them all here for all to see. Each time it's devolved into trolling and arguments that are doing nothing but providing you with some sort of personal vindication and/or attention. As you've always been a somewhat self admitted narcissist, I'm leaning more to the later. Whatever the case, enough. You are no longer a helpful or positive member of our community. You've burned through whatever grace you might have had through your own actions as of lately. You can straighten up and play nice while here at polycount or not. I know you are smart enough to know the difference. If you decide to ignore this last request, I will personally ban you.