Iraq video clip killings trigger TV investigation

German broadcaster NDR will air a TV documentary this Thursday that investigates two video clips of US military action in Iraq that have been widely circulated on the web.

Both clips show US soldiers shooting apparently unarmed and injured Iraqis. According to military and legal experts interviewed by the Panorama programme, they show US troops breaking international law by shooting unarmed people.

As reported by this site on 14 January, a video of footage from a US Apache helicopter had been widely circulated on the web following its broadcast on ABC News. Aerial footage shows Iraqis apparently abandoning something – which soldiers assumed to be a weapon – and running for cover.

Soldiers receive instructions to ‘shoot it’ and kill all three men, including one wounded person already lying on the ground.

A second incident was recorded in April 2003 by a CNN crew and broadcast in October that year. Soldiers are seen shooting unarmed and seriously injured Iraqis during a search of an industrial area. Immediately after the shooting, one soldier describes the situation as ‘awesome’ and says he ‘wants to do it all over again’.

During the Panorama documentary, US Viet Nam veteran General Robert G Gard, describes both events as ‘inexcusable murders’. Professor Stefan Oeter, an expert in international law, confirms that the shooting of a wounded person is a war crime.

Panorama producer Volker Steinhoff began investigating the two stories after an email tip from a colleague.

“Without the internet, I might not have done the story since watching the video is the central argument for the story.”

Mr Steinhoff told dotJournalism he was surprised that neither story had been pursued by the mainstream media.

“It’s my impression that CNN and ABC deliberately hid the story – ABC never mentioned the crucial point. The US mainstream media have been extremely unco-operative.

“This issue of shooting wounded people – a possible war crime – hasn’t had enough public attention either in Germany or the US.”

The programme will be broadcast on German channel ARD at 20.15, central European time, on 26 February.

The full transcript of the Panorama documentary will be available online from noon on 27 February and the two video files will be on the ARD site for Friday only, subject to final permission from CNN.

The US Ministry of Defence has refused to comment on the Panorama investigation.

Related stories:
http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story795.shtml

Panorama documentary:
http://www.ndrtv.de/panorama/archiv/2004/0226/soldaten.html

Translation tool:
http://babel.altavista.com

CNN video downloads:
http://homepage.mac.com/webmasterkai/kaicurry/gwbush/iraqiwar.wmv
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5365.htm

ABC Apache video downloads:
http://cop-players.com/cop-media/apache.mpeg
http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/wnt/US/apache_video_040109.html

See also:
http://www.panorama.de
http://www.ard.de

Read Another Article

Plan to teach evolution approved by Ohio board
Nichols’ lawyers: FBI withheld documents

Related News Articles Topic(s): USA Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com USA Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog