Posted on 04/12/2010 4:50:42 PM PDT by SandRat
WASHINGTON, April 12, 2010 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said recently published footage of a U.S. Apache helicopter killing 12 people in Iraq, including two Reuters news agency personnel, was “painful to watch,” and that the attack has been thoroughly investigated.
The 17-minute video from a July 12, 2007, air strike shows U.S. military personnel gunning down a group perceived to be armed militants and opening fire on a subsequent rescue attempt. The footage was made available last week by WikiLeaks, a whistle-blowing Web site that publishes anonymous submissions and leaked documents.
“We've investigated it very thoroughly. And it's unfortunate -- it's clearly not helpful,” Gates said yesterday on ABC News’ “This Week.” “But by the same token, I think it should not have any lasting consequences.”
Asked if the release of the video would damage the image of the United States in the world, Gates said he didn’t think so.
“They're in a combat situation. The video doesn't show the broader picture of the firing that was going on at American troops,” he said. “It's obviously a hard thing to see. It's painful to see, especially when you learn, after the fact, what was going on.”
A defense official interviewed for the story said “a perfect storm” of circumstances contributed to the missteps. The official said a longer version of the video, also available online, shows the fuller context of the air strike, including evidence of nearby gunfire.
“You talked about the fog of war -- these people were operating in split-second situations,” Gates said.
The findings of the U.S. military investigation are available on the U.S. Central Command Web site in the Freedom of Information Act Reading Room section.
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Painful to watch??????????
Damn him. Did he think that Americans being killed was as painful to watch?
Painful to watch?
This is WAR dammit.
There were combatants with hostile intentions running loose.
The military did its job.
Saw the video. The pilots did the best they could with a tricky situation. For all we know those “civilians” were actually terrorists on their way to pick up weapons.
Kill the fuck@rs.
And don’t feel bad about it.
Be a MAN!
Grow some ba!!$ Gates. You up there on stage dancing like a muppet with a hand shoved up your a$$ is “painful to watch”.
Maybe he needs to be added to the war porn ping list. That’ll cure him.
So watching a video of innocents being killed gives you all a Chrissy-like tingling feeling up your leg? Really? Now I know that our guys are doing the best they can in difficult situations and deplorable conditions, but cheering on the deaths of innocents is sick. Expressing remorse and regret for a terrible mistake is only decent.
I respect Gates. No matter what he says, opposing sides are going to take exception. Was he not supposed to acknowledge that something unintended happened?
Innocents, and you know this how Achmed
Excuse me, I didn’t see anything on that van that identified it as a rescue vehicle.
These people use women & children as shields all the time. They strap bombs on them, send them into crowded markets to kill and don’t think twice. Yes it’s unfortunate that the children were killed. But, if the left would let the military do it’s job, i.e. kill people & break things and get rid of all these stupid rules of engagement this would have been over years ago and saved countless more lives.
These people are MORONS.
hang around with dogs => get fleas
hang around with terrorists => get killed
That is what our military concluded. Are we back to not trusting our military?
The Reuters reporters being with them proves they were terrorists!
I trust no one
The Reuters reporters getting iced is just a fortunate turn of events. Like finding an old jacket then as you are fiddling with it finding $20 in the inside pocket.
I don't think it was a picnic for the recipients, either, but...
..."you're either with us, or you're with the terrorists"
Choices have consequences...
Watching the video -- knowing what we know now -- is painful for ME to watch. There would be something wrong with anyone who took an innocent life and didn't regret it; the mistake doesn't make you a war criminal, but it rightly hurts and you wish you could undo it. But you can't. I know from experience.
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