i thought the Apache helicopter video was interesting, if only to highlight the American military reluctance to engage up front and personal with suspicious looking groups of men. Apparently the helicopter was one mile away. The level of callous detachment displayed by the pilots were in stark contrast to the troops who arrived at the scene and could smell the stench and some who vomited at the horrific wounds inflicted on the children.
You could argue that this kind of incident is an unfortunate mistake, inevitable in the fog of war. But to some people the sight of unarmed humans being mown down in cold blood, smacks more like a policy of preemptive assassination, and reminds those who wholeheartedly support war of the true nature of that war.
i’m not personally a fan of statistics but wiki-leaks discovered that 15,000 combat related deaths in Iraq were unreported, deliberately. Also one statistic claims that 90% of deaths are non combatants (not from wiki-leaks). That seems difficult to accept but there you have it. Maybe smart bombs aren’t so smart. Certainly the battle for Fallujah was won at an horrific cost to the civilian inhabitants.
But of course the scope of the leaks is vast, much of it mundane and or merely realpolitik. however what is interesting to some of us, is the candid and damning assessment of corruption and human rights abuses occurring in regimes all over the world. The insight offered by diplomats are free of spin and propaganda, the same applies to CIA operatives in the field. What is fascinating is the gulf between Government PR commentary and the cables. This in itself is vital to a healthy democracy whereby public opinion counts for something.
Being continuously and willfully lied to is thoroughly condescending, it is tiresome.