Leaked video footage shows Iraq journalists killed by US gunships

The video is graphic, and disturbing. As a group of men amble down a Baghdad street two US Army helicopters open fire, repeatedly shooting the men and gunning one down as he tries to flee. As the dust clears, the troops survey their handiwork.

“Look at those dead b******s,” one pilot says. “Nice,” another responds.

The video, which has been released on the internet by the whistleblowers' website Wikileaks.org, is authentic, a senior US military official has confirmed. At a press conference, Wikileaks said it had acquired the video from whistleblowers in the military and was able to view it after breaking the encryption code. The official said the video, which consists of 17 minutes of black-and-white aerial video footage and conversations between pilots in two Apache helicopters as they open fire was of a July 12, 2007, firefight involving army helicopters in the New Baghdad District of eastern Baghdad. The attack killed 12 people, including two journalists who worked for the Reuters news agency — photographer Namir Noor-Eldeen, 22, and his driver Saeed Chmagh, 40. Two children were also wounded.

The video is here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH9xSHcFreY&feature=player_embedded