README.txt

by Chelsea Manning

Two U.S. helicopters approach a group of Iraqis. You can hear the American soldiers say that the group is shooting at them, though the visual evidence contradicts that. What they’ve mistaken for an RPG is in fact a Reuters photographer’s camera lens, poking around the corner of a building, photographing the scene. The lead helicopter begins shooting at what the soldiers think to be a threat. They hit the Iraqis, nine of whom will die. “Oh, yeah, look at those dead bastards,” one person says. One man, wounded, starts trying to crawl away. A soldier says, “All you gotta do is pick up a weapon.” (In other words, give the soldier cause to shoot.) When a van full of Iraqis—simply Good Samaritans trying to help—pulls up and attempts to move the man to safety, the American helicopter starts to shoot, this time with shells that can pierce armor. They repeatedly fire through the windshield of the van, hurting two children who are sitting in back. “Well, it’s their fault for bringing kids into a battle,” says a soldier later, after a ground crew comes by to assess the damage.