Quote Originally Posted by Firn View Post
Some thoughts about the first scene after watching the video.
Well said.

While regrettable, it is hardly surprising that the helicopters fired on what appeared to be a group of armed men immediately following a report of TIC, especially when one of them appeared to be sighting an RPG (actually a camera) down the street. The pilots, after all, hardly had the luxury of playing and replaying the video to be certain.

However, firing on the vehicle recovering the wounded journalist--which, for all we know, could have simply been a Good Samaritan, or a relative--was certainly a serious mistake. There was clearly no evidence of weapons or hostile intent.

The language used by the helicopter crew? You'll find something similar, I would wager, in every war zone, with every army.

The "cover up" ? More bad PR by the DoD. While I can understand not wanting to release footage of every civilian accidentally killed, it ought to have been clear that the deaths of two journalists required special handling.