what happened to ethan mccord

[94], 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"[95] and "we have taken steps to arrange for [her] protection and legal defence". [43] 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". You can hear the medic saying on the video, "There's nothing I can do here, she needs to be evac'd." If there's anything I can to do help, I would be more than happy to. However, the long version of the video shows that this van had already been targeted by one Apache (Crazyhorse 1/8), prior to the second strike, as it traveled south toward the Reuters employees who were simultaneously targeted by the other Apache (Crazyhorse 1/9) as they walked with the group of men north on the same road toward the van. So I went to a sergeant and asked to see [the mental health person], because I was having a hard time dealing with it. [32], 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. He added, "I think what this video shows is really a case that challenges whether the laws of war are strict enough. [43] 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. Wired.com: How much sniper fire were you getting? In refusing to recognize this, the US military fails both its own soldiers and their victims. I just kept telling him, "Don't die; don't die." Ethan McCord was a member of the military unit in "Collateral Murder" - the Wikileaks video showing 12 Iraqis being killed from a US helicopter.He rescued the two children severely wounded in the attack and is now speaking out to corroborate the Collateral Murder video. McCord: My platoon sergeant knew that I was having a hard time with it and that same night he came into the room and he told me, hey, just so you know, both of the children survived, so you can suck it up now. [18][25][31] Chmagh was killed[18][25][31] along with three other men, while two children, not known to be in the van to the U.S. forces, were injured. 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. All rights reserved. Gabriel Schoenfeld, Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute, said of the airstrike: It is precisely the presence of weapons, including RPGs, that goes a long distance toward explaining why cameramen for Reuterspointing television cameras around corners in a battle zonewere readily mistaken by our gunships for insurgents. I've spoken with other soldiers who were there. Plus: Microsoft fixes several zero-day bugs, Google patches Chrome and Android, Mozilla rids Firefox of a full-screen vulnerability, and more. Ethan McCord, a 33-year-old Army specialist, was engaged in a firefight with insurgents in an Iraqi suburb in July 2007, when his platoon, part of Bravo Company, 2-16 Infantry, got orders to. Minutes after the first engagement ended, the van returned traveling in an opposite direction (north) once again on this same road. Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. 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". [30], 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.[31]. It's very clear that that is the approach, to try and find any mechanism to excuse the behavior, and that is what ended up happening. Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. The ground controller responds, "If you've [positively identified] the individuals in the building with weapons, go ahead and engage the building". I did see a guy moving from a rooftop from one position to another with an AK-47, who was firing at us. That's when I started screaming, "The boy's alive! When Bravo Company arrived at the scene, they reported finding two RPGs and an AK-47 or AKM. Highlighted in the 17-minute version of the video are Noor-Eldeen with a camera and Chmagh talking on his mobile phone. He responded, "I hadn't heard of WikiLeaks before yesterday. Our heavy hearts still hold hope that we can restore inside our country the acknowledgment of your humanity, that we were taught to deny. We did unto you what we would not want done to us.". New details reveal that Beijing-backed hackers targeted the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, adding to a string of attacks in the region. 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. Now, as far as rules of engagement, [Iraqis] are not supposed to pick up the wounded. Wired.com: But you had been in combat before. There is no bringing back all that was lost. Ethan and Josh claim that though their unit was following the Rules of Engagement that day, they are taking responsibility for their role in the incident and initiating a dialogue around it; "Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. The video makes plain that in this incident, as in almost all military encounters in both Iraq and Afghanistan, our soldiers are up against forces that do not wear uniformsa violation of international law precisely because it places innocent civilians in jeopardy. I'm going to help that person. [20] According to a military review, soldiers in that company "had been under sporadic small arms and rocket propelled grenade fire since" the operationdescribed as "clearing their sector and looking for weapons caches"began. [92], On February 28, 2013, Manning pleaded guilty to 10 of 22 specified charges. Apache helicopters were called in by a soldier in the Humvee (Hotel 26) under attack from the same position used by Namir Noor-Eldeen to photograph the vehicle. As the pilot positions the helicopter to attack the building, two unarmed men walk towards, and perhaps into, the building. Michael Bailey a medic who treated some of. soldiers. This is the problem that we're speaking out on as far as the rules of engagement. Well in all actuality, we brought the battle to your kids. [59], An internal legal review by staff at Forward Operating Base Loyalty in Iraq during July 2007 stated that the helicopters had attacked a number of 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. We're sorry for the system that we were involved in that took their father's life and injured them. [58] Reuters subsequently asked the U.S. military to probe the deaths. The film received an Oscar nomination in January. McCord was captured in a video shot from one helicopter as he ran frantically to a military vehicle with Sajad in his arms seeking medical care. I was told to go pull security on a rooftop. The Apache crew then alerted the ground troops that they believed that they could see an injured child moving around inside the destroyed van. "When I did come up on the scene, there was an RPG as well as AK-47s there," he said. Please accept our apology, our sorrow, our care, and our dedication to change from the inside out. Home: Wichita, Kansas, AN OPEN LETTER OF RECONCILIATION & RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE From Current and Former Members of the U.S. Military. "I grabbed him and ran to the Bradley myself". I know the scene by heart; it's burned into my head. Josh Stieber was in the same company but was not there that day, though he contributed to the your pain, and the pain of your community on many other occasions. I always questioned it in the back of my mind. Ethan McCord, a former US soldier, has shown great courage and integrity by exposing and condemning US war crimes in Iraq. [81], Publicity of the incident ballooned following the release of the footage. 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.[52][53]. Seven men (including Noor-Eldeen) were killed during this first strike; Saeed Chmagh, who was injured, later died in a hospital. I was pretty distraught over the whole situation with the children. Assange responded: Yes, absolutely Our promise to the public is that we will release the full source material. A school district is mourning the loss of a 13-year-old student who was found dead along with 3 other family members after a "potential murder-suicide" in Clermont County.It happened around 9:41 a . I had blood all down the front of me from the children. 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". McCord states he was yelled at for not "pulling security". That's a violation of the laws of war and of course what the mainstream media have omitted from their stories is this context. "[88] McCord also recalled being ordered to "kill every motherfucker on the street" in the event of an attack on their convoy. [19] 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. We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months. The majority of us aren't. We've been there for so long now and it seems like nothing is being accomplished whatsoever, except for we're making more people hate us. The Apache crew saw unarmed[25] men exit the vehicle and move to Chmagh. In 2009, Stieber left the military as a conscientious objector and became a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War. McCord: There were approximately two to three other people who were moving who were still somewhat alive, and the medics were attending to them. It was more of a child who was frightened out of her mind. However, I don't feel that the attack on the [rescue] van was necessary. They were stating that these people had no weapons whatsoever, that they were just carrying cameras. 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. The editors asked to see the remaining footage so Reuters could check whether it had been edited or manipulated. It didn't seem real, in the sense that it didn't look like human beings. One of the first soldiers on the scene after the air attack, Ethan McCord, is now the subject of a short documentary, Incident in New Baghdad, which will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. [21], 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 (216), 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Kauzlarich, before July 12 to support Operation Ilaaj. An Apache maneuvered around a building to get a clear field of fire and shot all nine men, killing eight. I based the account in my book on multiple sources, all unclassified". How is this guy supposed to [decide] should I stop and pick them up, or is the military going to shoot me? McCord, who served seven years in the military before leaving in the summer of 2009 due to injuries, recently posted an apologetic letter online with fellow soldier Josh Steiber supporting the release of the video and asking the family's forgiveness. "Our forces were engaged in combat all that day with individuals that fit the description of the men in that video. 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 inquiry backed the assessment that the group of men were carrying a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). [63] The site stated on its Twitter account on January 8, 2010, that it had a copy of gunsight footage of the incidents. [43] He walks into a building which has been identified as the source of fire at U.S. ground troops. On April 5, 2010, the attacks received worldwide coverage and controversy following the release of 39 minutes of gunsight footage by the Internet whistleblower website WikiLeaks. 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. [32], U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized WikiLeaks for releasing the video without providing any context. US soldiers Ethan McCord's Eyewitness Story of coming across the aftermath of the infamous Wikileaks Collateral Murder in which over a dozen innocent civilians, 2 of which were Reuters journalists, were killed. [25] 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. ", "Hudson Institute > Warfare Through 'a Soda Straw', "Gates assails Internet group over attack video", "WikiLeaks releases video depicting US forces killing of two Reuters journalists in Iraq", "Leaked Video Depicts Civilian Deaths In Iraq", "Video shows death of 2 Reuters employees in Baghdad attack", "WaPo denies allegation it sat on WikiLeaks video", "Two members of the company in the WikiLeaks video speak out", "US soldier in WikiLeaks massacre video: 'I relive this every day', "Former US soldier speaks (interview transcript)", "US intelligence analyst arrested over security leaks", "U.S. Intelligence Analyst Arrested in WikiLeaks Video Probe", "Report: Soldier arrested for allegedly leaking 'Collateral Murder' helicopter video to WikiLeaks", "Bradley Manning pleads guilty to some Wikileaks charges", "Bradley Manning Found Guilty of 19 Counts, Not Guilty of Aiding The Enemy", "Bradley Manning Found Not Guilty of Aiding the Enemy", "Army Pfc. [32] 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. They're trained as soldiers to go into a building and clear a building. For about 5 to 10 minutes the team diverted its attention to this vehicle. FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. There were plenty of times in the past where other insurgents would come by and pick up the bodies, and then we'd have no evidence or anything to what happened, so in looking at it from the Apache's point of view, they were thinking that [someone was] picking up the weapons and bodies; when, in hindsight, clearly they were picking up the wounded man. At US. `` were you getting i based the account in my book on multiple,! 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