If you are feeling generous then you might be inclined to understand firing on the first group of pedestrians. Although I have to admit they are behaving in a very casual manner for supposed hostiles being circled by an enemy gunship. Firing on the van, regardless of who was in it, was simply murder on the part of the helicopter crew that lie in order to get an authorisation to engage.
What I found particularly interesting was the footage right at the end of the full length video. They see someone with a weapon (so they believe) walk into an abandoned or under construction building. They then seek and get approval to fire hellfire missiles at the building. The first one impacts just as a pedestrian is going past and clearly catches him in the blast. The helicopter crew seem completely unconcerened by this and proceed to fire two more missiles into the structure.
There is no attempt to assess context. Just because someone is carrying a weapon in Iraq doesn't mean they are a hostile.
Consider how people would've reacted had the British armed forces been in the habit of ordering in helicopter gunships strikes on anything that looked threatening in the vicinity of a patrol in Northern Ireland? Not to mention blowing up any building that looked even vaguely suspicious. I doubt much of Belfast would still be standing had that been the case.
Oh it's better than that.
A couple of years ago a friend got me a book for my birthday. It's called SOE Syllabus and outlines the training given to allied agents prior to being dropped behind German lines in occupied Europe.
Most of it is about recognition of various German military or militia organisations. However a good chunk is about setting up an insurgency, That includes ideas about proper cell structure, maintaining communication between cells, spotting and shaking tails, and tactical advice on how to perform various small unit actions. Even given it's age it still has some relevance to the current day.
Who publishes this? The Public Records Office, which is a government body.
Slashdot Mirror
As I recall back in the 80's they tended to staff their stores with rabid fanboys.
The staff where paid peanuts and given discounts on the company's products. This is what lead to people calling them Games Sweatshop.
If you are feeling generous then you might be inclined to understand firing on the first group of pedestrians. Although I have to admit they are behaving in a very casual manner for supposed hostiles being circled by an enemy gunship. Firing on the van, regardless of who was in it, was simply murder on the part of the helicopter crew that lie in order to get an authorisation to engage.
What I found particularly interesting was the footage right at the end of the full length video. They see someone with a weapon (so they believe) walk into an abandoned or under construction building. They then seek and get approval to fire hellfire missiles at the building. The first one impacts just as a pedestrian is going past and clearly catches him in the blast. The helicopter crew seem completely unconcerened by this and proceed to fire two more missiles into the structure.
There is no attempt to assess context. Just because someone is carrying a weapon in Iraq doesn't mean they are a hostile.
Consider how people would've reacted had the British armed forces been in the habit of ordering in helicopter gunships strikes on anything that looked threatening in the vicinity of a patrol in Northern Ireland? Not to mention blowing up any building that looked even vaguely suspicious. I doubt much of Belfast would still be standing had that been the case.
Oh it's better than that. A couple of years ago a friend got me a book for my birthday. It's called SOE Syllabus and outlines the training given to allied agents prior to being dropped behind German lines in occupied Europe. Most of it is about recognition of various German military or militia organisations. However a good chunk is about setting up an insurgency, That includes ideas about proper cell structure, maintaining communication between cells, spotting and shaking tails, and tactical advice on how to perform various small unit actions. Even given it's age it still has some relevance to the current day. Who publishes this? The Public Records Office, which is a government body.