I am not a hawk (nor a dove, but more of an eagle; perhaps a bald eagle), but I can certainly respect that soldiers on the battlefield oftentimes must make difficult decisions. And that’s exactly what I saw in the video released today by WikiLeaks. The video shows soldiers killing several Iraqis who were determined to be carrying RPGs and AK-47s. WikiLeaks says that they were Reuters journalists (two of them, at least) who were only carrying cameras.
Regardless of the truth of the matter, the fact remains that they were in a warzone (apparently just outside the location of an earlier ground battle), determined to be a threat, and that threat was eliminated. That is what soldiers in a war zone do, they eliminate the enemy. Hindsight is, as they say, 20/20. What the soldiers might know now is not the information they had while in Iraq. They acted on what seemed to be an accurate analysis of the situation, and through (from my armchair reading safe in the States) the proper Rules of Engagement. That the journalists appeared to be traveling with armed people, possibly insurgents, only make the decision easier, and based on the information at the time, the right one.
That this incident is being treated by WikiLeaks and the anti-war crowd as murder is beyond disgusting. There was no murder here, nor malicious intent of any kind. The soldiers were doing their job. And if that job caused innocents to be killed, that is regrettable, but an unfortunate fact of war. Was a mistake made? It is possible, and the facts of the situation still appear to be murky, despite what WikiLeaks wants us to believe. Even so, I still support the decision made by the soldiers.
I’ve been reading comments on several sites from both people who think the right decision was made, and also from people who think this was murder. But I think no commentary stands out more than one left at Reddit.com by a soldier who has been to Iraq and knows what can happen. Keyquote:
In all that stress, they still behaved according to the rules of engagement. They positively identified small arms (which are a threat) and misidentified an RPG. Had I not known, I would also have called out RPG. It unfortunately looks like it, and that was amplified by the pose he took. WL added in captions to let you know there were cameras to amplify outrage, but having flown around Baghdad in helos everything looks like a threat after they shoot at you.
Below is the video. It is…well, it’s a 37 minute video from a war zone showing people being killed. I sat through it and didn’t blink much (and I’m not sure what that says about me), but other people are not me. So, I’ll say it again: Iraq, war zone, people being killed. Don’t say you weren’t warned:
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