Video Evidence and the July 12, 2007 Apache Controversy
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The Dao of Not Knowing
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-- By Ron Mazor, rewritten by David Goldin
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-- By Ron Mazor
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(Video being utilized for academic purposes, with the intention of fair use.)
Introduction and Background
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The use of video evidence presents a number of problems. We cannot simply accept videos at face value - they are very easy to alter, cut and stage. This is a given. In this paper, I will briefly analyze two videos pertaining to a particular incident. My goal will be to determine what I can, and can't, know given the above videos. I will then discuss the broader implications this has.
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On April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks posted the above short video on its site. They also linked to Collateral Murder, which had a second, "full" version of the video.
The videos pertain to a helicopter strike by U.S. forces on July 12, 2007 in Iraq. The strike killed two Reuters employees, Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh, as well as nine other individuals. The U.S. conducted an investigation into the incident (AR 15-6, Pilot Sworn Statements, Legal Review) (explanation of AR 15-6). The conclusion was that the pilots had acted appropriately, and the U.S. declined to take further actions. Reuters' requests for a more substantial investigation have not been granted.
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On April 5, 2010, WikiLeaks posted the above short video on its site. They also linked to Collateral Murder, which had a second, "full" version of the video. If they are true depictions of the events, the videos cast a shadow of doubt upon the results of the U.S. investigation into the incident.
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When I first saw the short video, about a week after it hit the news, I was scandalized. I had taken a class on the laws of war and American military intervention in college, and I was pretty sure that what I had seen contravened portions of the Geneva Conventions. I was further shocked that the Army had declined to further investigate the matter. Usually, I've bristled at Eben's characterizations of the U.S. military, as I've felt his descriptions were unfair reductions which failed to take into account the difficulty faced by soldiers at wartime in making decisions with imperfect information and with lives hanging in the balance. Yet, my own position only holds water so long as the people making the decisions are taking the weight of their choices seriously. What I saw in the video seemed an unjustifiable example of lethal carelessness, and I was angry.
When I brought this topic up with Eben, along with my idea of analyzing the footage for war crimes violations, Eben suggested I take a closer look and not jump to conclusions. Where I saw incontrovertible video footage, he saw over-reliance on a single evidentiary source. He was right.
Zhuangzi
"The sage embraces things. Ordinary men discriminate among them and parade their discriminations before others. So I say, those who discriminate fail to see."
"Right is not right, so is not so. If right were really right, it would differ so clearly from not right that there would be no need for argument...Forget the years; forget distinction. Leap into the boundless and make it your home!"
Over the past week, I decided to revisit some favorite readings. Zhuangzi, the Daoist philosopher, was among the authors I read.
Work in progress...
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