Wikileaks Collateral Murder Video

[SnaFuBAR]

Straight from MOUT (Military Operations on Urbanized Terrain)

i. Rules of Engagment (ROE). The nature of the military operation may restrict our use of weapons. The majority of urban batles since 1967 (such as Beirut II, Hue, Jerusalem) have had one or more of the following restrictions imposed on the attacking force:

(1) Minimizing civilian casualties and/or collateral destruction in order to:

-Avoid alienation of the local population.

-Reducing the risk of adverse world or domestic opinion.

-Preserving facilities for future use.

-Preserving cultural facilities and grounds.

(2) Limiting the use of specific ground or air weapons.



Further in under "commander's estimate" in the section "enemy"

(2) Unconventional Forces. Urban areas have become a haven for unconventional forces.
The large noncombatant population provides cover and concealment for unconventional force operations. Conventional forces operating in MOUT will normally be placed under restrictive ROE to minimize collateral damage. Unconventional forces will often use our restrictive ROE and the noncombatant population to their advantage when devising an urban defense.


Simply, this was a complete failure on every level, and practically a direct breach of the ROE. The cover up attempted was for "-Reducing the risk of adverse world or domestic opinion." There you have it.

Insurgents have already proven a multitude of times that they care not about the civilians they're trying to 'liberate,' often using them as shields to disrupt ROE for the US/Coalition.

Please don't try to talk about ROE when you don't know how or why they are implemented :\

Aside from all this, there was no clear and present danger to troop by means of legitimately identified small arms, and no SLAAM/MANPADS (any of a multitude of shoulder fired anti-air guided missiles such as stingers or grails) were ever identified. Location of incoming fire by troops on the ground was not specified, and the conversation of the guys in the helo(s?) hinted at a rather casual demeanor of their "targets" on the ground. "See that group of people just standing there?" There was no soft-contact, much less hard contact from this group of civilians.

Combatants do not act casual when a heavily armed and armored gunship is present, nor are they casual when attacking ground forces. This whole thing is botched and a lot of people in this thread need a pretty thorough head-check.