Wikileaks Video Shows Apache Gunner Lied to Command at Least 8 Times to Gain Permission to Kill Unarmed Civilians

Is Lying to Commanding Officers Now Considered Appropriate Standard Operating Procedure?

by Scott Creighton

In a war started by lies, is it any wonder that soldiers routinely lie as well in order to kill Iraqi civilians?

Its been a few days now since the Wikileaks video story broke and I have yet to hear anyone talking about something I noticed when I first watched the full length video, and that is the clear and numberous lies told by the Apache helicopter pilot and gunner to the commander in charge of making the decision to engage or not too engage.

It seems like the soldiers who are relating the narrative of the situation to their commander, the guys who have “eyes on” the situation, were deliberately misrepresenting the nature of the situation to command. For what reason, I do not know.

I thought at first that it could just be the “fog of war” but one lie especially made it very clear to me that these men who were relating the description of the scene to the officer in charge were deliberately misrepresenting the facts on the ground in order to achieve a certain outcome… not to cover up for something they had mistakenly done already, but rather, they were lying about the situation, as it happened IN ORDER TO get permission to fire upon Iraqi civilians.

So I watched the video again, this time counting the gunner’s misrepresentations to his commanders. I will list those now, with a reference to the time-stamp on the video. To this end, I am using the full, un-cut, 38 minute version of the video released by Wikileaks. The video is at the end of the article.

Ethnically Cleansing Palestinians

Chris Hedges, author, spoke at a Revolution Books Town Hall Meeting at Ethical Culture Society January 13, 2009 condemning Israel and US complicity in Israel’s murderous destruction of Gaza.

Part 1

(Part 2 after the break)