COLLATERAL MURDER — 14:58
Update: On July 6, 2010, Private Bradley Manning, a 22 year old intelligence analyst with the United
States Army in Baghdad, was charged with disclosing this video (after allegedly speaking to an
unfaithful journalist). The whistleblower behind the Pentagon Papers, Daniel Ellsberg, has called Mr.
Manning a ‘hero’. He is currently imprisoned, facing military court trial. The Apache crew and those behind the cover
up depicted in the video have yet to be charged. To assist Private Manning, please see
bradleymanning.org.
5th April 2010 10:44 EST–Statement from Wikileaks
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-sight, 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.
Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle 