INVESTIGATION: The 2007 Apache Attack

In July of 2007, American forces took aim and fired from Apache helicopters upon one dozen individuals in Baghdad. Those killed were suspected to have been militants, and in possession of weaponry. In the aftermath of the killings, it became apparent that the American servicemen were mistaken, and that the group on the street that afternoon were not militants, but included two photojournalists from the news agency, Reuters. What were thought to have been rocket launchers were, in fact, telephoto lenses.

Now, video footage of the episode has been leaked to the whistle-blowing website, wikileaks.org, which publishes unattributed, purportedly classified material. In the video, Apache operators can be heard as they attempt to identify the figures on the ground, wait for a good shot, and then "engage" what was essentially a news crew. This knowledge puts into stark relief the comments heard in the footage, as when, upon learning that a child has taken a wound to the belly, one serviceman says, "Well, it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle." (A transcription of that afternoon's conversation may be read here.)

In its official response to the tape, Central Command affirmed that it has "no current plans to reinvestigate or review this combat action." It did, however, conduct a rather serious review of the website, WikiLeaks.

For more information about the site, SEE the Harvard-helmed Citizen Media Law Project.