Posted by CODEPINK Staff
Wikileaks just released a much-sought after video showing United States military killing Iraqi civilians and Reuters reporters in the spirit of "collateral damage."
The entire transcript is here. After killing 12-15 the civilians and reporters and finding out that a young girl was wounded and in need of help, one of the rookies justifies the engagement by saying that "it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle" and someone chimes in "that's right!" Of course, they opened fire on a hunch before even determining whether their victims were "engaging in the war."
This is a call for accountability for past war crimes and for the current administration. Reportedly, the United States government didn't want the truth to come out and the Pentagon is now targeting WikiLeaks as a "national security threat" for posting classified information about United States war crimes. Apparently, internet freedom only matters in China.
Also, do note that we are pouring some $600 billion into a defense budget so that our soldiers can tell the difference between a civilian and enemy combatants, a camera and a gun.
As usual, the mainstream media was slow to pick up the massacre and pointed to official "Rules of Engagement" as an excuse for the incident. While, officials have confirmed the authenticity of the video through the press, there has been no move to hold anyone accountable.
In other news, the United States just admitted to a role in killing Afghan women this February after trying to cover it up. More collateral murder, and more of the same.