Wikileaks Releases Video of US Choppers Slaying Reporters, Civilians

Warning: Very Disturbing Footage

July 12, 2007

From CollateralMurder.com:

WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad — including two Reuters news staff.

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.

Hat Tip: ZeroHedge

Update: AP Source Confirms Authenticity.

Author: Scott Horton

Scott Horton is editorial director of Antiwar.com, director of the Libertarian Institute, host of Antiwar Radio on Pacifica, 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles, California and podcasts the Scott Horton Show from ScottHorton.org. He’s the author of the 2017 book, Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan and editor of The Great Ron Paul: The Scott Horton Show Interviews 2004–2019. He’s conducted more than 5,000 interviews since 2003. Scott lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, investigative reporter Larisa Alexandrovna Horton. He is a fan of, but no relation to the lawyer from Harper’s. Scott’s Twitter, YouTube, Patreon.

10 thoughts on “Wikileaks Releases Video of US Choppers Slaying Reporters, Civilians”

  1. Uh, they hate us for our freedom, right?

    As you sit down to fill out your tax forms this year remember that this is what your criminal, lying, murdering government does with the money it steals from you.

    1. yes, because we are free and democratic. thats whats makes them want to hijack our planes, not the fact that we murder their family members and then try to cover it up

    2. I also used to think that was what they were robbing us for, but then I read somewhere that the money those crooks pick from our pockets gets spent well before they start buying bullets, probably on drapery cleaning and wood polish for the lavish halls of Castle Grayskull, "executive" massages, and top-shelf liquor. If they soaked us for all the costs of kicking every recalcitrant brown ass across the globe, this time of year would probably be a lot more painful for us. No, the revenue they get from fleecing the productive class doesn't even begin to cover their tab, so enter the magical printing press, by which our immediate pain is deferred to our progeny. If I had been paying attention to politics 10 years ago, I would have gotten a vasectomy.

  2. I have never had a reaction like the one I just had after watching this; total and utter hopelessness…..

    1. You think the nation stay free because we play nice with everyone? haha if that were the case you wouldn't have a damn thing. EVERY government must KILL to maintain the security and dominance of it's people. EVERY GOVERNMENT ON EARTH HAS KILLED CIVILIANS, we only make an effort to kill less but it happens! Sadly it happens, its like earthquakes and tornados, you just have to accept it. When there is war, civilians WILL be caught in the mix, especially if they are consorting with the enemy!

  3. The great Americans, just a bunch of criminals, murders, I'm disgusted over this so called great democratic and on top free world and don't you forget their constitution, we are the best nation and all their blablabla, F@&K OFF

    1. i have no defense. we are truly worse than the romans. I wonder what jesus would tell all the so called christians in this fked up country today

  4. Just picture american citizens in the gun sights and you will get a picture of the future if the cornered rat ever feels threatened enough by the informed citizenry.

    1. Americans were in the cross fire . its called 9 11 . dont ever forget that . while i dont like what i saw in this video dont ever think a rat can kill a lion

  5. (the day before-instant kharma")maybe this is how they/them keep the whole thing going (on purpose)

  6. I bet this will be all over the evening news! I bet the American people will be outraged when this is the lead story on all the networks and this outrage will lead to a change in policy! Hahaha…just kidding, I know this story will be ignored for other equally important stories. After all, Tiger Woods may have another mistress or something.

    1. Yeah, how can you expect little Catie Couric, little Brian Williams or Tom Lockjaw to mention this on the nightly propaganda…er I mean nightly news when they got important stuff to cover like who's gonna be the next American Idol…or idle American?

      1. hahaha, I swear I wrote that kind of jokingly and then went and looked and Tiger Woods was the tp story on the NYT, CNN and NPR! The American press is actually that bad.

  7. And this is just one video that happened to be decrypted and scrutinised. How many non-combatants have been butchered this way by such professional lunatics? Way more than the Iraqi insurgence ever managed, I'd bet. It's time to call a war crime a war crime. The whole Iraqi invasion and occupation has been dramatically summarised by this one video: bogus intelligence and absurd strategic parameters.

  8. sometymes "people,creatures,things,(gooing/tools)beings,animal half breeds beasts,(monstors defined)use words like freedom to describe a meaning better described as another "cannibolism,only some of the tyme are any thing except a another layer of calous on the side of the colective skull's brain,if thats' "freedom,i want my money back ,due,at others exspence,instead of mutual benefit,,,fraud murder,war states acts & mob mentalities,cowardly and ignareint,afraid to rationalise even justify,in the (safe,secured)open field of discipline or honor of an dis-honorable rank and eschaloen of yellow stripe of murder masquaraiding patent pending WAR,chicken-shIt,mfqrsz

  9. One things for d@mn sure…if the American people ever rose up and demanded an end to this Evil Empire and try to kick out those who run it you can bet our government masters wouldn't hesitate to have their sick, sadistic, murderous henchmen mow us down the way they did those hapless Iraqis.

    But our rulers have nothing to worry about…the majority of Americans are AMEROCONNED SHEEPLE who will never see this video because they are too busy watching AmeroConned Idle and other swill.

    And instead the AmeroConned Sheeple will keep re-electing the evil 2 party Demopuclicans over and over…

    There's no doubt about it. The American Government is a government of the criminals, by the criminals, for the criminals and is the most successful criminal enterprise the world has ever known.

  10. This is merely what is expected of an EMPIRE and "empire-thinking".

    The Empire is the ruling-elite global corporate/financial/militarist EMPIRE that currently controls 'our' (sic) country by hiding behind the facade of its TWO-PARTY modern 'Vichy' sham of faux democratic government.

    As much of a war crime as this 'collateral damage' is to those just killed in the oil territory at the tip of the Empire's spear, comparable 'collateral damage' is being done in the nominal home base of the Empire, here in America, by the economic oppression and domestic tyranny in America.

    As Hannah Arendt warns, "Empire abroad (always) entails tyranny at home"

    Alan MacDonald
    Sanford, Maine

  11. I was amazed that the helicopter crew seemed so sure of their identification of weapons. I could barely see the people. Shortly after the invasion, in the early stages of the insurgency, I saw a BBC video of a gunship takeout of several insurgents near a truck, moving what was identified as a rocket launcher or something. It looked to me like it could just as easily have been irrigation pipe.

    Nothing really new here. The only reason this gets any attention at all is that 2 of the dead were journalists. It happens all the time in war, especially the way the US fights them with overwhelming firepower. Helicopters need to be banned along with drones. They are indiscriminate. If the issue is important enough to sacrifice 100,000s of Iraqis, it's important enough to risk an equal number of American lives. Iraq and Af-Pak are just pure slaughter and terror.

    The callousness of the shooters is also in evidence, with the laughter etc. Even if the victims had truly been insurgents, the shooters should be taught to respect them. It's just the opposite. They are taught to be callous like that, if not directly in training then by the military culture. Medieval knights were more civilized than this.

    1. Knights may have gone about the act of killing with flourishes but they were still killers. Ours simply don't give a damn and chuckle while they chop people up. Rat bastards like that end up maning your local police squad car or the CIA drone centers once they exit the military. I mean… where in the hell in the "normal" world does someone put such evil talents to use but inside the belly of the beast.

  12. Did everyone hear that; they called the site a battle?! Well, this is the good old USA for you…a 'free country' that stands on the blood of innocent peoples of the world all in order to rack up more than 50% of world resources and counting. Poor mothers of American soldiers, they think their kids are heroes…more like child killers…After WWII, most all American soldiers died for no just cause; just as a means to loot innocent peoples of the world…Makes me sick!

    1. Hey "World Citizen"…I have flagged your comment for removal & I hope to God, for the sake of my daughter, that it is REMOVED before she returns home from duty & reads your ignorant judgement of the kind of human being she is!! You are fortunate to have posted this on the internet & not to my face!

  13. This is appalling . As a Brit I think its time we left NATO . Our friend , kindly Uncle Sam , is dead .

  14. Hitler's Third Reich would be very impress with the Israhell-US Fourth Reich; killing innocent civilians from the air, murdering women and children in cold blood on the ground in Iraq, Gaza, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and now Africa.

    The US and israhell are both terrorist states and are the enemy of the entire world and we shouldn't give a damn about any dead Fourth Reich volunteer.

  15. Sadly most amerikans are out to lunch, shopping, or glued to the propaganda tube ! So the terrorist acts by the fascist amerikan military machine will go on… no hope from obomber and his spineless congress !

  16. This is so amateurish and bloodthirsty, it defies belief. This video will spread across the world, and it calls into utter question the training of US forces. The generals above this decision and the people in the helicopter demanding the ability to shoot should get what's coming to them, and from their own people.
    The scum who participated in this will have it hanging around their necks and their families for their whole lives, no matter how much they try to deny it. We all know where the real bastards are, and cowards as well, acting like they have a right to kill people from safety. Word to photographers, your cameras look like weapons to murderers with zero education. Word to Americans, these are the people coming back into your neighborhoods and your police forces.

  17. Boo hoo. I guess this is what happens when you hang around the streets of Iraq with guys with RPGs/

    1. "A military investigation later concluded that what was thought to be an RPG was really a long-range photography lens; likewise, the camera looked like an AK-47."

      AP April 2010

  18. To any person who still has an ounce of human compassion left in them, this video depicts nothing less than cold, callous, brutal, unmerciful murder. I believe in God. I believe that He is Christ Jesus. I believe that He is a loving God and a God of justice. One day all the men who took part in the massacre in the video will have to answer to Him for their crimes. On that day, I wouldn't want to stand in their shoes for all of the wealth and power on earth. "Those who live by the sword shall die by the sword' and; "blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy" and; "blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God." – His Majesty, Lord Jesus the Christ. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

    1. Henry, I've seen similar, as stated earlier, where a man was blown to bits simply waking away from a tractor. He never knew why he had to die but the bastards in the air were making merry. And seeing as so many Christian friends of mine have never seen that nor this video I think its high time they all got a good glimpse at how we kill and lie indiscriminately. And this is only the tip of the evil iceberg.

    1. Dont feed the trolls, they are soulless husks of "human beings" who deserve the same fate (and karma willing will get it) of the innocent deaths they cheer on. this dreg is probably a brainwashed clay soldier that unfortunately made it back from the war zone, lets hope on his next inevitable deployment that he gets what is coming to him.

  19. i'm sure things appear differently when you're sitting in a heli in the middle of a war, as opposed to watching this from a computer. soldiers gotta make hasty decisions, some of which are questionable. i can't say this isn't horrible and gruesome, but you can't blame the soldiers..

    bloodthirsty? i can't disagree more. they kept rules of engagement in mind the entire time. they asked for permission, they waited for "weapons" to be picked up, etc. in this case, they came to a conclusion based on false premises. =

    you don't have to support the war or the government or whatever, but at least support the soldiers.

    1. What kind of a lunatic wakes up one day and says, "Hey!… I want to man a console up in the sky and kill people"? Those are conscious decisions by folks with no shred of decency who seem to think that playing God in the air with peoples lives is somehow just and honorable. That's insane and no I don't support those actions nor the people involved. Only a fellow lunatic traveller would justify or excuse such behavior.

      1. just and honorable? we're not fighting samurai. in fact, we're up against people who fight in the most dishonorable ways. hiding among civilians? ieds? suicide bombers? how can you not get paranoid and assume the worst when you're up against that?

        1. The "fight" depicted here is no more a fight, than Palin shooting at various wild life like-wise from a helicopter constitutes "hunting". Or am I missing something…
          Donut, it'd be great if you were ripped another O

    2. "they kept rules of engagement in mind the entire time. they asked for permission, they waited for "weapons" to be picked up,"

      Wait, I thought you said these were actions taken in haste in the heat of battle?

      Personally, I call laughing as you run over a dead body pretty bloodthirsty. I call it bloodthirsty to shoot those trying to render aid to the wounded. Now if those had been American troops trying to rescue a wounded comrade, there would be hell to pay if the enemy had shot at them.

      1. Didn't some dude get killed years back while on patrol and his "buds" go ape-shit and killed a whole mess of civilians? That's right… I think one of them is on trial. Then there was that inconvenient incident where Blackwater shot up all those folks because, as they said, they felt "threatened". Hell! By that logic just being alive is a threat to these bastards. Or, as some Muslims have already done, is help send these mental and moral defectives to that place where such mundane worries don't exist. The only way for this to end is for lots of troops to die (start something with Iran) or an economic collapse, or both. Either way it won't until it simply hurts too much.

    3. you don't have to support the war or the government or whatever, but at least support the soldiers.

      Wrong, wrong, WRONG! Without soldiers who willingly do the State's murderous dirty work, THERE WOULD BE NO WARS AND NO MURDEROUS CRIMES LIKE THAT DEPICTED IN THIS VIDEO!

      Each and every one of the soldiers who participated in this act of barbarism DID SO CONSCIOUSLY, WILLINGLY, AND, FROM ALL APPEARANCES, WITHOUT REMORSE! That alone makes them unworthy of anyone' s "support." Indeed, the only just reaction to their deeds is OUTRAGE, CENSURE, and DEMANDS THAT THEY BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE!

      Every soldier, no matter how low in rank, has a moral and legal obligation to disobey an unlawful order, and such an order certainly includes attacking and murdering unarmed civilians. That these troops not only did NOT refuse to obey that order, but carried out with obvious relish makes them war criminals who deserve no one's "support!"

    4. I empathize with what you are saying: but I support those troops in that helicopter by stating that they should never have been placed in that situation to begin with. That is the real shame.
      Please understand this: we present ourselves to the world as a shining example of democracy* in action. So whenever we go on those foolhardy missions, the folks on the receiving end can rightly claim that 'we' (you, I, and every other American) are in that very same cockpit, shooting at innocent civilians. They (our troops and our foreign policy) represent 'us,' in the same way that a child represents his family, or an employee represents his employer.
      I don't really know how many times this needs to restated, but THIS is the kind of activity that drives terrorism. The innocent kids who were shot. Their parents. Their relatives. Would you really be surprised if one of them showed up in a C4-suit at the US Embassy in Baghdad? Could you really blame them?

      Peace be with you.

      *Yes, yes, I know. We're a republic, not a democracy.

  20. donut writes:

    "you don't have to support the war or the government or whatever, but at least support the soldiers"

    Why? These guys signed up for war. Nobody forced them to sign up and they weren't drafted. They knew the gig was all about killing people and destroying things. Perhaps they are foolish and believed all the lies they have been told. Maybe they actually think they are helping Iraqis by dropping 100 tons of depleted uranium on them. Who knows what they think and who really cares. They need to accept responsibility for their own actions and understand there will be consequences for their actions. They are pathetic wretches that behave worse than animals. They don't deserve support. Let the bloodthirsty warmongers who instigated this madness support the people they use as cannon fodder. Of course, we know they won't.

    1. on the flip side, these guys signed up to be placed in harm's way in order to protect your rights.

  21. If you all are so appalled why don't you withhold your taxes. It's all of our fault by supporting this murder.

    1. Yeah Dave, that's an idea.

      But just remember if you refuse to pay you will be fined and if you refuse to pay the taxes and the fine men with guns will come after you.

      And if you resist they will kill you.

      You see Dave, WE ARE ALL IRAQIS NOW!

    2. Actually, I live outside the USA and none of my taxes go to support the wars, the Obamarama administration, etc.

    3. you think the IRS is stupid?

      thats why they started doing witholding income tax. You dont have the opportunity to decide whether to pay or not. Your employer pays it directly.

  22. Ok. Now someone please tell me what photos have we seen from Reutrs Apo or any other FN major News Service of any atrocitys or even killing of Iraquis in your local news medias.
    Does Reuters just have these guys out there taking pictures just for the heck of it.
    War Reporters, or war propagandist, who got caught in the crossfire.
    Embedded or in bed with.
    today the only real reporting is not by any Officially recognized medias but only by Independent jouranlist and most of hem sell to a blog or Foreign media outlets.
    Do agree though ther is not one thing american(small a today) could do to end the genocide that has been inflicted upon Iraq.
    Most would not be bothered by what we have just witnessed on flic.
    Nice fellas to wave our flags for when they come back home.

  23. Notice how the typical "cowards" commenting here do so with the usual anonymous or toss away names. Seems the vid has struck some nerves and out come the statist freaks.

  24. You never wonder why Imam Khomeini called USA the Great Satan. He knew what we are discovering today.
    USA was founded with atrocities and continues to survive by atrocities. Poor Americans don't know who is running their country.

    1. khomeini called the US great satan because we encouraged saddam to invade iran and we supplied him for 8 years with weapons, particularly chemical and biological weapons, which he used to murder half a million Iranians……HALF A MILLION!!.

      how many people did al-qaeda kill on 9/11 to provoke us into attacking 3 muslim countries and murdering 1 million people?

      Then we shot down an iranian airliner, killing 300 women and children which we never apologized for and yet we have the nerve to call THEM terrorists..

      1. "how many people did al-qaeda kill on 9/11 to provoke us into attacking 3 muslim countries and murdering 1 million people?"

        That's an easy one: none.

  25. the greatest military in the world circling one fucking guy waiting for him to pick up a gun. this is war? what a joke. a REALLY horrible joke.

  26. Someone needs to rub this in the noses of James Dobson, Charles Stanley, Rod Parsley, John Hagee, and all of the other state-worshiping Evangelifrauds who extol the virtues of "our troops" every Sunday morning from the pulpits of those ecclesio-fascist corporations that they dare call "churches." Let them TRY to justify this without exposing themselves as the satanically-controlled charlatans they are!

    Better yet, show this video to any "evangelical Christians" [sic] you happen to know. I'll bet their reaction to it (i.e., some mindless, incoherent rambling about "Satan's legions reaping the wages of sin") will be even more sickening than the video footage itself!

    1. James Dobson, Charles Stanley, Rod Parsley, John Hagee, and all of the other state-worshiping Evangelifrauds , not to forget Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh,Sean Hannity,Bill O'reilly all celebrate and find justifications and excueses for such actions . As usual they defend such actions as things get out of hand in war,the stress that "our fighting hereos " have to face fighting those terrorists.In the end ,they will blame everything on those ungratful Iraqis.

  27. Americans were told that the "terrorist attack" of 9/11 justified the invasion of Iraq. The invasion of Iraq, of course, led to subject war crime of this article and many other war crimes in Iraq such as; Abu Ghraib and the assault on Fallujah that used chemical weapons. But what if the events of 9/11, as we have been led to believe, not entirely the truth? What if there is very powerful evidence that proves that airplane impact could not possibly have caused the total destruction of the three buildings that came crashing down that fateful day? Has there been a coverup? Go here for the evidence: http://www.ae911truth.org/ Also, why did Paul Craig Roberts quit writing? Paul Craig Roberts says that he was trying to reveal the truth about 9/11 but censored by the MSM, Antiwar and other websites. Go here for his interview on Russia Today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDNLDXQdlBQ&feature=f... If millions of Americans knew the real truth concerning the events of 9/11, the wars and the war crimes would stop.

  28. Americans were told that the "terrorist attack" of 9/11 justified the invasion of Iraq. The invasion of Iraq, of course, led to the subject war crime of this article and many other war crimes in Iraq such as; Abu Ghraib and the assault on Fallujah that used chemical weapons. But what if the events of 9/11, as we have been led to believe, were not entirely the truth? What if there is very powerful evidence that proves that airplane impact could not possibly have caused the total destruction of the three buildings that came crashing down that fateful day? Has there been a coverup? Go here for the evidence: http://www.ae911truth.org/ Also, why did Paul Craig Roberts quit writing? Paul Craig Roberts says that he was trying to reveal the truth about 9/11 but was censored by the MSM, Antiwar and other websites. Go here for his interview on Russia Today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDNLDXQdlBQ&feature=f... If millions of Americans knew the real truth concerning the events of 9/11, the wars and the war crimes would stop.

  29. Americans were told that the "terrorist attack" of 9/11 justified the invasion of Iraq. The invasion of Iraq, of course, led to the subject war crime of this article and many other war crimes in Iraq such as; Abu Ghraib and the assault on Fallujah that used chemical weapons. But what if the events of 9/11, as we have been led to believe, were not entirely the truth? What if there is very powerful evidence that proves that airplane impact could not possibly have caused the total destruction of the three buildings that came crashing down that fateful day? Has there been a coverup? Go here for the evidence: http://www.ae911truth.org/ Also, why did Paul Craig Roberts quit writing? Paul Craig Roberts says that he was trying to reveal the truth about 9/11 but was censored by the MSM, Antiwar and other websites. Go here for his interview on Russia Today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDNLDXQdlBQ&feature=f... If millions of Americans knew the real truth concerning the events of 9/11, the wars and the war crimes would stop.

  30. Americans were told that the "terrorist attack" of 9/11 justified the invasion of Iraq. The invasion of Iraq, of course, led to the subject war crime of this article and many other war crimes in Iraq such as; Abu Ghraib and the assault on Fallujah that used chemical weapons. But what if the events of 9/11, as we have been led to believe, were not entirely the truth? What if there is very powerful evidence that proves that airplane impact could not possibly have caused the total destruction of the three buildings that came crashing down that fateful day? Has there been a coverup? Go here for the evidence: http://www.ae911truth.org/ Also, why did Paul Craig Roberts quit writing? Paul Craig Roberts says that he was trying to reveal the truth about 9/11 but was censored by the MSM, Antiwar and other websites. Go here for his interview on Russia Today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDNLDXQdlBQ&feature=f... If millions of Americans knew the real truth concerning the events of 9/11, the wars and the war crimes would stop.

  31. totally agree with liberranter. Evangelical “leaders” like James Dobson, Chuck Colson, Charles Stanley, Pat Robertson, etc, etc, buy into this “war on terrorism” BS hook, line and sinker. Do you think they care about all the Iraqis that have died in this war? Do you think they care about the plight of the Palestinians? Do you think they question, for one second, any military action EVER of the US government? NOPE, wave the flag, support the troops. What a disgrace these people are to the name of Christ, and indeed, to anyone who can think!

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