Video Spurs Questions About '07 Attack

Nearly three years after the Reuters news organization asked the Pentagon for a camera recording of an Army helicopter attack in Baghdad that left two of its employees dead, the purported video it sought is on the Internet for all to see.

The 38-minute video, apparently shot from an Apache helicopter that hit the Reuters men and others with machine-gun fire on July 12, 2007, was acquired and uploaded by Wikileaks, an online whistleblower site.

Wikileaks has dubbed the video "Collateral Murder," claiming in a statement on its Web site that it "clearly shows the unprovoked slaying of a wounded Reuters employee and his rescuers." The Army's investigation into the 2007 attack found no wrongdoing on the part of Soldiers.

According to a July 19 summary of the investigation, U.S. troops acted appropriately. Reuters employees were likely "intermixed among the insurgents" and difficult to distinguish because of their equipment, the document states.

"It is worth noting the fact that insurgent groups often video and photograph friendly activity and insurgent attacks against friendly forces for use in training videos and for use as propaganda to exploit or highlight their capabilities," the document concludes.

In sworn affidavits -- available online but redacted to protect troops' identities and other information -- Soldiers assigned to the 227th Aviation Regiment said they were called in to support friendly troops that had come under fire from insurgents in the city.

Helicopter teams eyed a number of men on the ground carrying AK-47s; one appeared to have a rocket-propelled grenade, or RPG, they said.

According to Wikileaks, the alleged RPG was a camera held by Reuters photographer Nami Noor-Eldeen.

The Soldiers told investigators after the incident that they suspected Noor-Eldeen was an insurgent because at one point he appeared to crouch behind a building and aim something at U.S. forces who were operating further down the street.

The Soldiers opened fire on Noor-Eldeen after he stood up, turned and was walking with several other men. Also killed in the attack was the Reuters driver, Saeed Chmagh. The two were in the area following up on a reported U.S. attack on a building there earlier in the day, Reuters said in a 2008 story. Today, Iraqi Journalists' Union chief   Mouyyad al-Lami called the video evidence of a crime and demanded a government   investigation into the shootings.

Reuters said it couldn't verify that the video was of its employees dying, even though it looks like one of the men killed had a camera slung over his shoulder.

The video is "graphic evidence of the dangers involved in war journalism and the tragedies that can result," said David Schlesinger, editor-in-chief of Reuters news.

Within two weeks of the attack, military officials showed Reuters editors a video of the incident, but would not release a copy to them. Reuters wanted the video as part of its own investigation into the shootings, but the Army never released it.

"Reuters has been trying to obtain the video through the Freedom of Information Act, without success since the time of the attack," Wikileaks says in the statement.

A spokesman for U.S. Central Command confirmed that the Army never released the video requested by Reuters under FOIA.

Navy Capt. Jack Hanzlik said CentCom is still studying the video released by Wikileaks and is not ready to say it is authentic, or if it has been doctored.

"We don't know the exact source [of the video]. … In today's era, you have the ability to do a lot of editing," he told Military.com.

The video released by Wikileaks showed nearly a dozen bodies scattered on the ground. One wounded man can be seen trying to crawl away while a Soldier above can be heard saying: "Come on, buddy. … All you gotta do is pick up a weapon."

The video also shows a van pulling up to the scene; one of the Reuters employees is picked up and placed in it. A voice on the video asks permission to open fire on the van, gets it and then rakes it with machine-gun fire, killing everyone inside.

Soldiers in their statements said the men in the van were recovering weapons and wounded. An unidentified lieutenant colonel interviewing the troops as part of the Army's investigation noted that the video footage showed the men carrying a wounded man to the waiting van to be unarmed.

Some reports claim that two children found wounded at the scene had been occupants in the van. When ground forces arrive, the video shows what looks to be a child being carried from the vehicle and U.S. troops saying the child should be sent to a local Iraqi hospital.

"Well, it's their fault bringing their kids into the battle," a cockpit voice can be heard saying.

It is that part of the video that most disturbed U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer, an intelligence officer now on Reserve duty who also lectures at the Center for Advanced Defense Studies in Washington, D.C.

Shaffer viewed and heard portions of the video April 5 on MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan show. He said the Soldiers' actions -- based on what he saw -- appeared to violate the military's Rules of Engagement.

"Now, most importantly, when you see that van show up to take away the wounded, [you] do not target or strike anyone who has surrendered or is out of combat due to sickness or wounds," he said. "So … that I find disturbing, being that you clearly have people down, you have people on the way there."

A senior military official speaking to Military.com acknowledged that the shooting of the van was not fully explored by the Army in its investigation. "This is not a perfectly complete [investigation]," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It does still leave that question unanswered."

-- The Associated Press contributed to this article.