Trigger happy in Iraq?

In the video you certainly hear the gunfire going off, but you don’t hear any warning given to the approaching vehicles. You do hear the radio operator at the end, but no warning. So that leads me to conclude that these actions were not sanctioned by anyone.

Were these hooligans intent on murder? Of course not, if they were, they would have turned their guns into the on-coming traffic. This Lt. Col. Spicer (the guy in charge of Aegis) has a history of complaints against him stemming from his dealings in Northern Ireland.

Anyway, here is a claim from a blogger (take it as you will) claiming the shooter in the video is Danny Heydenreycher, a former British Soldier from South Africa.

Here are two links to this story:

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12829

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/11/28.html#a6099

Uh…the way that video is edited together, it shows nothing definitive. The irritating music doesn’t help either. The part where the grenade is tossed, for example? They conveniently cut to that right after it was thrown out the window. How do you know the vehicle in the distance wasn’t shooting at them previously and needed motivation to stop? And SOP over there for military folks at least is to wave people off if they get too close. If they refuse to follow your commands, open fire at the engine block. I don’t think I was ever aware of any “warning shot” rule over there when I was in Baghdad. That’s just an asinine waste of ammo.

That being said, if the investigation proves that the contractors were in fact firing shots at random Iraqis, then they should obviously be punished. Id go so far as to cut ties with that company. Based on my personal experience in Baghdad, I’d rather we got rid of the civillian security altogether. A good deal of them had no clue as to what they were getting into, and it showed. Didn’t deal with these guys in particular, but I did deal with some of the morons from Blackwater, and they would be better off in shopping malls doing the rent-a-cop thing.

But this?

the sort of casual weapon discharges that all soldiers take part in, purely for fun and amusement?

What the hell gives you the right to accuse every soldier of taking part in something like that? Let me tell you, the only times I have fired a weapon have been in a training environment when qualifying on the M-9 or M-16. Theory destroyed. Take your accusations somewhere else.

There is a differrence. When warning shots are fired and you keep coming, it evolves into you getting shot at.

Having now seen the video do you still believe that those were warning shots, or the sort of casual weapon discharges that all soldiers take part in, purely for fun and amusement? – Nermal

Works for me. I feel safer already with those guys defending our freedom with their macho posturing and wise and thoughtful manner with the locals…

Flood

What’s wrong with warning shots? They’re trying to make it sound like the contractor guys are just firing off rounds for amusement without having the full story.

Ummm…actually the contractors were firing shots as amusment. The video surfaced on the internet about 2 weeks ago. It’s quite disgusting. The “contractors” responsible for this senseless act are Aegis Defense Service.

Here is a link to download the video. (Warning: Although no one appears to die in the video. It’s quite brutual in its un-humane usage of firepower)

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/112805A.shtml

Here is an article by Corp Watch back in April of 2005 expressing their views on how unqualified Aegis are at dealing with Iraqi security.

http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12135

All these sorts of videos will do is inflame the extremists further into attacking the servicemen and women. IIRC the day after the BBC ran the video there was an attack against our troops.

Theres no excuse for murder, its what servicemen have died for in Iraq to stop.

Especially the bit where it says one car was warned so much that it swerved off the road and crashed when hit by bullets. Surely there is a difference between warning shots and getting shot at? – Nermal

There is a differrence. When warning shots are fired and you keep coming, it evolves into you getting shot at.

There was some video shown on the BBC the other week. It was dubbed a “Trophy Video” and set to music. A bit like a “Happy Slapping” video but with guns and aparently innocent people being targeted.
It included a car just being shot up that then collided into another vehicle and a live grenade just being chucked out of the car the film was taken from onto the pavement for no apparent reason.

Especially the bit where it says one car was warned so much that it swerved off the road and crashed when hit by bullets. Surely there is a difference between warning shots and getting shot at? – Nermal

What’s wrong with warning shots? They’re trying to make it sound like the contractor guys are just firing off rounds for amusement without having the full story.

Its bad enough the regular soldiers in Iraq are commiting atrocities, and now even contracted security forces are having fun as well. Disgraceful, hopefully by the time this stupid war is over someone should charged for war crimes.