Murder, Imprisonment, Isolation, War Crimes: ‘Collateral Murder’ Ten Years On – Sputnik International

The 2007 airstrikes were a series ofair-to-ground attacks conducted inAl-Amin al-Thaniyah, New Baghdad.

In the first, the Apaches fired ona group often Iraqis, including journalist Namir Noor-Eldeen and his driver and assistant Saeed Chmagh (both employed byReuters) seven were killed, and one injured.

The second strike was directed ata van driven bySaleh Matasher Tomal. Both Chmagh and Tomal were killed, and two ofTomal's children badly wounded.

In the third, pilots fired ona building intowhich the group fled, witha volley ofHellfire missiles.

On the day ofthe attack, the US military acknowledged the two journalists were killed, alongwith nine "insurgents" the engagement was claimed tohave a combat operation againsta "hostile force" inwhich "great pains" were taken toprevent the loss ofinnocent lives. Moreover, it was claimed it was unclear whether the journalists were slain byUS fire or fromIraqi insurgents.

The event was consequently investigated bythe US military, an inquiry which concluded the soldiers had acted entirely inaccordance withthe law ofarmed conflict, and the military's own rules ofengagement.

For almost three years, despiteattempts byReuters tohave footage ofthe incident released undertheFreedom ofInformation Act, the deadly strikes remained largely unacknowledged, and entirely unexamined.

A mainstream media journalist, embedded withthe US military atthe time, mentioned the assault inhis 2009 autobiography although his account was subsequently shown tobe fabricated.

The conspiracy ofsilence onthe matter was shattered inApril 2010, when WikiLeaks released footage recorded bythe gunsightof one ofthe attacking helicopters. Dubbed "Collateral Murder" bythe leak site, the video depicted the incident infull, replete withdisturbingly callous radio chatter betweenthe aircrews and ground units involved.

The exposure provoked international condemnation and widespread media coverage. Many outlets hailed WikiLeaks, and the video's (then unknown) leaker, asheroes, and the Iraq war bythen inits seventh year became increasingly impossible forpoliticians, journalists and civilians toseriously defend.

While the footage shocked and appalled the world over, Josh Stieber, a member ofthe US military company that carried outthe attack, starkly underlined just how mundane the incident was inthe context ofthe conflict.

"When I started tosee the discussion flowing from [the video], I was surprised athow extreme it was made outto be. What was shown inthe video was not outof the ordinary inIraq. One policy we had that was even more extreme was if a roadside bomb went off, we were supposed toshoot anyone standing inthat area. We were told that we needed tomake the local population more afraid ofus," he said.

However, the revelation did not precipitate a termination ofhostilities inIraq, or prosecutions ofany ofthe personnel involved. Instead, inMay 2010, 22-year-old American Army intelligence analyst Chelsea (then Bradley) Manning was arrested afterit was revealed she was the source ofthe leaked video, alongwith roughly 260,000 diplomatic cables, toWikiLeaks.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning (now Chelsea Manning) is escorted to a security vehicle outside a courthouse in Fort Meade, Md., after a hearing in his court martial.

Manning proceeded tospend overthree years insolitary confinement, a period which David House, founder ofthe Private Manning Support Network, dubbed "no-touch torture" Manning was subjected toextended periods ofisolation, harassment and sleep-deprivation.

The experience caused Manning to "physically, mentally, and emotionally" degrade overtime, House said. In August 2013, she was sentenced to35 years' imprisonment. Mercifully, inMay 2017, Manning was released, followinga commutation ofher sentence byformer President Barack Obama.

It was subsequently acknowledged Manning's disclosures did not infact damage US interests.

Moreover, WikiLeaks, and site founder Julian Assange, quickly found themselves the subject ofUS prosecutorial ire too.

REUTERS/ Axel Schmidt

Julian Assange, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of WikiLeaks speaks via video link during a press conference on the occasion of the ten year anniversary celebration of WikiLeaks in Berlin, Germany, October 4, 2016.

In November 2010, US Attorney-General Eric Holder announced there was "an active, ongoing criminal investigation" intoWikiLeaks that same month, Sweden launched a sexual assault investigation intoAssange, and issued a Europe-wide warrant forhis arrest.

Residing inthe UK, Assange feared extradition tothe US, should Swedish or British authorities take him into custody. He applied forpolitical asylum inEcuador, and was granted sanctuary inthe country's London embassy June 19, 2012. For five years, he remained undereffective house arrest, forbidden fromleaving a 2,153 square foot room inthe embassy's bowels, untilprosecutors dumped the baseless case.

REUTERS/ Peter Nicholls

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is seen on the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, Britain, May 19, 2017

However,Assange's problemsremain far fromover.

London's Metropolitan Police which stood watch outsidethe Embassy's door 24 hours a day, seven days a week fromthe momenthe entered it, atan estimated cost toUK taxpayers ofUS$16.8 million (13 million) between2012 and 2015 alone remain "obliged" toexecute an arrest warrant issued in2012 byWestminster Magistrate's Court.

The charges relate toAssange's failure tosurrender toauthorities. He still faces arrest if he leaves the embassy. Discussions betweenAssange's legal team and UK authorities onthe potential cessation ofbail violation charges remain ongoing.

All along, hostilities inIraq have continued, withfluctuating levels ofintensity.

Sputnik/ Iliya Pitalev

"The scale and gravity ofthe loss ofcivilian lives duringthe military operation toretake Mosul must be publicly acknowledged. The horrors people have witnessed and the disregard forhuman life byall parties tothis conflict must not go unpunished. Entire families have been wiped out, many ofwhom are still buried underthe rubble today. The people ofMosul deserve toknow, fromtheir government, that there will be justice and reparation so that the harrowing impact ofthis operation is duly addressed," said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's Middle East Research Director.

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Murder, Imprisonment, Isolation, War Crimes: 'Collateral Murder' Ten Years On - Sputnik International