July 12, 2007, Baghdad airstrike

{{Short description|Series of air-to-ground attacks during the Iraqi insurgency}} {{Redirect|Collateral Murder|the general concept|Collateral damage}} {{Pp-move}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Infobox military operation | name = July 12, 2007, Baghdad airstrike | partof = the Iraq War | image = AH-64D Apache Longbow.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = An AH-64 Apache helicopter, the type used in the attack | map = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = | location = New Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq | target = | coordinates = {{Coord|33.3137|44.512|scale:2000_dim:200_region:IQ-BG_type:event_source:us-military-video-MGRS-38SMB5458086170|display=title,inline|name=Airstrike of 2007-07-12}}  | date = July 12, 2007 | time = | timezone = | type = Airstrike | fatalities = 12–18+ civilians<ref name="nytimes20100726"/><ref name="NYT20100505_Bumiller"/><ref name="NewYorker-Nosecrets"/><ref name="totalfatalities">{{cite news|author-link=Bill Keller|last=Keller|first=Bill|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/magazine/30Wikileaks-t.html|title=Dealing With Assange and the WikiLeaks Secrets|work=New York Times|format=adapted from introduction to the book ''Open Secrets''|date=January 26, 2011|access-date=June 18, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/magazine/30Wikileaks-t.html|archive-date=September 8, 2012|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Iraq war files: Apache Hellfire victims |url=http://www.channel4.com/news/iraq-war-files-the-apache-hellfire-victims |publisher=Channel 4 |date=October 22, 2010 |access-date=April 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110212031306/http://www.channel4.com/news/iraq-war-files-the-apache-hellfire-victims |archive-date=February 12, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | injuries = 2 children | victim = | executed_by = United States Army }}

On July 12, 2007, a series of air-to-ground attacks were conducted by a team of two U.S. AH-64 Apache helicopters in Al-Amin al-Thaniyah, New Baghdad, during the Iraqi insurgency which followed the invasion of Iraq. On April 5, 2010, the attacks received worldwide coverage and controversy following the release of 39 minutes of classified gunsight footage by WikiLeaks.<ref name=Reuters6Apr2010>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-usa-journalists-idUSTRE6344FW20100406 Leaked U.S. video shows deaths of Reuters' Iraqi staffers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120165126/http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/06/us-iraq-usa-journalists-idUSTRE6344FW20100406 |date=November 20, 2015 }}. Reuters.</ref> The video, which WikiLeaks titled '''''Collateral Murder''''',<ref name=blitz>{{Cite web |last=Gilson |first=Dave |title=What the WikiLeaks Media Blitz Has Revealed About WikiLeaks |url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/04/wikileaks-assange-media-blitz/ |access-date=2023-10-23 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web | title=Collateral Murder, 5 Apr 2010 | url=https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Collateral_Murder,_5_Apr_2010 | website=WikiLeaks | language=en-US}}</ref> showed the crew firing on a group of people and killing several of them, including two Reuters journalists, and then laughing at some of the casualties, all of whom were civilians.{{refn|<ref name="Thakur16">{{cite book |last1=Thakur |first1=Ramesh |title=The United Nations, Peace and Security |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge/New York|edition=2nd|chapter=International Criminal Justice|isbn=9781107176942 |pages=109–133 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/united-nations-peace-and-security/A9564185E2C701D897E877289A6A5A8B |access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="SAGEhist14">{{cite book |title=Historic Documents of 2013 |date=2014 |chapter=Bradley Manning Convicted for Classified U.S. Document Leaks|publisher=SAGE Publishing |location=Los Angeles/London |isbn=9781483347868 |page=365 |url=https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/historic-documents-of-2013/book240555 |access-date=23 December 2020}}</ref><ref name=LTGApr2010>{{cite news |title=US military video showing 2007 Apache attack on Iraqi civilians released |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7557881/US-military-video-showing-2007-Apache-attack-on-Iraqi-civilians-released.html |access-date=23 December 2020 |work=The Telegraph |publisher=Telegraph Media Group |location=London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424041054/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7557881/US-military-video-showing-2007-Apache-attack-on-Iraqi-civilians-released.html |archive-date=April 24, 2017|url-status=live|author=|date=April 5, 2010}}</ref><ref name=Bamat10>{{cite news |last1=Bamat |first1=Joseph |title=Leaked video shows US military killing of civilians, Reuters staff|location=Paris|url=https://www.france24.com/en/20100406-leaked-video-shows-us-military-killing-civilians-reuters-staff |access-date=23 December 2020 |work=France 24 |publisher=France Médias Monde|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402234308/https://www.france24.com/en/20100406-leaked-video-shows-us-military-killing-civilians-reuters-staff|archive-date=April 2, 2016 |url-status=live|date=April 6, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Bureau12">{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Alex |title=Permission to Engage: WikiLeaks collateral murder footage examined |url=https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2012-08-30/permission-to-engage-wikileaks-collateral-murder-footage-examined |location=London|access-date=23 December 2020 |publisher=The Bureau of Investigative Journalism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630103847/https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2012-08-30/permission-to-engage-wikileaks-collateral-murder-footage-examined|archive-date=June 30, 2017|url-status=live|date=August 30, 2012 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="BBCchargedJul10">{{cite news |author=|title=US soldier linked to Iraq helicopter video leak charged |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10529110 |access-date=23 December 2020 |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |date=July 6, 2010}}</ref>}} An anonymous U.S. military official confirmed the authenticity of the footage,<ref name="Reuters: leaked video"/> which provoked global discussion on the legality and morality of the attacks.

In the first strike, the crews of two Apaches directed 30 mm cannon fire at a group of ten Iraqi men.<ref name="PolitiFact"/><ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref name="legal-review"/> Among the group were two Iraqi war correspondents working for Reuters, Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. Seven men (including Noor-Eldeen) were killed during this first strike; Chmagh, who was injured, died in the second strike.

The second strike, also using 30 mm rounds, was directed at a van whose driver, Saleh Matasher Tomal, drove by and helped the wounded Chmagh. Both Chmagh and Tomal were killed in the second strike, and two of Tomal's children were badly wounded.

In a third strike, Apache pilots watched people, including some armed men, run into a building and attacked the building with several AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.

== Context == {{See also|2007 in Iraq|Iraq War troop surge of 2007|List of coalition military operations of the Iraq War#2007}} According to Tom Raju, a reporter at CNN, "the soldiers of Bravo Company, 2–16 Infantry had been under fire all morning from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms on the first day of Operation Ilaaj in Baghdad".<ref name="cohen-cnn"/> Al Jazeera stated that the Army had received "reports of small arms fire", but were unable to positively identify the gunmen. Apache helicopters were called in by a soldier in the Humvee (Hotel 2–6) under attack from the same position used by Namir Noor-Eldeen to photograph the vehicle.<ref name="collateral-aljazeera"/> According to a military review, soldiers in that company "had been under sporadic small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire since" the operation—described as "clearing their sector and looking for weapons caches"—began.<ref name="politifact.com"/>

The Air Weapons Team (AWT) of two Apache AH-64s from the 1st Cavalry Division had been requested by the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment (2–16), 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, before July 12 to support Operation Ilaaj. Tasked to conduct escort, armed reconnaissance patrols, and counter-IED and counter-mortar operations, the two helicopters left Camp Taji at 9:24 a.m. They arrived on station in New Baghdad at 9:53 a.m., where sporadic attacks on coalition forces continued.<ref name="supporting-documents"/>

== Incidents == [[File:CollateralMurder.ogv|thumb|360px|The first part of the video released by WikiLeaks, showing the first attack, on a group of men and the second attack, on a van. This is 13 minutes of onboard footage from one of the two AH-64 Apache helicopters involved in the incident released by WikiLeaks. This video is from the editorialized version of ''Collateral Murder'' but has had the editorial removed. (Full audio transcript) Other video clips including the full 39-minute footage and clips corresponding to the Army report exhibits were also made available by WikiLeaks.|alt=Military helicopter video footage of civilian humans and vehicle being destroyed by airstrike.]]

=== Attack on personnel === In the video on the morning of July 12, 2007, the crews of two United States Army AH-64 Apache helicopters observe a gathering of men near a section of Baghdad in the path of advancing U.S. ground troops.<ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref>{{Cite news |last=Daley |first=Paul |date=2020-06-14 |title='All lies': how the US military covered up gunning down two journalists in Iraq |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/15/all-lies-how-the-us-military-covered-up-gunning-down-two-journalists-in-iraq |access-date=2024-06-26 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The crew estimates the group is twenty men.<ref name=transcript>{{cite web |url= http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/July_12,_2007_Baghdad_airstrike_transcript |title= July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike transcript | work =Wikisource |publisher=Wikimedia Foundation |access-date=May 19, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110216183431/http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/July_12,_2007_Baghdad_airstrike_transcript |archive-date=February 16, 2011 |url-status= live |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Among the group are two journalists working for Reuters, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh.<ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref name="cohen-seattle"/><ref name="mcgreal"/><ref name="sengupta"/><ref name="mcelroy"/> While the two are carrying media cards, a military officer claimed they were not wearing distinctive clothing identifying themselves as such.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/military-releases-report-on-2007-apache-attack-and-questions-linger |title=U.S. Military Releases Redacted Records on 2007 Apache Attack, Questions Linger | work = Danger Room |publisher=Wired |date=April 7, 2010 |access-date=May 19, 2011 |first= Nathan |last=Hodge |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110629021316/http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/military-releases-report-on-2007-apache-attack-and-questions-linger/ |archive-date= June 29, 2011 |url-status= live |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Noor-Eldeen has a camera and Chmagh is talking on his mobile phone.<ref name="guardian050410">{{cite news |last1=McGreal |first1=Chris |title=Wikileaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack |access-date=16 August 2021 |work=the Guardian |date=5 April 2010 |language=en}}</ref> Two other men in the group appear to have rifles. Another has a long cylindrical object which a U.S. army general investigating the incident said was a rocket-propelled grenade.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":2"/>

The Apache gunner says that there are "five to six individuals with AK-47s" and requests permission to engage the group which is granted.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2010-07-06 |title=Soldier accused of passing video to WikiLeaks charged with misconduct |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20100706-soldier-accused-supplying-video-wikileaks-will-face-charges |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=France 24 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1"/> Noor-Eldeen walks ahead of the group and peers around a street corner to aim his long-lensed camera at U.S. Humvees which are about 100 metres down the street. Noor-Eldeen's camera is misidentified by the Apache gunner who says "He's got an RPG!"<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Yates |first=Dean |date=2023-06-30 |title=Casualties of war: the reporters paying a high price for doing their job |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/casualties-of-war-the-reporters-paying-a-high-price-for-doing-their-job-20230518-p5d9h7.html |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2"/> Three pictures of the U.S. Humvee were found on his camera's memory card when it was recovered by U.S. soldiers. The men become obscured behind a building as the Apache moves around the group.<ref name="cohen-cnn"/> Both helicopters strafe a group of ten men with 30 mm rounds once they became visible again.<ref name="Reuters: leaked video"/><ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref name="cnndeaths"/> After the lead helicopter fires, one of the crew shouts "Hahaha. I hit 'em" and another member of the crew responds, "Oh yeah, look at those dead bastards".<ref name="guardian050410"/>

Seven men were killed, including Noor-Eldeen, with three others being wounded.<ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref name="legal-review"/><ref name="mcgreal"/> Once the group is eliminated, the Apache pilots direct the ground troops to move up to the position of the attack to clear the area.

=== Attack on a van === As the ground troops advanced, a wounded Chmagh was seen crawling and attempting to stand.<ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref name="mcgreal"/><ref name="Goodman"/> As the U.S. soldiers moved towards the site of the attack, a van stopped near Chmagh. The military said that the van was "fair game under Army rules", because it had no visible markings to suggest it was an ambulance or a protected vehicle.<ref name="fishel"/>{{better source needed|date=July 2024}} The Apache crew alerted the ground troops of the van and requested permission to engage the vehicle before the ground troops arrived. The Apache crew saw unarmed<ref name="mcgreal"/> men exit the vehicle and move to Chmagh.<ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref name="mcgreal"/><ref name="Goodman"/> The Apache crew requested permission to engage, stating it "looks like [the men] possibly, picking up bodies and weapons" from the scene,<ref>{{Cite video|title = Collateral Murder|medium = Internet video|publisher = WikiLeaks|location = Iraq|date=July 12, 2007}}</ref> and repeated their request to shoot,<ref name=Reuters6Apr2010/><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/apr/07/wikileaks-collateral-murder-iraq-video Grim truths of Wikileaks Iraq video] Douglas Haddow {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221122338/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2010/apr/07/wikileaks-collateral-murder-iraq-video |date= December 21, 2016}}. Guardian (April 7, 2010).</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20111021004852/http://bigamericannight.com/let-us-shoot/ "Let Us Shoot"]}}. Big American Night (April 5, 2010).</ref><ref>[http://news.sky.com/story/771663/let-us-shoot-us-troops-fire-on-journalists 'Let Us Shoot': US Troops Fire On Journalists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020010602/http://news.sky.com/story/771663/let-us-shoot-us-troops-fire-on-journalists |date=October 20, 2012 }}. News.sky.com.</ref><ref>[http://pescanik.net/2010/04/legal-glance-on-the-baghdad-helicopter-shooting/ Legal Glance on the Baghdad Helicopter Shooting | Peščanik] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018145530/http://pescanik.net/2010/04/legal-glance-on-the-baghdad-helicopter-shooting/ |date=October 18, 2012 }}. Pescanik.net (November 13, 2012).</ref> before they received permission to begin firing on the van and its occupants.<ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref name="mcgreal"/><ref name="Goodman"/> Chmagh was killed<ref name="cohen-cnn"/><ref name="mcgreal"/><ref name="Goodman"/> along with three other men, while two children, not known to be in the van to the U.S. forces, were injured.<ref name="family-aljazeera"/> The children, a girl and boy, suffered injuries. The girl suffered from a stomach wound and glass in her eyes, and the boy a head injury.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/9136984.stm | work=BBC News | title=US soldier on aftermath of WikiLeaks Apache attack | date=October 28, 2010 | access-date=November 18, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810021002/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/9136984.stm | archive-date=August 10, 2014 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Zetter |first=Kim |author-link=Kim Zetter |date=April 20, 2010 |title=U.S. Soldier on 2007 Apache Attack: What I Saw |url=https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/2007-iraq-apache-attack-as-seen-from-the-ground/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220235339/http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/2007-iraq-apache-attack-as-seen-from-the-ground/ |archive-date=February 20, 2014 |access-date=March 8, 2017 |magazine=Wired |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Just as the van was destroyed, U.S. ground troops made their final turn and arrived on the road with the van. The Apache crew then alerted the ground troops that they believed that they could see an injured child moving around inside the destroyed van. On the video, it is then seen that Army soldiers establish a perimeter around the site and extract the children from the burning van. When the helicopter pilots discover that they have killed Iraqi civilians and wounded two children, one of them is heard to say: "Well, it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cockburn |first1=Patrick |title=Julian Assange in Limbo |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v42/n12/patrick-cockburn/julian-assange-in-limbo |journal=London Review of Books |access-date=25 September 2020 |language=en |date=18 June 2020|volume=42 |issue=12 }}</ref>

=== Attack on a building === The ground troops who secured the site of the first two strikes then receive small arms fire from nearby buildings.

There is a period of 20 minutes not included on the leaked tape.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.theage.com.au/national/keeper-of-secrets-20100521-w230.html | location=Melbourne | work=The Age | title=Keeper of secrets | first=Nikki | last=Barrowclough | date=May 22, 2010 | access-date=May 22, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523153440/http://www.theage.com.au/national/keeper-of-secrets-20100521-w230.html | archive-date=May 23, 2010 | url-status=live | df=mdy-all }}</ref> According to the internal legal review, the helicopters engaged a group of armed insurgents, and that some were seen entering a nearby building.<ref name="legal-review"/>

As the tape resumes, two men, one holding an AK-47, are seen walking. They split up and the footage follows one who appears to be armed.<ref name="NewYorker-Useofforce"/> He walks into a building which has been identified as the source of fire at U.S. ground troops. They request permission to fire a missile at the building, describing it as "abandoned" or "under construction". The ground controller responds, "If you've [positively identified] the individuals in the building with weapons, go ahead and engage the building". As the pilot positions the helicopter to attack the building, two unarmed men walk towards, and perhaps into, the building. As the gunner fires the first missile, another man is seen walking along the street in front of the building. The missile hits the building, and the man is caught in the explosion. The crew then reposition the helicopter and fire two more missiles into the upper floors of the building.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Collateral Murder Op Ed |url= http://www.rethink-dispatches.com/essays/collateral-murder-op-ed/ |publisher= Dispatches |access-date=April 22, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100424213617/http://www.rethink-dispatches.com/essays/collateral-murder-op-ed/ |archive-date= April 24, 2010 |url-status=dead |df= mdy-all}}</ref>

==== Commentary ==== thumb|right|255px|Blurry still frames from the leaked video with individuals perhaps carrying long zoom cameras, weapons and/or plays of shadow and light<ref name="wired1">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2010/04/6-2nd-brigade-combat-team-15-6-investigation.pdf |title=Redacted internal US Army report: "Investigation into Civilian Casualties Resulting from an Engagement on 12 July 2007 in the New Baghdad District of Baghdad" |access-date=August 22, 2013 |magazine=Wired |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105051046/http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/2010/04/6-2nd-brigade-combat-team-15-6-investigation.pdf |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> WikiLeaks said in the preface to one of their videos of the incident that "some of the men appear to have been armed [although] the behavior of nearly everyone was relaxed" in the introductory text of the shorter video.<ref name=PolitiFact/> Julian Assange said "permission to engage was given before the word 'RPG' was ever used".<ref name=PolitiFact/> Politifact stated: "When Assange points out in the context of justifying the title 'Collateral Murder' that the word 'RPG' was not used until after permission to engage was given, he leaves the impression that the soldiers were given the okay to open fire on a group of unarmed men, or men believed to be unarmed. But the video and accompanying audio make clear that the soldiers in the helicopter said they spotted 'weapons' among those in the group—later identified by an internal army investigator as an AK-47 and an RPG."<ref>{{cite web |last=Farley |first=Robert |date=April 12, 2010 |title=Gates said leaked military video of shooting in Iraq doesn't show the broader picture of Americans being fired upon |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2010/apr/12/robert-gates/gates-said-leaked-military-video-shooting-iraq-doe/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221120540/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/apr/12/robert-gates/gates-said-leaked-military-video-shooting-iraq-doe/ |archive-date=February 21, 2011 |access-date=August 29, 2025 |publisher=PolitiFact |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Assange later said "Based upon visual evidence, I suspect there probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything".<ref name="fishel"/>{{better source needed|date=July 2024}} The legal review carried out by the U.S. Army stated that the two children were evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base Loyalty, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day.<ref name="legal-review"/>

''The Guardian'' stated "It is unclear if some of the men are armed but Noor-Eldeen can be seen with a camera".<ref name="mcgreal"/> Glenn Greenwald of ''Salon.com'' said that "the vast majority of the men were clearly unarmed".<ref name="notaberration">{{cite web |last=Greenwald |first=Glenn |author-link=Glenn Greenwald |date=April 5, 2010 |title=WikiLeaks releases video of slaughter in Iraq |url=http://www.salon.com/2010/04/05/iraq_49/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611023502/http://www.salon.com/2010/04/05/iraq_49/ |archive-date=June 11, 2012 |access-date=March 21, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Greenwald called the second airstrike a "plainly unjustified killing of a group of unarmed men carrying away an unarmed, seriously wounded man to safety".<ref name=notaberration/> ''The Australian'' newspaper said the group was displaying "no obvious hostile action".<ref name=Australian/>

In ''The Independent'' on April 8, 2010, human rights activist Joan Smith wrote that the engagements were like a game to the helicopter crew. She wrote that the co-pilot urged a dying, unarmed journalist to pick up a weapon as he tried to crawl to safety and that "the Apache crew open[ed] fire on civilians". When the crew were informed that a child had been injured by their attack, one initially responded, "Ah damn. Oh well", and a minute later continued, "Well, it's their fault for bringing kids into a battle". Smith describes this reaction as inhuman. She draws parallels with soldiers who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder in earlier wars. She continued, "the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are inflicting huge psychological damage on combatants". She says that in refusing to recognize this, the US military fails both its own soldiers and their victims. She then concludes that command structures need to be in place to identify "combatants with serious psychological problems".<ref name="Independent08Apr10">{{cite news|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/joan-smith/joan-smith-now-we-see-what-war-does-to-those-who-wage-it-1938495.html|title=Joan Smith: Now we see what war does to those who wage it|last=Smith|first=Joan|date=April 8, 2010|work=The Independent|access-date=April 8, 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/joan-smith/joan-smith-now-we-see-what-war-does-to-those-who-wage-it-1938495.html|archive-date=September 7, 2012|location=London|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On ''Democracy Now!'', Josh Stieber, who was at the time assigned to Bravo Company 2–16, said that although it's natural to "judge or criticize the soldiers", in fact "this is how [they] were trained to act". He said that the debate should be re-framed, that it is more appropriate to ask "questions of the larger system" that teaches "doing these things is in the best interests of my own country". In 2009, Stieber left the military as a conscientious objector and became a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War.<ref name="DemocracyNow">{{cite web|title = 'This Is How These Soldiers Were Trained to Act' – Veteran of Military Unit Involved in 2007 Baghdad Helicopter Shooting Says Incident Is Part of Much Larger Problem|website = Democracy Now!|url = http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/12/this_is_how_these_soldiers_were|date = April 8, 2010|access-date = April 13, 2010|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100413232707/http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/12/this_is_how_these_soldiers_were|archive-date = April 13, 2010|url-status = live|df = mdy-all}}</ref> In a later interview on the ''World Socialist Web Site'', Stieber said that the attack "exposes so clearly the fallacy of using war as a tool of foreign policy or as a way to supposedly spread 'freedom and democracy' around the world".<ref>{{cite web|title= US soldier on Baghdad airstrike: "Not out of the ordinary in Iraq"|url= http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2010/04/stie-a23.html|work=World Socialist Web SIte|date= April 23, 2010|access-date=April 16, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130408064805/http://wsws.org/en/articles/2010/04/stie-a23.html|archive-date=April 8, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Ethan McCord, a soldier who arrived on the scene after the attack, stated in an interview for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:

{{blockquote|From being in the perspective of the Apache helicopter crew, I can see where a group of men gathering, when there's a firefight just a few blocks away, which I was involved in, and they're carrying weapons, one of which is an RPG. …Their overall mission that day was to protect us, to provide support for us, so I can see where the initial attack on the group of men was warranted. However, personally I don't feel that the attack on the van was warranted. I think that the people could have been deterred from doing what they were doing in the van by simply firing a few warning shots versus completely obliterating the van and its occupants.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sSuEf4BAVk |title=2 soldiers in 'Collateral Murder' video apologize. (quote begins at 5:15) |date=April 29, 2010 |publisher=YouTube (ddchalmers channel) Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work=Lateline |access-date=August 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819190817/http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=0sSuEf4BAVk |archive-date=August 19, 2010 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2886429.htm |title=Soldiers in 'Collateral Murder' video apologise |last=Mark |first=David |date=April 29, 2010 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |work=Lateline |access-date=August 20, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820234652/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2886429.htm |archive-date=August 20, 2010 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>}}

On June 7, 2010, ''The New Yorker'' reported that Kristinn Hrafnsson, an investigative reporter who worked on the Collateral Murder video and later became a spokesman for WikiLeaks,<ref>{{cite news |last=Greenberg |first=Andy |date=August 14, 2013 |title=Meet The New Public Face Of WikiLeaks: Kristinn Hrafnsson – Forbes |url=https://blogs.forbes.com/andygreenberg/2010/12/07/meet-the-new-public-face-of-wikileaks-kristinn-hrafnsson |access-date=August 22, 2013 |work=Forbes}}</ref> said he had found the owner of the building involved in the incident. The owner told him that three families were living in the building and seven residents had died, including his wife and daughter.<ref name="NewYorker-Useofforce"/> The report stated that the helicopter crew did not know how many people were in the building when they destroyed it with missiles, and that "there is evidence that unarmed people have both entered and are nearby".<ref name="NewYorker-Useofforce"/> It concluded that an investigating officer would want to know how the armed men were identified as combatants from the earlier engagement; would question the nature of the collateral-damage estimate carried out by the crew before the missiles were launched; and would wish to determine whether a missile attack was a proportionate response to the threat.

A Pentagon spokesman said the video did not contradict the official finding that the helicopters' crew acted within the rules of engagement and said that the military's own inquiry backed the assessment that the group of men were carrying a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG).<ref>{{cite news |last=McElroy |first=Damien |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Calls for inquiry into Apache attack on Iraqi civilians |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7560561/Calls-for-inquiry-into-Apache-attack-on-Iraqi-civilians.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207123140/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7560561/Calls-for-inquiry-into-Apache-attack-on-Iraqi-civilians.html |archive-date=February 7, 2018 |access-date=April 2, 2018 |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Assange stated that the attack on the van was the most damning part of the video: "I'm very sceptical that was done under the rules of engagement; and, if it was legal, the rules of engagement must be changed". Fox News reported in 2010 that the rules of engagement in Iraq had not been changed since the incident occurred.<ref name="fishel"/>

== 2007–2009 coverage == On the day of the attack the U.S. military reported that the two journalists were killed along with nine insurgents, and that the helicopter engagement was related to a U.S. troop raid force that had been attacked by small-arms fire and RPGs.<ref name="NYT20070713"/> U.S. forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Scott Bleichwehl later stated: "There is no question that coalition forces were clearly engaged in combat operations against a hostile force".<ref name="NYT20070713"/>

''The Washington Post'' reported it was unclear whether the journalists were killed by U.S. fire or by shooting from the targeted Iraqis. Captain James Hall stated they couldn't drive in Bradleys in fear of running over bodies. Major Brent Cummings claimed they took great pains to prevent the loss of innocent civilian lives.<ref name="WP20070713">{{cite news |last1=Partlow |first1=Joshua |last2=Finkel |first2=David |author-link2=David Finkel |name-list-style=and |date=July 13, 2007 |title=U.S., Shiite Fighters Clash in Baghdad |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071202357.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120918/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/12/AR2007071202357.html |archive-date=September 18, 2012 |access-date=August 22, 2017 |newspaper=The Washington Post |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Reuters reported that it could locate no witnesses who had seen gunmen in the immediate area. Reuters also stated that local police described the attack as "random American bombardment".<ref name="Yates"/> Reuters subsequently asked the U.S. military to probe the deaths. They asked for an explanation of the confiscation of the journalists' two cameras, access to the on-board footage and voice communications from the helicopters involved, and access to the reports of the units involved in the incident, particularly logs of weapons taken from the scene.<ref name=Yates/>

On July 25, 2007, during an off-the-record briefing in Baghdad by the U.S. military, two Reuters editors were shown "less than three minutes of video from the Apache's gun camera, up to the exact moment it opened fire the first time." The editors asked to see the remaining footage so Reuters could check whether it had been edited or manipulated. Their request was denied at the briefing and they were told to seek access under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/witness-yates-injury/|title=Return to Ward 17: Making peace with lost comrades|last=Yates|first=Dean|website=Reuters|language=en|access-date=2018-06-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613022310/https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/witness-yates-injury/|archive-date=June 13, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Reuters requested a copy of the full video under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on the same day.<ref name=":0"/><ref name="Reuters: leaked video"/> In a personal statement during her court-martial, Chelsea Manning stated that the military had access to the video, and was actively examining it, yet it told Reuters in response to the FOIA request that the information might no longer exist.<ref name="BM001">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/01/bradley-manning-wikileaks-statement-full-text|title=Bradley Manning's statements during his trial|date=March 1, 2013|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=December 12, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118020055/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/01/bradley-manning-wikileaks-statement-full-text|archive-date=January 18, 2017|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Pentagon eventually blocked the FOIA request<ref name="mcgreal"/> despite several follow-up requests by Reuters.<ref name=":0"/>

An internal legal review by staff at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Iraq during July 2007 stated that the helicopters had attacked armed insurgents within the rules of engagement, and that in an apparent case of civilian casualties two reporters working for Reuters had also been killed. The review was not released in full until 2010, after the video of the incident had been released by WikiLeaks.<ref name="NYT20100505_Bumiller"/>

After the U.S. military concluded that the actions of the soldiers were in accordance with the law of armed conflict and its own "Rules of Engagement", WikiLeaks released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing the rules before, during, and after the attacks.<ref name="Collateral Murder"/>

''Washington Post'' reporter David Finkel, who at the time was embedded with Bravo Company 2–16 Infantry, later covered the incidents of the day in his book, ''The Good Soldiers''.<ref name="DavidFinkel20100406"/> At a February 2013 pretrial hearing, Manning stated that Finkel "was quoting, I feel in verbatim, the audio communications of the aerial weapons team crew". She said that she was "aghast" at Finkel's portrayal of the incident. "Reading his account," she explained, "one would believe the engagement was somehow justified as 'payback' for an earlier attack that led to the death of a soldier."<ref name="BM001"/>

== Coverage from 2010 == === Leaked video footage === The footage was released by the nonprofit media organization WikiLeaks during an April 5 press conference at the US National Press Club, and subsequently on a designated website titled ''Collateral Murder''. WikiLeaks stated that the footage shows the "murder of Iraqi civilians and two Reuters journalists".<ref name="airstrike-aljazeera"/><ref name="airstrike-bbc"/> WikiLeaks identified the leak's source as "military whistleblowers".<ref name="Collateral Murder"/> Speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, a U.S. Defense official confirmed the authenticity of the leaked audio and video.<ref name="Reuters: leaked video"/> The military reported that it could not find its copy of the video.<ref name="militarycopy-aljazeera"/>

WikiLeaks released a 39-minute version, which shows all three incidents, and a 17-minute version, which shows only the first two incidents. Highlighted in the 17-minute version of the video are Noor-Eldeen with a camera and Chmagh talking on his mobile phone.<ref name="mcgreal"/> Both videos depict the attack on the van, van driver, and two other men, and the aftermath when the two seriously injured children were evacuated by U.S. ground forces who arrived on the scene.<ref name="Collateral Murder"/> The longer video shows the third attack, in which Hellfire missiles were fired into a building.<ref name="NewYorker-Useofforce"/>

==== Choice of title for the video ==== In an Al Jazeera English interview on April 19, 2010, WikiLeaks' Julian Assange explained why WikiLeaks titled the video ''Collateral Murder'':

{{blockquote|And you can see that they also deliberately target Saaed, a wounded man there on the ground, despite their earlier belief that they didn't have the rules of engagement—that the rules of engagement did not permit them to kill Saeed when he was wounded. When he is rescued, suddenly that belief changed. You can see in this particular image he is lying on the ground and the people in the van have been separated, but they still deliberately target him. This is why we called it ''Collateral Murder''. In the first example maybe it's collateral exaggeration or incompetence when they strafe the initial gathering, this is recklessness bordering on murder, but you couldn't say for sure that was murder. But this particular event—this is clearly murder.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/general/2010/04/20104159123873370.html|title=Collateral Murder? (The quote begins at 12:22 in video, and the shot that killed Saaed is at 12:25)|author=Al Jazeera English|date=April 19, 2010|publisher=Al Jazeera English Channel, YouTube|access-date=August 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111224004611/http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/general/2010/04/20104159123873370.html|archive-date=December 24, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>}}

Stephen Colbert, in an interview with Assange in April 2010, asked him about the title: "You have edited this tape, and you have given it a title called 'Collateral Murder'. That's not leaking, that's a pure editorial." Assange responded:<ref name=blitz/><ref name=Colbert10>{{Cite episode |title=Julian Assange |series=The Colbert Report |series-link=The Colbert Report |network=Comedy Central |date=April 12, 2010 |season=6 |number=49}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Stephen Colbert Interviews WikiLeaks Founder |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-colbert-interviews-wikileaks-founder |access-date=14 January 2021 |work=The Daily Beast |date=13 April 2010 |language=en}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|The promise we make to our sources is that not only will we defend them through every means that we have available – technologically, legally and politically – but we will try and get the maximum possible political impact for the material that they give to us.}}

Colbert asked "So 'Collateral Murder' is to get political impact?" Assange responded:

{{Blockquote|Yes, absolutely... Our promise to the public is that we will release the full source material. So if people have a different opinion, the full material is there for them to analyse and assess.}}

==== Reactions to the video footage ==== On 19 April 2010, Ethan McCord, who appears on the ground in the video, and Josh Steiber, a member of the same company who was not present on the day, wrote an open Letter of Reconciliation & Responsibility to the Iraqi People apologising for the events in the video. They wrote that:<ref>{{cite news |title=US veterans write apology letter to Iraqis following WikiLeaks video |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2010/04/100423_wikileaks_letter_hs.shtml|location=London|access-date=5 November 2020 |work=BBC World Service |publisher=BBC |date=23 April 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Campbell |first1=Matthew |title=We killed your father – I'm heartbroken |url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/we-killed-your-father-im-heartbroken-kbfqkzv7p7j |access-date=2 November 2020|location=London |work=The Times |date=25 April 2010 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="cp070920">{{cite web |last1=Wypijewski |first1=Joann |title=Collateral Murder |url=https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/09/07/collateral-murder-post-script/ |website=CounterPunch.org |access-date=12 September 2020 |date=7 September 2020}}</ref><ref name="ac060420">{{cite web |last1=Vlahos |first1=Kelley Beaucar |title='Collateral Murder' 10 Years Later: Who Among You Forgets? |url=https://www.theamericanconservative.com/state-of-the-union/collateral-murder-10-years-later-who-among-you-forgets/ |website=The American Conservative |access-date=12 September 2020 |date=6 April 2020}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|What was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering we have created. From our own experiences, and the experiences of other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region.}}

Ahlam Abdelhussein Tuman, the widow of the man who had been driving the van, and the mother of the children McCord had carried out, responded to the open letter in 2010:<ref name="WidowTimes10">{{cite news |date=26 April 2010 |title=Widow of Iraqi killed by US troops in video 'accepts apology' after letter |url=https://www.thetimes.com/best-law-firms/profile-legal/article/widow-of-iraqi-killed-by-us-troops-in-video-accepts-apology-after-letter-r7jqlmr9p07 |url-access=subscription |access-date=2 November 2020 |work=The Times |location=London |language=en}}</ref> {{blockquote|I can accept their apology, because they saved my children, and if it were not for them, maybe my two little children would be dead. I would like the American people and the whole world to understand what happened here in Iraq. We lost our country and our lives were destroyed.}}

Bill Keller of ''The New York Times'' wrote, "But in its zeal to make the video a work of antiwar propaganda, WikiLeaks also released a version that didn't call attention to an Iraqi who was toting a rocket-propelled grenade and packaged the manipulated version under the tendentious rubric ''Collateral Murder''."<ref name="totalfatalities"/> ''The New York Times'' wrote that "Critics contend that the shorter video was misleading because it did not make clear that the attacks took place amid clashes in the neighborhood and that one of the men was carrying a rocket-propelled grenade."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Noam |last2=Stelter |first2=Brian |name-list-style=and |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Airstrike Video Brings Attention to WikiLeaks Site |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/world/07wikileaks.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102010043/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/world/07wikileaks.html |archive-date=January 2, 2017 |access-date=February 17, 2017 |work=The New York Times |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Captain Jack Hanzlik, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command stated that the airstrike video "gives you a limited perspective, [it] only tells you a portion of the activity that was happening that day. Just from watching that video, people cannot understand the complex battles that occurred. You are seeing only a very narrow picture of the events". Hanzlik said images gathered during a military investigation of the incident show multiple weapons around the dead bodies in the courtyard, including at least three RPGs. "Our forces were engaged in combat all that day with individuals that fit the description of the men in that video. Their age, their weapons, and the fact that they were within the distance of the forces that had been engaged made it apparent these guys were potentially a threat."<ref name="fishel"/><ref name="nydaily20100407"/> He said that WikiLeaks "does not point out that at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. He is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while standing next to the man holding the RPG". The WikiLeaks edited video did not add arrows pointing to these men, or label them, as it did with the men carrying cameras. WikiLeaks stated that "some of the men appear to have been armed [although] the behavior of nearly everyone was relaxed" in the introductory text of the shorter video.<ref name="PolitiFact"/>

In an interview with Fox News Assange said that "it's likely some of the individuals seen in the video were carrying weapons" and "based upon visual evidence I suspect there probably were AKs and an RPG, but I'm not sure that means anything. ... Nearly every Iraqi household has a rifle or an AK. Those guys could have just been protecting their area". Fox News later stated that "although it could be argued AK-47 rifles are common household items, RPGs are not". A draft version of the video WikiLeaks produced made reference to the AK-47s and RPGs, but WikiLeaks said that ultimately they became unsure about the RPG, believing the long object could have been a camera tripod, so they decided not to point it out in the released version.<ref name="fishel"/> Assange also said "it's ludicrous to allege that we have taken anything out of context in this video".<ref name="fishel"/>{{better source needed|date=July 2024}}

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized WikiLeaks for releasing the video without providing any context. "These people can put out anything they want, and they're never held accountable for it. There's no before and there's no after". Gates said that the video provides the public with a view of warfare "as seen through a soda straw".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Julian E. |title=Gates says video of U.S. helicopter attack in Iraq out of context |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-apr-14-la-fg-gates-video14-2010apr14-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 14, 2010}}</ref> Gates stated: "They're in a combat situation. The video doesn't show the broader picture of the firing that was going on at American troops. It's obviously a hard thing to see. It's painful to see, especially when you learn after the fact what was going on. But you—you talked about the fog of war. These people were operating in split second situations.".<ref name="politifact.com"/><ref name="Reuters:Gates"/>

''The New Yorker'' praised its release, calling it "a striking artifact—an unmediated representation of the ambiguities and cruelties of modern warfare".<ref name="NewYorker-Nosecrets"/>

Daniel Ellsberg, a former United States military analyst who was known for having leaked the Pentagon Papers to the media, said of the airstrike:

{{blockquote|It would be interesting to have someone speculate or tell us exactly what context would lead to justifying the killing that we see on the screen. As the killing goes on, you obviously would see the killing of men who are lying on the ground in an operation where ground troops are approaching and perfectly capable of taking those people captive, but meanwhile you're murdering before the troops arrive. That's a violation of the laws of war and of course what the mainstream media have omitted from their stories is this context.<ref name=truthordare/>}}

=== Subsequent mainstream media coverage === Publicity of the incident ballooned following the release of the footage. The event was covered by Al Jazeera English and Reuters,<ref name="Reuters: leaked video"/> and later by ''The Washington Post'',<ref name="airstrike-washington-post"/> ''The New York Times'',<ref name="NYT20100505_Bumiller"/> ''The Christian Science Monitor'',<ref name="Murphy-CS-20100405"/> the BBC,<ref name="airstrike-bbc"/> and CNN.<ref name="cnndeaths"/>

Assange stated that some of the press had not reported on the third airstrike, in which three Hellfire missiles were fired onto an apartment complex, which only appears in the longer unedited version of the two videos.<ref name="Goodman"/>

In an interview on NPR on April 6, the day after the ''Collateral Murder'' video release, David Finkel said that the Reuters reporters were not embedded with anyone, but working independently. He gave his view of the context of the killings:

{{blockquote|the Reuters guys walked into the hottest spot of a very hot morning. There had been running gun battles. There had been a lot of RPG, grenade fire and so on, and they were doing what journalists do. They heard about something, they came to it and they just wanted—from everything I've learned since, they were just there to get that side of the story.<ref name="NPR20100406-DavidFinkel"/>}}

Finkel had reported the day in his book ''The Good Soldiers'',<ref name="DavidFinkel20100406"/> including conversations which closely matched the subsequently leaked video footage. On the same day as the NPR interview, Finkel was asked how he had seen the unedited video and whether WikiLeaks had shown it to him. He responded, "I hadn't heard of WikiLeaks before yesterday. I based the account in my book on multiple sources, all unclassified".<ref name="finkel20100406"> {{cite news |last=Finkel |first=David |author-link=David Finkel |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Video shows death of 2 Reuters employees in Baghdad attack |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/04/06/DI2010040600750.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009105427/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2010/04/06/DI2010040600750.html |archive-date=October 9, 2010 |access-date=July 7, 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post |department=Live Q&As |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

Assange said that Finkel had seen the video and that at least one individual at the offices of ''The Washington Post'' had a copy of the video for at least a year, prior to its release by WikiLeaks.<ref name="truthordare"> {{cite web |date=June 22, 2010 |title=United States – Truth or Dare |url=http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2010/s3040234.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012014502/http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2010/s3040234.htm |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |access-date=October 11, 2013 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |df=mdy-all}}, transcript of {{Cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCmjmDXp7TI |title=WikiLeaks – Iceland |date=July 5, 2010 |publisher=Journeyman Pictures |time=0:17:00 |access-date=July 6, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100810063329/http://www.youtube.com//watch?v=kCmjmDXp7TI |archive-date=August 10, 2010 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

''The Washington Post'' has denied having any copy of the unedited video prior to WikiLeaks release of their edited version, and Finkel (who was on book leave from ''The Washington Post'' at the time) said that he has never made any statement about his sources for the story, except that it was "sourced ... from unclassified information and my presence in the area that day".<ref name=thekicker20100607> {{cite web | last = Hendler | first = Clint | title = WaPo denies allegation it sat on WikiLeaks video | work = The Kicker (blog) | publisher = Columbia Journalism Review | date = June 7, 2010 | url = https://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/wapo_denies_allegation_it_sat.php | access-date = July 8, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100707203652/https://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/wapo_denies_allegation_it_sat.php | archive-date = July 7, 2010 | url-status = live | df = mdy-all }} </ref>

==== Interviews with Ethan McCord ==== Ethan McCord, the soldier seen in the video carrying the injured boy, recalled in an interview on ''The Marc Steiner Show'' that on arrival at the scene, "The first thing I did was run up to the van". After attending to the girl's wounds and handing her to a medic, McCord was ordered to take position on the roof but he returned to the van to find the boy moving his hand. "I grabbed him and ran to the Bradley myself". McCord states he was yelled at for not "pulling security". "The first thing I thought of ... was my children at home". He later sought help for psychological trauma, but was ridiculed by his NCO and told that if he were to go to the mental health officer, "there would be repercussions".<ref name="MarcSteiner20100313-2">{{cite web |title=Two members of the company in the WikiLeaks video speak out |url=http://www.steinershow.org/radio/the-marc-steiner-show/april-13-2010-segment-2 |publisher=The Marc Steiner Show |date=April 13, 2010 |access-date=April 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728055547/http://www.steinershow.org/radio/the-marc-steiner-show/april-13-2010-segment-2 |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

McCord discussed his experience in the battle in an interview with the ''World Socialist Web Site'' on April 28, 2010, stating, "What happened then was not an isolated incident. Stuff like that happens on a daily basis in Iraq."<ref name=wsws1>{{cite web |url=http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/emcc-a28.shtml |title=US soldier in WikiLeaks massacre video: 'I relive this every day' |date=April 28, 2010 |work=World Socialist Web Site |publisher=The International Committee of the Fourth International |access-date=June 9, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528142335/http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/apr2010/emcc-a28.shtml |archive-date=May 28, 2010 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref> McCord also recalled being ordered to "kill every motherfucker on the street" in the event of an attack on their convoy. Describing doubts over his initial enthusiasm in Iraq, McCord said that "I didn't understand why people were throwing rocks at us, why I was being shot at and why we're being blown up, when I have it in my head that I was here to help these people. ... The first real serious doubt, where I could no longer justify to myself being in Iraq or serving in the Army, was on that day in July 2007."<ref name=wsws1/> In this interview, McCord reports that repercussions for seeking mental health help could include being labeled as a "malingerer", a crime under U.S. military law.<ref name=wsws1/>

McCord requested mental health assistance following his experiences on July 12, but was told by his superior officers to "get the sand out of [his] vagina" and to "suck it up and be a soldier".<ref name="mcCord">{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Tony |author-link=Tony Jones (news journalist) |date=April 29, 2010 |title=Former US soldier speaks (interview transcript) |url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2886439.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629014514/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2886439.htm |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |access-date=March 8, 2011 |newspaper=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

When interviewed by ''Wired'', McCord stated that he supported WikiLeaks in releasing the video, with some qualifications: "When it was first released I don't think it was done in the best manner that it could have been. They were stating that these people had no weapons whatsoever, that they were just carrying cameras. In the video, you can clearly see that they did have weapons ... to the trained eye." McCord added, "I don't say that Wikileaks did a bad thing, because they didn't. ... I think it is good that they're putting this stuff out there. I don't think that people really want to see this, though, because this is war. ... It's very disturbing."<ref name="WiredOnMcCord2010">{{cite news |last=Zetter |first=Kim |author-link=Kim Zetter |date=April 20, 2010 |title=U.S. Soldier on 2007 Apache Attack: What I Saw |url=https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/2007-iraq-apache-attack-as-seen-from-the-ground/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110216211051/http://www.wired.com//dangerroom//2010//04//2007-iraq-apache-attack-as-seen-from-the-ground// |archive-date=February 16, 2011 |access-date=February 17, 2011 |publisher=Wired |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

James Spione made a short documentary film about the airstrikes called ''Incident in New Baghdad'', featuring a first-person account from Ethan McCord. It was nominated as a Documentary Short Subject for the 84th Academy Awards.<ref>{{cite web|title=8 Doc Shorts on Oscars 2011 Shortlist|url=http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2011/20111013a.html|publisher=The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|access-date=October 14, 2011|location=Beverly Hills, California|date=October 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016005532/http://www.oscars.org/press/pressreleases/2011/20111013a.html|archive-date=October 16, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

== Arrest, convictions and sentencing of Manning == {{Main article|Chelsea Manning|United States v. Manning}}

[[File:Bradley Manning US Army.jpg|thumb|Chelsea Manning (then known as Bradley Manning) in 2012]]

In May 2010, a 22-year-old American Army intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning (then known as Bradley Manning), was arrested after telling hacker Adrian Lamo she had leaked the airstrike video, along with a video of the Granai massacre and around 260,000 diplomatic cables, to WikiLeaks.<ref name=BBCManning>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10254072|title=US intelligence analyst arrested over security leaks|date=June 7, 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=June 7, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607184336/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/asia_pacific/10254072.stm|archive-date=June 7, 2010|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=wired/> The Internet chats between Manning and Lamo were revealed to the public by ''Wired''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/07/manning-lamo-logs/ |title=Manning-Lamo Chat Logs Revealed |last=Hansen |first=Evan |date=July 13, 2011 |magazine=Wired |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319201156/http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/07/manning-lamo-logs/ |archive-date=March 19, 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=March 21, 2012 }}</ref>

WikiLeaks said they were unable to confirm whether or not Manning was the source of the video, stating "we never collect personal information on our sources", but saying that "if [Manning is the] whistleblower then, without doubt, [s]he's a national hero"<ref name="NYDNBM">{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2010/06/07/2010-06-7_spc_bradley_manning_allegedly_arrested_for_leaking_collateral_murder_helicopter_.html|title=Report: Soldier arrested for allegedly leaking 'Collateral Murder' helicopter video to WikiLeaks|last=Sheridan|first=Michael|newspaper=New York Daily News|date=June 7, 2010|access-date=June 7, 2010}}{{Dead link|date=July 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> and "we have taken steps to arrange for [her] protection and legal defence".<ref name=BBCManning/>

On February 28, 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of 22 specified charges.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21610811 "Bradley Manning pleads guilty to some Wikileaks charges"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181013003640/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21610811 |date=October 13, 2018 }}, BBC News, February 28, 2013.</ref> Her trial on the remaining charges began on June 3, 2013.<ref name="TateJune32013">Julie Tate and Ellen Nakashima, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/bradley-manning-court-martial-opens/2013/06/03/9c65ea48-cc51-11e2-8f6b-67f40e176f03_story.html "Bradley Manning court-martial opens"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130630214933/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/bradley-manning-court-martial-opens/2013/06/03/9c65ea48-cc51-11e2-8f6b-67f40e176f03_story.html|date=June 30, 2013}}, ''The Washington Post'', June 3, 2013.</ref> On July 30, Manning was acquitted of the most serious charge, that of aiding the enemy, for giving secrets to WikiLeaks. In addition to five<ref>{{cite news |last=Sledge |first=Matt |date=July 30, 2013 |title=Bradley Manning Found Guilty of 19 Counts, Not Guilty of Aiding The Enemy |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/bradley-manning-guilty_n_3677096.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730231338/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/30/bradley-manning-guilty_n_3677096.html |archive-date=July 30, 2013 |access-date=July 30, 2013 |publisher=huffingtonpost.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="atlanticverdict">{{cite web |last=Bennett |first=Dashiell |date=July 30, 2013 |title=Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy |url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/07/bradley-manning-verdict/67780/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012030346/http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/07/bradley-manning-verdict/67780/ |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |access-date=October 11, 2013 |publisher=theatlanticwire.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref> or six<ref name="nydailynews">{{cite news|title=Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy, convicted of six counts of espionage|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bradley-manning-acquitted-aiding-enemy-article-1.1412787|publisher=NY Daily News|access-date=July 30, 2013|location=New York|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801174101/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/bradley-manning-acquitted-aiding-enemy-article-1.1412787|archive-date=August 1, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news|title=Manning Acquitted of Aiding the Enemy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/us/bradley-manning-verdict.html|work=New York Times|access-date=July 30, 2013|first=Charlie|last=Savage|date=July 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730231000/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/us/bradley-manning-verdict.html|archive-date=July 30, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="cbsnews">{{cite news|title=Bradley Manning acquitted of aiding the enemy for giving secrets to WikiLeaks|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bradley-manning-acquitted-of-aiding-the-enemy-for-giving-secrets-to-wikileaks/|work=CBS News|access-date=July 30, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730172704/http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57596093/bradley-manning-acquitted-of-aiding-the-enemy-for-giving-secrets-to-wikileaks/|archive-date=July 30, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> espionage counts, she was also found guilty of five theft specifications, two computer fraud specifications and multiple military infractions.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23506213 |title=BBC News – Bradley Manning guilty of espionage in Wikileaks case |publisher=bbc.co.uk |date=July 30, 2013 |access-date=June 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022052029/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23506213 |archive-date=October 22, 2018 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

On August 21, 2013, Manning was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment, reduction in rank from private first class to private, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dishneau|first=David|title=Manning Gets 35 years for wikileaks disclosures|url=http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/manning-gets-35-years-for-wikileaks-disclosures|work=MSN.com|agency=Associated Press|access-date=August 21, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823033702/http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/manning-gets-35-years-for-wikileaks-disclosures|archive-date=August 23, 2013|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name=Sledge21Aug2013>Sledge, Matt. [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/bradley-manning-sentenced_n_3787492.html "Bradley Manning Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison For WikiLeaks Disclosures"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004045152/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/bradley-manning-sentenced_n_3787492.html |date=October 4, 2013 }}, ''Huffington Post'', August 21, 2013.</ref><ref name="GuardianLive35y">{{cite news |last=McCarthy |first=Tom |date=August 21, 2013 |title=Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in prison – live updates |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/21/bradley-manning-sentencing-wikileaks-live |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821131345/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/21/bradley-manning-sentencing-wikileaks-live |archive-date=August 21, 2013 |access-date=August 21, 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="WaPo21Aug2013">{{cite news |last=Tate |first=Julie |date=August 21, 2013 |title=Judge sentences Bradley Manning to 35 years |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213181526/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-to-sentence-bradley-manning-today/2013/08/20/85bee184-09d0-11e3-b87c-476db8ac34cd_story.html |archive-date=December 13, 2016 |access-date=August 21, 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Pursuant to a commutation by President Obama, Chelsea Manning was released on May 17, 2017.<ref name=Cbc2017-01-17> {{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/obama-commutes-chelsea-manning-s-prison-sentence-1.3939966| title=Obama commutes Chelsea Manning's prison sentence| work=CBC News| access-date=January 17, 2017| date=January 17, 2017| quote=Manning is more than six years into a 35-year sentence for leaking classified government and military documents to the website WikiLeaks. Her sentence is now set to expire May 17.| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170117230538/http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/obama-commutes-chelsea-manning-s-prison-sentence-1.3939966| archive-date=January 17, 2017| url-status=live| df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="guardian-18jan2017">{{cite news |last1=Siddiqui |first1=Sabrina |last2=Pilkington |first2=Ed |name-list-style=and |date=January 18, 2017 |title=Obama's final press conference: Chelsea Manning commutation is 'appropriate' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/18/barack-obama-final-press-conference-chelsea-manning |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118212212/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jan/18/barack-obama-final-press-conference-chelsea-manning |archive-date=January 18, 2017 |access-date=January 18, 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

== Legality of the attacks == In a June 7, 2010, article in ''The New Yorker'', Raffi Khatchadourian addressed several issues involved in determining the legality of the attacks, including "proportionality", "positive identification" ("reasonable certainty" that the target has hostile intent), and "the treatment of casualties during an ongoing military operation".<ref name="NewYorker-Rules"/>

Mark Taylor, an international law expert and a director at the Fafo Institute for International Studies in Norway, told Al Jazeera "there's a case to be made that a war crime may have been committed." He added, "I think what this video shows is really a case that challenges whether the laws of war are strict enough."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2010/04/20104782857326667.html|title=Iraq outrage over US killing video|date=April 7, 2010|website=aljazeera.com|publisher=Al Jazeera|access-date=March 3, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304172618/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2010/04/20104782857326667.html|archive-date=March 4, 2018|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> An article at ''Gawker'' stated that Reuters reporter Luke Baker had written an article claiming that the airstrikes may have been war crimes, but Reuters refused to run the story. Reuters responded, "It is absolutely untrue that this story was spiked. It was sent back for more reporting in an effort to incorporate a wider range of experts. The story was then overtaken by a more updated one out of Washington that incorporated reporting from the original piece."<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 8, 2010 |title=Exclusive: Reuters Chief Spikes Story on Killing of His Own Staffers In Baghdad |url=http://gawker.com/5512623/reuters-chief-shoots-down-story-on-killing-of-his-own-staffers-in-baghdad |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411213043/http://gawker.com/5512623/reuters-chief-shoots-down-story-on-killing-of-his-own-staffers-in-baghdad |archive-date=April 11, 2010 |access-date=April 10, 2010 |publisher=Gawker}}</ref>

== Military legal review == On April 5, 2010, the same day as the release of the video footage by WikiLeaks, the United States Central Command, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, released a collection of documents including two investigative reports.<ref name="NYT20100505_Bumiller"/><ref name="supporting-documents"/> Pentagon officials told the Reuters news agency that U.S. military lawyers were reviewing the video and could reopen an investigation into the incident,<ref name="militarycopy-aljazeera"/> but a spokesperson later said that there were no plans to reopen the investigation.<ref name="airstrikeinvestigation-bbc"/>

The report states that at least two members of the group which were first fired on were armed, that two RPGs and one AKM or AK-47 rifle could be seen in the helicopter video, as well as that these weapons were picked up by the follow-up U.S. ground troops. The report concludes that the Reuters employees were in the company of armed insurgents. It also states that "The cameras could easily be mistaken for slung AK-47 or AKM rifles, especially since neither cameraman is wearing anything that identifies him as media or press".<ref name="cohen-cnn"/> The report recommends encouraging journalists in Iraq to wear special vests to identify themselves, as well as to keep the U.S. military updated about their whereabouts. It claimed reporters' "furtive attempts to photograph the Coalition Ground Forces made them appear as hostile combatants".<ref name="wired1"/><ref name="Wired20100704Hodge">{{cite news |last=Hodge |first=Nathan |date=July 4, 2010 |title=U.S. Military Releases Redacted Records on 2007 Apache Attack, Questions Linger |url=https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/military-releases-report-on-2007-apache-attack-and-questions-linger/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629021316/http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/04/military-releases-report-on-2007-apache-attack-and-questions-linger/ |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |access-date=February 12, 2011 |publisher=Wired |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

=== Incident according to the report === <gallery widths=200 heights=160> File:ArmyReport ExhibitA.png| "Cameramen and armed insurgents" (all captions from the Army report) File:ArmyReport ExhibitB.png| "Insurgents with RPG and AKM weapons" File:ArmyReport ExhibitC.png| "Cameraman peering around corner of wall" File:ArmyReport ExhibitO.png| "Pictures taken by ground forces after reaching the site" </gallery>

==== Attack on personnel and a van per U.S. Army report account ==== According to the U.S. Army investigation report released by the United States Central Command, the engagement started at 10:20 Iraqi local time and ended at 10:41. The report claims that a unit from Bravo Company 2–16 was within 100 meters of the individuals that were fired upon with 30 mm AH-64 Apache cannons. The company was charged with clearing their sector of any small armed forces and had been under fire from small arms and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). The company was supported by two Apache helicopters from the 1st Cavalry Division's Aviation Brigade, call signs "Crazyhorse 1/8" and "Crazyhorse 1/9". Two men were identified by Crazyhorse 1/8 as carrying an RPG launcher and an AKM or AK-47.<ref name="legal-review"/>

When the cameraman on the ground aimed his camera in the direction of Bravo Company 2–16, a pilot remarked "He's getting ready to fire". An Apache maneuvered around a building to get a clear field of fire and shot all nine men, killing eight. A passing van then stopped and attempted to load a wounded man. After getting permission to fire, the Apache crew fired on the van. When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they reported finding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. They also found two Canon EOS digital cameras with telephoto lenses. Two children were found in the van, a four-year-old girl with gunshot wounds and embedded windscreen glass wounds and an eight-year-old boy with multiple wounds, including brain damage arising from shrapnel damage to his right temporal lobe. Both children were said to have been evacuated to the 28th Combat Support Hospital via Forward Operating Base Loyalty, then transferred to an Iraqi medical facility the next day.<ref name="legal-review"/> This account of first bringing the wounded children to the Combat Support Hospital appears to be contradicted by orders by radio that form part of the video record, which forbids it and orders that the children be handed over to local police.<ref name="rushtranscript">{{cite news |last=Goodman |first=Amy |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Rush transcript of video |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/6/massacre_caught_on_tape_us_military |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630/http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/6/massacre_caught_on_tape_us_military |archive-date=June 30, 2012 |access-date=March 11, 2011 |newspaper=democracynow.org |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

While the Air Weapons Team was providing support at the first engagement area they were informed by ground troops that they were receiving small arms fire from the south/southwest. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/8 then located multiple individuals with weapons about 400 meters east of coalition forces and was given clearance to engage the targets. However, the co-pilot/gunner then observed a child and some other non-combatants in the vicinity of the individuals and decided to hold off on the engagement until the non-combatants were clear. After the non-combatants were clear Crazyhorse 1/8 engaged the targets. The crew for Crazyhorse 1/9 could not engage due to target obfuscation from buildings and dust.<ref name="legal-review"/>

The team observed several individuals from this group, some possibly wounded, run into a large multistory building. The co-pilot/gunner for Crazyhorse 1/9 spotted three individuals near this building get into a red SUV and drive away to the west. For about 5 to 10 minutes the team diverted its attention to this vehicle. However, according to the co-pilot for Crazyhorse 1/8 they failed to positively identify the occupants as combatants and returned to the previous engagement area.<ref name="legal-review"/>

==== Attack on building per U.S. Army report account ==== The events between the attack on the van and the attack on the building (approximately 30 minutes) were not captured on the leaked video footage.<ref>[http://www.collateralmurder.com/en/timeline.html CollateralMurder's Timeline of attack] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100820054744/http://www.collateralmurder.com/en/timeline.html |date=August 20, 2010 }}: relevantly, '06:49:09 Video cuts; 07:20:42 [video resumes]'</ref> The military did not include the attack on the building in their report.<ref name=NewYorker-Useofforce/>

==== Julian Assange's comments regarding U.S. Army report ==== Assange responded to the investigation report released by the Army in an interview with ''Democracy Now!'', stating that "the tone and language is all about trying to find an excuse for the activity. ... It's very clear that this is the approach, to try and find any mechanism to excuse the behavior, and that is what ended up happening."<ref name="Goodman"/>

== Awards == In May 2011, the Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival awarded the investigative film ''Collateral murder, Hellfire'', done by Kristinn Hrafnsson, WikiLeaks spokesperson, and Ingi Ingason, with the award for International Journalism and Human Rights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wikileaks-press.org/ingi-inganson-ragnar-and-kristinn-hrafnsson-awarded-first-barcelona-human-rights-film-festival-award/ |title=Ingi Ingason Ragnar and Kristinn Hrafnsson awarded International Journalism and Human Rights Award at Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival |publisher=Wikileaks-press.org |date=July 7, 2011 |access-date=August 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140402180035/http://wikileaks-press.org/ingi-inganson-ragnar-and-kristinn-hrafnsson-awarded-first-barcelona-human-rights-film-festival-award/ |archive-date=April 2, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In June 2011, the Federation of German Scientists (VDW) awarded the "Whistleblower Award" to the person who made the video ''Collateral Murder'' public via WikiLeaks.<ref name="hinterground20110606"/><ref name="heise20100531"/>

== Media representations == * ''The War You Don't See'', a 2010 feature-length documentary film directed and presented by Australian journalist John Pilger, opens with the WikiLeaks footage of the attack. * British musician M.I.A. used the WikiLeaks footage of the attack in visualisers for her 2010 mixtape ''Vicki Leekx'', which were posted to her YouTube account in February 2011. * ''Incident in New Baghdad'', a 2011 Oscar-nominated short documentary film about the Baghdad airstrike. * ''We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks'', a 2013 feature-length documentary film directed by Alex Gibney, includes the WikiLeaks footage of the attack. * Documentary: [http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/08/2012823616123717.html ''Permission to Engage''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112042439/http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/08/2012823616123717.html |date=January 12, 2018 }}: "Collateral Murder" through the eyes of victims' families.<ref>[http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/08/2012823616123717.html Permission to Engage – Witness] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825183354/http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2012/08/2012823616123717.html |date=August 25, 2012 }}. Al Jazeera English.</ref> * ''Interview with Ethan McCord''<ref>[https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/ Collateral Murder: U.S. Soldier Ethan McCord's Eyewitness Story] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190313050143/https://collateralmurder.wikileaks.org/ |date=March 13, 2019 }}, United National Peace Conference Media Project</ref> *Representation (including audio) by Banksy, October 9, 2013. Part of Banksy's ''Better Out Than In'' month-long artwork series on the streets of New York City.<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011103250/http://www.banksy.co.uk/2013/10/09/lower-east-side|archive-date=2013-10-11|date=October 9, 2013|url=http://www.banksy.co.uk/2013/10/09/lower-east-side|title=Better Out Than In|website=Banksy.co.uk}}</ref> * ''The Source'', a 2014 oratorio by Ted Hearne, included footage of the airstrike, as well as the faces of people reacting to it.<ref name="nytimes-24oct2014">{{cite news |last=Woolfe |first=Zachary |author-link=Zachary Woolfe |date=October 24, 2014 |title=Shadowed, Clamoring, Blurry. And With Reason. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/arts/the-source-an-oratorio-about-chelsea-mannings-leaks.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114093131/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/arts/the-source-an-oratorio-about-chelsea-mannings-leaks.html |archive-date=November 14, 2017 |access-date=February 25, 2017 |newspaper=The New York Times |df=mdy-all}}</ref> * ''Risk'', a 2016 documentary on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, included the footage in its discussion * ''Line in the Sand'', a 2023 book by Reuters bureau chief Dean Yates about his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder after his staff were killed in the attack.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781761264429/ |title= Line in the Sand by Dean Yates |date=27 June 2023 |website=Pan Macmillan Australia |access-date=11 September 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hawkins |first=Belinda |date=11 September 2023 |title=Reporter Dean Yates was guilt-ridden his staff died on his watch. Then WikiLeaks released the footage |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-11/reporter-dean-yates-ptsd-after-colleagues-killed-in-baghdad/102587292 |access-date=11 September 2023 |website=ABC News |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/15/all-lies-how-the-us-military-covered-up-gunning-down-two-journalists-in-iraq |title='All lies': how the US military covered up gunning down two journalists in Iraq |last=Daley |first=Paul |date=15 June 2020 |website=The Guardian |access-date=11 September 2023}}</ref>

== See also == * United States war crimes

== References == {{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs= <ref name="DavidFinkel20100406"> {{cite news |last=Finkel |first=David |author-link=David Finkel |date=April 6, 2010 |title=U.S. gunfire kills two Reuters employees in Baghdad |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040601368.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108074550/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040601368.html |archive-date=November 8, 2010 |access-date=April 6, 2010 |newspaper=The Washington Post |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="NPR20100406-DavidFinkel"> {{cite web |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Leaked Video Depicts Civilian Deaths In Iraq |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125630795 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180918125421/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125630795 |archive-date=September 18, 2018 |access-date=April 2, 2018 |publisher=NPR |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="legal-review"> {{cite report |url=http://www2.centcom.mil/sites/foia/rr/CENTCOM%20Regulation%20CCR%2025210/Death%20of%20Reuters%20Journalists/6--2nd%20Brigade%20Combat%20Team%2015-6%20Investigation.pdf |title=Investigation into Civilian Casualties Resulting from an Engagement on 12 July 2007 in the New Baghdad District of Baghdad, Iraq |author=United States Department of the Army |date=July 17, 2007 |publisher=United States Central Command |location=Washington DC, United States |access-date=April 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020142823/https://www2.centcom.mil/sites/foia/rr/CENTCOM%20Regulation%20CCR%2025210/Death%20of%20Reuters%20Journalists/6--2nd%20Brigade%20Combat%20Team%2015-6%20Investigation.pdf |archive-date=October 20, 2013}}</ref>

<ref name="cohen-seattle"> {{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Noam |last2=Stelter |first2=Brian |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Video expands notoriety of WikiLeaks site |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011540341_wikileaks07.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2011540341_wikileaks07.html |archive-date=June 30, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |newspaper=Seattle Times |df=mdy-all |quote=left 12 people dead, including two Reuters news-agency employees ... (The Pentagon defended the killings and said no disciplinary action was taken at the time of the incident. ... Reuters had tried for 2 ½ years through the Freedom of Information Act to obtain the Iraq video, to no avail. ... WikiLeaks .. used the label ''Collateral Murder''}} </ref>

<ref name="cohen-cnn"> {{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Tom |date=April 7, 2010 |title=Leaked video reveals chaos of Baghdad attack |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/06/iraq.journalists.killed/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410041443/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/06/iraq.journalists.killed/ |archive-date=April 10, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |publisher=CNN |df=mdy-all |quote=The two photojournalists were Saeed Chmagh and Namir Noor-Eldeen. ... Chmagh surviving the initial shooting, but apparently he died when the gunship opened fire on people attempting to get him to a van that arrived, apparently to collect the wounded.}} </ref>

<ref name="mcgreal"> {{cite news |last=McGreal |first=Chris |date=April 5, 2010 |title=WikiLeaks reveals video showing US air crew shooting down Iraqi civilians |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626230310/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/05/wikileaks-us-army-iraq-attack |archive-date=June 26, 2011 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |df=mdy-all |quote=Among the dead were a 22-year-old Reuters photographer, Namir Noor-Eldeen, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40.}} </ref>

<ref name="sengupta"> {{cite news |last=Sengupta |first=Kim |date=April 7, 2010 |title=The pictures that prove US helicopter gunships opened fire on Iraqi civilians |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-pictures-that-prove-us-helicopter-gunships-opened-fire-on-iraqi-civilians-1937595.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-pictures-that-prove-us-helicopter-gunships-opened-fire-on-iraqi-civilians-1937595.html |archive-date=August 4, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |df=mdy-all |quote=among those killed were 22-year-old Namir Noor-Eldeen, a photographer carrying a camera, and his driver, Saeed Chmagh, 40, carrying out a journalistic assignment. ... an investigation shortly after the incident concluded that US forces were unaware of the presence of the Reuters team and believed they were engaging armed insurgents.}} </ref>

<ref name="mcelroy"> {{cite news |last=McElroy |first=Damien |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Calls for inquiry into Apache attack on Iraqi civilians |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7560561/Calls-for-inquiry-into-Apache-attack-on-Iraqi-civilians.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409054200/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iraq/7560561/Calls-for-inquiry-into-Apache-attack-on-Iraqi-civilians.html |archive-date=April 9, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |df=mdy-all |quote=Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh, two cameramen for the Reuters news agency, were among 15 people killed in the attacks ... The Pentagon acknowledged the authenticity of the video but a spokesman insisted the video did not contradict the official finding that the helicopters' crew acted within the rules of engagement.}} </ref>

<ref name="Goodman"> {{cite web |last=Goodman |first=Amy |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Massacre Caught on Tape: US Military Confirms Authenticity of Their Own Chilling Video Showing Killing of Journalists |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/6/massacre_caught_on_tape_us_military |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630/http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/6/massacre_caught_on_tape_us_military |archive-date=June 30, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |work=Democracy Now |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="family-aljazeera"> {{cite web |date=May 26, 2010 |title=Video shows 'US attack' on Iraqis |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/04/20104782857326667.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408015900/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/04/20104782857326667.html |archive-date=April 8, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |publisher=Al Jazeera English |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="NewYorker-Rules"> {{cite magazine |last=Khatchadourian |first=Raffi |date=April 5, 2010 |title=The WikiLeaks Video and the Rules of Engagement |url=https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/04/the-wikileaks-video-and-the-rules-of-engagement.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722071646/https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/04/the-wikileaks-video-and-the-rules-of-engagement.html |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |access-date=August 23, 2025 |magazine=The New Yorker |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="NewYorker-Useofforce"> {{cite magazine |last=Khatchadourian |first=Raffi |date=April 7, 2010 |title=The Use of Force |url=https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/04/wikileaks-video-army.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411215617/http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/04/wikileaks-video-army.html |archive-date=April 11, 2010 |access-date=August 23, 2025 |magazine=The New Yorker |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="NewYorker-Nosecrets">{{cite magazine |last1=Khatchadourian |first1=Raffi |date=June 7, 2010 |title=No Secrets |url=http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/06/07/no-secrets |url-access=subscription |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722005319/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/06/07/100607fa_fact_khatchadourian?currentPage=all |archive-date=July 22, 2010 |access-date=August 23, 2025 |magazine=The New Yorker}}</ref>

<ref name="NYT20070713"> {{cite news |last1=Rubin |first1=Alissa J. |author-link1=Alissa J. Rubin |date=July 13, 2007 |title=2 Iraqi Journalists Killed as U.S. Forces Clash With Militias |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2007/07/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613193022/http://www.nytimes.com:80/2007/07/13/world/middleeast/13iraq.html |archive-date=June 13, 2012 |access-date=August 23, 2025 |work=The New York Times |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="Yates"> {{cite news |last=Yates |first=Dean |date=July 16, 2007 |title=Reuters seeks U.S. probe into killing of Iraqi staff |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1617459520070716?src=071607_1043_TOPSTORY_scores_killed_in_iraq&pageNumber=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1617459520070716?src=071607_1043_TOPSTORY_scores_killed_in_iraq&pageNumber=1 |archive-date=September 14, 2012 |access-date=April 5, 2010 |publisher=Reuters |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<!-- <ref name="smh">{{cite news |last1=Cohen |first1=Noam |last2=Stelter |first2=Brian |date=April 8, 2010 |title=WikiLeaks silent on how it broke encryption |url=https://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/wikileaks-silent-on-how-it-broke-encryption-20100408-ru8y.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200414080630/https://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/wikileaks-silent-on-how-it-broke-encryption-20100408-ru8y.html |archive-date=April 14, 2020 |access-date=April 8, 2010 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref>

<ref name="WikiLeaks-Twitter-Announcement"> {{cite web |title=Twitter / WikiLeaks: Have encrypted videos of U |url=https://x.com/wikileaks/status/7530875613 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419143712/http://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/7530875613 |archive-date=April 19, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |publisher=x.com |df=mdy-all}} </ref> -->

<ref name="airstrike-aljazeera"> {{cite web |date=April 5, 2010 |title=Video shows 'US attack' on Iraqis |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/04/201045123449200569.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/04/201045123449200569.html |archive-date=July 8, 2012 |access-date=April 6, 2010 |publisher=Al Jazeera English |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="collateral-aljazeera"> {{cite web |date=April 15, 2010 |title=Collateral Murder? |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2010/04/20104159123873370.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100422031314/http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/general/2010/04/20104159123873370.html |archive-date=April 22, 2010 |access-date=April 22, 2010 |publisher=Al Jazeera English |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="militarycopy-aljazeera"> {{cite web |date=April 8, 2010 |title=US military 'cannot find Iraq tape' |url=http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/04/20104814952153608.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100411212904/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/04/20104814952153608.html |archive-date=April 11, 2010 |access-date=April 22, 2010 |publisher=Al Jazeera English |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="airstrike-bbc"> {{cite news |date=April 5, 2010 |title=WikiLeaks posts video of 'US military killings' in Iraq |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8603938.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8603938.stm |archive-date=July 10, 2012 |access-date=April 6, 2010 |work=BBC News |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="airstrikeinvestigation-bbc"> {{cite news |date=April 8, 2010 |title=US 'reviewing' Iraq killing video posted on WikiLeaks |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8608972.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412035618/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8608972.stm |archive-date=April 12, 2010 |access-date=May 22, 2010 |work=BBC News |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="Collateral Murder">{{cite web |date=April 5, 2010 |title=Collateral Murder |url=http://www.collateralmurder.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409000837/http://collateralmurder.com/ |archive-date=April 9, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |publisher=WikiLeaks}}</ref>

<ref name="wired"> {{cite news |last1=Poulsen |first1=Kevin |author-link1=Kevin Poulsen |last2=Zetter |first2=Kim |author-link2=Kim Zetter |name-list-style=and |date=June 6, 2010 |title=U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in WikiLeaks Video Probe |url=https://www.wired.com/2010/06/leak/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027125007/http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/06/leak/ |archive-date=October 27, 2013 |access-date=August 29, 2025 |publisher=Wired |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="Reuters: leaked video"> {{Cite news |last=Alexander |first=David |date=April 5, 2010 |title=Leaked U.S. video shows deaths of Reuters' Iraqi staffers |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6344FW20100406 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120909/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6344FW20100406 |archive-date=September 9, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |publisher=Reuters |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="airstrike-washington-post"> {{cite news |date=April 5, 2010 |title=Leaked U.S. video shows deaths of Reuters' Iraqi staffers |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

<ref name="NYT20100505_Bumiller"> {{cite news |last=Bumiller |first=Elisabeth |author-link=Elisabeth Bumiller |date=April 5, 2010 |title=Video Shows U.S. Killing of Reuters Employees |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/middleeast/06baghdad.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100408031324/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/middleeast/06baghdad.html |archive-date=April 8, 2010 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |newspaper=The New York Times |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="Murphy-CS-20100405"> {{cite news |last=Murphy |first=Dan |date=April 5, 2010 |title=WikiLeaks releases video depicting US forces killing of two Reuters journalists in Iraq |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0405/Wikileaks-releases-video-depicting-US-forces-killing-of-two-Reuters-journalists-in-Iraq |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409064128/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0405/Wikileaks-releases-video-depicting-US-forces-killing-of-two-Reuters-journalists-in-Iraq |archive-date=April 9, 2010 |access-date=April 14, 2010 |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="cnndeaths"> {{cite news |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Video shows deaths of two Reuters journalists in Iraq in 2007 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/05/iraq.photographers.killed/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/04/05/iraq.photographers.killed/ |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |publisher=CNN |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="fishel"> {{cite news |last=Fishel |first=Justin |date=April 7, 2010 |title=Military Raises Questions About Credibility of Leaked Iraq Shooting Video |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/military-raises-questions-about-credibility-of-leaked-iraq-shooting-video/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/07/military-raises-questions-credibility-leaked-iraq-shooting-video/ |archive-date=July 31, 2012 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |work=Fox News |df=mdy-all |quote=at least one man was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle. He is seen swinging the weapon below his waist while standing next to the man holding the RPG.}} </ref>

<ref name="Australian"> {{cite news |last=Norington |first=Brad |date=April 7, 2010 |title=Military shooting of Reuters men online |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/military-shooting-of-reuters-men-online/story-e6frg6so-1225850653066 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427091120/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/military-shooting-of-reuters-men-online/story-e6frg6so-1225850653066 |archive-date=April 27, 2011 |access-date=June 24, 2010 |work=The Australian |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="Reuters:Gates"> {{cite news |last=Stewart |first=Phil |date=April 13, 2010 |title=Gates assails Internet group over attack video |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63C53M20100413 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416013259/http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63C53M20100413 |archive-date=April 16, 2010 |access-date=April 14, 2010 |publisher=Reuters |df=mdy-all}} </ref>

<ref name="supporting-documents"> {{cite web |date=April 5, 2010 |title=Records released to the public, under the FOIA, that are or will likely become the subject of subsequent requests. |url=http://www2.centcom.mil/sites/foia/rr/CENTCOM%20Regulation%20CCR%2025210/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2fsites%2ffoia%2frr%2fCENTCOM%20Regulation%20CCR%2025210%2fDeath%20of%20Reuters%20Journalists&FolderCTID=&View={41BA1AAF-785A-481A-A630-12470AFCD6FD} |publisher=United States Central Command}}{{Dead link|date=May 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} </ref>

<ref name="PolitiFact">{{cite web |last=Farley |first=Robert |date=April 14, 2010 |title=WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange tells Colbert permission to engage was given before the word RPG was ever used |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/apr/14/julian-assange/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-tells-colbert-per/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029235828/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/apr/14/julian-assange/wikileaks-founder-julian-assange-tells-colbert-per/ |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |access-date=April 16, 2010 |publisher=Politifact.com |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

<ref name="politifact.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/apr/12/robert-gates/gates-said-leaked-military-video-shooting-iraq-doe/ |title=Gates said leaked military video of shooting in Iraq doesn't show the broader picture of Americans being fired upon |publisher=PolitiFact |access-date=May 19, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221120540/http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/apr/12/robert-gates/gates-said-leaked-military-video-shooting-iraq-doe/ |archive-date=February 21, 2011 |url-status=live |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

<ref name="nydaily20100407">{{cite news | url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-04-07/news/27061093_1_grisly-video-army-helicopter-shooting | location=New York | work=Daily News | title=Elliptical vs. treadmill: Which will give you the better workout? | first=Michael | last=Sheridan | date=April 7, 2010 | access-date=April 9, 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307095638/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-04-07/news/27061093_1_grisly-video-army-helicopter-shooting | archive-date=March 7, 2011 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

<ref name="nytimes20100726">{{cite news |last=Schmitt |first=Eric |author-link=Eric P. Schmitt |date=July 25, 2010 |title=In Disclosing Secret Documents, WikiLeaks Seeks 'Transparency' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/26wiki.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210182456/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/26wiki.html?_r=1 |archive-date=December 10, 2010 |access-date=April 27, 2011 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

<ref name="hinterground20110606">{{cite news|title=Verleihung des Whistleblower-Preises 2011|trans-title=Whistleblower Award 2011|language=de|url=http://www.hintergrund.de/201106061576/politik/inland/verleihung-des-whistleblower-preises-2011.html|newspaper=Hintergrund|publisher=Verlag Selbrund|date=June 6, 2011|access-date=April 29, 2014|archive-date=October 23, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023061512/http://www.hintergrund.de/201106061576/politik/inland/verleihung-des-whistleblower-preises-2011.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="heise20100531">[http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Whistleblower-Preis-2011-geht-an-Kernforscher-1255724.html Whistleblower-Preis 2011 geht an Kernforscher] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609075440/http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Whistleblower-Preis-2011-geht-an-Kernforscher-1255724.html |date=June 9, 2011 }}. Heise.de (May 31, 2012).</ref>

}}

== External links == {{Wikisource|July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike transcript|has=a complete transcript of|nocat=yes}} {{Commons category|July 12, 2007 Baghdad airstrike}} {{Wikinews|US intelligence analyst arrested over Wikileaks video}} * [http://www.collateralmurder.com/ Collateral Murder] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409000837/http://collateralmurder.com/ |date=April 9, 2010 }} – WikiLeaks-owned alternate site, includes full footage of the video as originally released * [http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/5482410/Wikileaks_-_USA_Collateral_Murder_in_Iraq_%2839m_13s%29 USA Collateral Murder in Iraq (39m 13s)] <small>(616 MB)</small>, ''The Pirate Bay'' * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QEdAykXxoM WikiLeaks editor on Apache combat video: No excuse for US killing civilians] – April 2010. Russia Today via YouTube * [http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/12/families_of_victims_of_2007_us Families of Victims of 2007 US Helicopter Killing React to Leaked Video] – video report by ''Democracy Now!'' * [http://www.democracynow.org/2010/10/7/iraq_war_veteran_who_rescued_wounded Ethan McCord Describes Emotional Toll of Witnessing Killings] – video interview by ''Democracy Now!'' * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100407074004/http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/collateral-murder-baghdad-anything 'Collateral Murder' in Baghdad Anything But], a Rebuttal by Bill Roggio * [http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/41934.html "Julian Assange Is Not Your Friend"] from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * [https://wikileaks.org/wiki/Collateral_Murder,_5_Apr_2010 Videos] at the old WikiLeaks site. [https://archive.today/20130416064720/http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Collateral_Murder,_5_Apr_2010 Archived] on May 2, 2012. * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100804234651/http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Collateral_Murder,_5_Apr_2010 Archived] by the Internet Archive.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baghdad Airstrike, July 12, 2007}} Category:2000s crimes in Baghdad Category:2007 airstrikes Category:2007 building bombings Airstrike Category:2007 in international relations Category:2007 in military history Category:2007 murders in Iraq Category:2010 controversies in the United States Category:2010 in mass media Category:21st-century mass murders in Baghdad Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Attacks in Iraq in 2007 Category:Baghdad airstrikes Category:Building bombings in Baghdad Category:Civilian casualties in the Iraq War Category:Filmed killings in Asia Category:Helicopter attacks Category:United States war crimes in the Iraq War Category:Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) Category:Iraq–United States relations Category:July 2007 in Iraq Category:2007 mass murders Category:Photojournalism controversies Category:Reuters Category:United States Army in the Iraq War Category:United States military scandals Category:WikiLeaks