Disturbing video from Iraq

CNN? ^ | unknown | CNN?

[Joe Brower]

Please excuse the vanity post, but a Swedish fellow I've been debating with for the last year over the conflict in Iraq sent me this Windows media file as proof of "war crimes" committed by our troops in the recent fighting.

CLICK HERE for the video clip.

I could use input on this particular event, if anyone has any context in which this clip could be put into. We all know how the media, combined with modern video technology, can make anything look like anything, and I could use some information to use against this and what it seems to portray.

Thanks,

Joe Brower

[The Louiswu]

So what - this lucky devil is in his heaven with his 72 virgins, CNN should congratulate the soldiers for helping this poor schmuck get to his promised land

[general_re]

I could use input on this particular event, if anyone has any context in which this clip could be put into. We all know how the media, combined with modern video technology, can make anything look like anything, and I could use some information to use against this and what it seems to portray.

Your friendly neighborhood troubleshooter is here to help. I looked up the transcript of this report, and found it. That's Candy Crowley reporting, and the story was originally broadcast on the Paula Zahn show, on 11/07/2003. Anyway, here's a transcript of the full story, including the stuff that was edited out.

Copyright 2003 Cable News Network
All Rights Reserved

CNN

SHOW: PAULA ZAHN NOW 20:00

November 7, 2003 Friday

Transcript # 110700CN.V99

...

ZAHN: A TV movie showdown this weekend. Later on in the hour, we're going to see how "The Elizabeth Smart Story" stacks up against "Saving Private Lynch."

And rock n' roll as a Cold War weapon. Did music bring down the Iron Curtain?

And Monday, President Bush professes his faith openly, but it wasn't always that way. We'll see how religion influences policy.

Turning, though, now to Iraq, yesterday, we told you about the American soldier who was so shaken by the sight of a dead Iraqi killed in front of him, he had to seek counseling and briefly faced cowardice charges. But it's a sight the U.S. troops have seen thousands of times over.

Killing is just part of their job description, as Candy Crowley tells us in a report that contains some graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): General George Patton said, the object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his.

ANTHONY RIDDLE, U.S. MARINE, IRAQ: Before war, you're thinking, oh, I can deal with that. That's nothing. I'm a Marine. I can handle it.

CROWLEY: Now, Sergeant Anthony Riddle is starting to live with having to kill.

RIDDLE: When their eyes are open, staring right at you, half the faces are missing ...

CROWLEY: He had killed in battle before, but not like this. Not so close.

RIDDLE: Looking at the body just sitting there. And then we were told, hey. We've got to pull the bodies out.

And that's when it really hit me. When we pulled them out and their heads hit the ground and just total lifeless. Nothing going on with that body.

And I had to walk away. I mean, I was like, I can't handle this no more.

CROWLEY: To kill in war is to run the gamut of emotions.

U.S. Marines, Sergeant Riddle's team, searching an industrial area near Baghdad. Along the road, they encounter Iraqis who point their AK-47s at the Marines.

RIDDLE: One of my guys got up on his hood and took the first guy out, shot him right in the heart. And he dropped instantly.

CROWLEY: Wounded, another Iraqi writhes on the ground next to his gun. The Marines kill him -- then cheer.

RIDDLE: Like, man, you guys are dead now, you know. But it was a good feeling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes!

CROWLEY: When the battle is over and you are still standing, the adrenalin rush is huge.

RIDDLE: I mean, afterwards you're like, hell, yeah, that was awesome. Let's do it again.

CROWLEY: Inexplicable to some, but not to generations of veterans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And the Pentagon says it is taking unprecedented steps to identify service members struggling to cope with what they have seen in Iraq or done. That includes screening them for possible mental health problems.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[Little Ray]

Whats disturbing about it?

[all4one]

The context could be to compare the (un-edited) clips and pictures of the four American contractors who were burned drug through the streets, dismembered and hung from a bridge while working to secure food delivery for Iraq.

Compare that to a full clip of what the Iraqi writhing on the road was doing prior to being shot. War and it's consequences is not for the faint of heart....our soldiers and their actions cannot be dissected via biased CNN video clips. They are there to accomplish an objective and they need our support to do so. Not some liberal daily spin comparing Iraq to Vietnam or some such nonsense.

[MJM59]

Looks like pretty good shooting to me. One less bad guy.

[general_re]

Wanted to highlight one other part that was left out of the clever editing...

U.S. Marines, Sergeant Riddle's team, searching an industrial area near Baghdad. Along the road, they encounter Iraqis who point their AK-47s at the Marines.

RIDDLE: One of my guys got up on his hood and took the first guy out, shot him right in the heart. And he dropped instantly.

CROWLEY: Wounded, another Iraqi writhes on the ground next to his gun. The Marines kill him -- then cheer.

[Born Conservative]

bttt

[PISANO]

Did I miss something here? Are we STILL at WAR? Is this video supposed to show a WAR crime? What the hell is wrong with people. Do they think that this is a video game with options to make bad guys less lethal once they are wounded? I guess they just want a 'reset' button.

[Joe Brower]

"Whats disturbing about it?"

How this video seeks to portray our troops as bloodthirsty killers of civilians.

No, I don't beleive it either, which is why I posted it here for analysis and comment.

[ChinaThreat]

All I can say is DAMN GOOD SHOT!!!! One less insurgent to kill an American man or woman!!! He looked like a millitary age man to me. Fair game. This is war.

[hosepipe]

These clip(s) are so poorly put together only a Swede could be fooled.. into thinking.... i.e. Swedish geo-political acumen is about that of a 13-69 year old in Boston, Mass. where they elect the smartest of the smart, everyone else is even dumber.

[Joe Brower]

Many thanks, GR.

[general_re]

My pleasure, Joe. I don't like seeing our boys get slandered like that, and clearly that amateur hack job is supposed to have you think that the Marines are rolling around Baghdad and shooting pedestrians at random, no doubt with a fifth of Jack in hand and a joint hanging from their lips. Well, that's bullshit, pardon my language, and you were absolutely right to be suspicious. The real story here is: you point a gun at a Marine, the Marine kills you. Period. The End.

[Publius6961]

Link doesn't open for me.

My media player says it can't play it either. Does someone have an alternate link? I would love to see this "war crime"

[Shery]

There was no way to tell which side hit him, as there was fire from the other side, as well. What was he doing before? Lobbing grenades? Manning a weapon? That was not enough to tell anyone anything, really. A 'convenient clip' to make it look bad for the Americans, but it doesn't give enough information to be incriminating.

[MAWG]

Didnt open for me either.

[mass55th]

First of all, this video has been drastically edited. The guy's weapon is clearly visible on the ground next to him. You can see the rifle and it's strap laying behind him. This tells me he had been firing at our troops. Why else would he have had a weapon in an area where people were supposed to be turning in their weapons? He was initially wounded and then finished off to prevent him from picking up his weapon and using it again. The Marine's comments are heavily edited and more than likely recorded at a different time and perhaps even a different place. I'd have a hard time believing that a Marine in a dangerous area as this is, with rounds being fired all around, would take his helmet off to be interviewed by a reporter.

[sailor4321]

Hey Joe! I don't see a uniform on the guy, so i'm unsure what "law of war" is being violated. The narrator tells me the guy is wounded, but no wounds are obvious to me. I see a moving "irregular" with a rifle by his side and no indication that he desires to surrender.

I guess I could risk some of my people to go out, drag him back to our lines for execution by firing squad as un-uniformed guerilla. Or (if the assumption that he is wounded is correct), I could let him lay there and, hopefully, bleed to death --- assuming his people don't try to drag him to safety. But, in the end, I see an illegal combatant capable of fighting, so "bada bing".

[thegreatbeast]

It seems like a shabby justification but this clip is taken out of context. Could the combatant be rigging himself as a boobytrap to catch anyone assigned to handle his body? That is certainly within the realm of possibility and would justify his death.

Someone said "War is Hell".

[faithincowboys]

THIS POSES NO PROBLEM FOR ME OTHER THAN THE FACT THAT THE MEDIA'S REPORTING OF IT ENDANGERS THE LIVES OF OUR TROOPS AND MAKES THE TASK HARDER. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO DISCRETION--THEY ARE CAREFUL TO NOT REPORT ANYTHING THAT MAKES KERRY LOOK BAD. WHY DON'T THEY EXTEND THAT SAME COURTESY TO OUR BRAVE YOUNG MEN FIHTING CAVEMEN IN IRAQ.