Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Collateral damage isn't collateral!

In April WikiLeak exposed an Apache helicopter crew gunning down unarmed civilians, including two journalists, in Iraq. Included in the footage, shot from the Apache camera, can be seen on You Tube, we witnessed the murder of two men who drove up in a van to rescue a wounded civilian. The van which was riddled with bullets, also contained two children, who, fortunately were not killed.

We hear the Apache crew laughing and joking about “those dead bastards,” and chomping at the bit to kill the wounded, crawling civilian. When watching the children being taken from the van, one of the crew members remarks, “That’s what they get for bringing their kids.”

What we haven’t seen or heard in the intervening time is any news about the U.S. investigation or decision making as to the culpability of the Apache crew.

Now we hear via Associated Press that the Army has detained a 22 year-old Army Specialist in connection with the leak of the Video. Ah, yes, as standard procedure from Defense and State Departments, the messenger is the real culprit!! The State Department spokesman praddles about exposure of information classified as secret.


I have been a unit commander in Korea, with secret clearance, and am here to tell you a great deal of what the Army classifies as secret should be classified as Cover Our Asses. Meanwhile the culprit Army Specialist remains in confinement with no charges leveled against him. And meanwhile, the dead civilians rest under Iraq soil.