Collateral Murder - WikiLeaks - Classified US Military Video

From http://collateralmurder.org/

Overview

WikiLeaks has released a classified US military video depicting the indiscriminate slaying of over a dozen people in the Iraqi suburb of New Baghdad -- including two Reuters news staff.

Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack. The video, shot from an Apache helicopter gun-sight, clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers. Two young children involved in the rescue were also seriously wounded.

The military did not reveal how the Reuters staff were killed, and stated that they did not know how the children were injured.

After demands by Reuters, the incident was investigated and 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".

Consequently, WikiLeaks has released the classified Rules of Engagement for 2006, 2007 and 2008, revealing these rules before, during, and after the killings.

WikiLeaks has released both the original 38 minutes video and a shorter version with an initial analysis. Subtitles have been added to both versions from the radio transmissions.

WikiLeaks obtained this video as well as supporting documents from a number of military whistleblowers. WikiLeaks goes to great lengths to verify the authenticity of the information it receives. We have analyzed the information about this incident from a variety of source material. We have spoken to witnesses and journalists directly involved in the incident.

WikiLeaks wants to ensure that all the leaked information it receives gets the attention it deserves. In this particular case, some of the people killed were journalists that were simply doing their jobs: putting their lives at risk in order to report on war. Iraq is a very dangerous place for journalists: from 2003- 2009, 139 journalists were killed while doing their work.

The Beauty of Desolation

For most people these images may be sad, but I find there is something beautiful to forgotten places. I love the patch of concrete where grass is starting to show through the cracks. I love buildings with trees growing through their windows. It reminds me how easily the earth forgets and helps me to feel at ease with a larger universe. I thought I would share some links I've come across lately.

This one is one of my favorites. It shows the city of Ochamchira in Abhkazia. Once a great Soviet city, It saw heavy fighting during the Georgian-Abhkaz conflict that took place in 1992. Most of the population fled and never returned.

http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2010/06/02/welcome-to-abkhazia/#more-13608



These images got me thinking about Detroit. Detroit, having been financially devastated, is ripe with abandoned infrastructure. I've seen a lot of good photography on this subject matter. Here is one image gallery I came across. Do a Google search and you'll find many more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sweetjuniper/sets/72157603302647339/



Of course no post about forgotten places would be complete without mentioning Chernobyl. I doubt this city needs much introduction.

http://villageofjoy.com/chernobyl-today-a-creepy-story-told-in-pictures/



This is a pretty cool site I found about a woman's travels through Chernobyl and the surrounding area. If you can get past the ninety's aesthetic it's pretty sweet

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html


This is how the earth will unlearn us. It is not sad. It is just nature.

Afghanistan Before it was Bombed into the Stone Age

Here is an interesting piece depicting an Afghanistan not many Americans know about.



http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/27/once_upon_a_time_in_afghanistan?page=full

Even if there is a touch of propaganda to these images the ideas portrayed speak volumes. Depicted, is an Afghanistan that appears hopeful, secular, and forward looking. These are images of women studying at universities, people wearing relaxed western style clothing, infrastructure expanding. What happened?



In 1979 Zbigniew Brzezinski, an adviser to Jimmy Carter, proclaimed "Let's give the Soviets their own Vietnam." With this we began secretly arming the Mujaheddin. We gave weapons and training to people like the young Osama Bin Laden. The plan worked and the Soviets invaded. Now after nearly three decades of war Afghanistan is a third world hell hole. I wonder who we can help next?



I guess people should be wary of American foreign aid lest it bite them in the ass. That's one important lesson we can take from this, but I think there is a more important lesson for Americans here. That lesson is the fragility of what we have built.

Thirty years ago, Afghanistan was a seemingly prosperous nation. That's all it took for all traces of modernity to disappear.

Americans like to think that we are exceptional and that the momentum of progress can't be halted.

Many of them may even think that we have something in our national character that makes us better than your average Afghan, but ultimately our way of life is fragile. The possibility exists that we are only 30 years removed from Afghanistan.

Remember this and stay humble.

Activist Cult Kidnapped Joey Potter

For all you people who don't know much about Scientology other than "a bunch of weirdos" and what you read in the checkout aisle...

I'm gonna share this piece of information that really freaks me out!

The Church of Scientology is responsible for the single largest infiltration of the United States government in history.

Operation Snow White is the name of the so-called scandal.

This project included a series of infiltrations and thefts from 136 government agencies, foreign embassies and consulates, as well as private organizations critical of Scientology, carried out by Church members, in more than 30 countries.

That shit freaks me out!

You can read more about it on the beloved wikipedia.

"Black People Are Dumb"

As stupid as it may sound, I've realized that a decent amount of people I've met in my life actually believe that "black people" are dumb. (It goes without saying that these people are idiots but I'm talking A LOT!)

This of course comes from all the crack pot television we grew up on. And all the crack pot television our parents grew up on and so on...

...all the shows that subtly feature a black actor as the dummy, the goof ball, the comic relief, the dodo!

And that is how ideas get passed along. Straight through your subconscious mind.

St. Louis kind of freaked me out a little bit.

"St. Louis gives young men the fear." -Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary

I got to see a word I was told to love turn into a word I was told to hate. I heard people using the term "hoosier" in a derogatory way (like "hick"). In Indiana, we're raised as "Hoosiers" and use it as a term of pride. In St. Louis, that isn't the case.

Wikipedia told me:

Thomas E. Murray carefully analyzed the use of "hoosier" in St. Louis, Missouri, where it is the favorite epithet of abuse.

"When asked what a Hoosier is," Murray writes, "St. Louisans readily list a number of defining characteristics, among which are 'lazy,' 'slow-moving,' 'derelict,' and 'irresponsible.'" He continues, "Few epithets in St. Louis carry the pejorative connotations or the potential for eliciting negative responses that hoosier does."

I remember reading something about the unions going on strike and the scabs being from Indiana but can't find any of that now.

It does say this though:

In the mid-1950s, Fenton, Missouri was at the then-rural southwest rim of the county. It was during this time that Chrysler Corporation built a large automobile assembly plant in the city of Fenton and closed a plant it had been operating in Evansville, Indiana. Many former employees of the closed Indiana plant moved to Fenton for employment; so many, in fact, that entire subdivisions of new homes (with streets named after Chrysler models such as "Fury" and "Belvidere") sprang up south of the plant, near what was then US Route 66.

It freaks me out how words become weapons of hate!

Sometimes I find myself using these words lightly because they bare no significance to me.

Watch out for the magic words, they can get you in trouble. Like casting a spell.