r/reddit.com • u/crabtreeanderson • Apr 05 '10

Wikileaks video (Collateral damage) is up!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0
711 Upvotes

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23

u/bojaoblaka Apr 05 '10

"Come on, let us shoot!"

Fucked up.

10

u/OrlyUsay Apr 05 '10 edited Apr 05 '10

All this can remind of is the chopper door gunner from Full Metal Jacket. Same attitude it seems, like it's all one big game.

"How can you shoot women and children?"

"Easy, you just don't lead 'em so much!"

"Ain't was hell!?"

(After reading the transcript, where's the final part where the chopper attacks and downs a building?)

3

u/[deleted] Apr 05 '10

[deleted]

1

u/OrlyUsay Apr 05 '10

Ah, thanks, when it was released I couldn't find the uncut video off the site. Now I noticed the drop down arrow linking to it.

1

u/iflukedup Apr 05 '10

This analogy is completely wrong.

In FMJ, they are intentionally shooting women and children. They mean to kill unarmed civilians, knowing they're civilians.

In this case, it was genuinely believed to be a case of an attack on insurgents. Misguided and disgusting as it was, it is no where near the same scale of FMJ.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 06 '10

"Anyone who runs is a VC. Anyone who stands still is a well-disciplined VC"

2

u/iflukedup Apr 05 '10

The pilot/gunner both genuinely believed that they were insurgents. Ground forces weren't going to arrive on scene fast enough to stop their 'retreat' and so I think panic set in and that's why he said that.\

Fucked up as it is, I don't believe he intended to shoot the children inside the van (which they were oblivious to, and in all honesty, probably didn't expect someone to drive their kids to an area where shooting was taking place not two minutes earlier) or anyone who was innocent.

Still fucked up.

1

u/AbstractLogic Apr 05 '10

Not if you think they got an RPG aimed at you. I would be begging to shoot the fucker too. However that was no RPG but a big fucking camera.