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On
13 Aug 2003, 4:17 PM ET, the Associated Press newswire carried an article
headlined "U.S.
Soldiers Fire Into Crowd, Killing 1" by Tarek al-Issawi. Here's
the entire thing:
BAGHDAD,
Iraq - US soldiers shot into a crowd in a Baghdad slum Wednesday, killing
one civilian and wounding four, after being fired on with a rocket-propelled
grenade, the military said.
The
exchange broke out after about 3,000 demonstrators gathered near a telecommunications
tower in Sadr City, where they said American forces in a helicopter
tried to tear down an Islamic banner.
US
military spokesman Sgt. Danny Martin said it appeared rotor wash from
a helicopter blew down the banner.
However,
amateur video footage obtained by Associated Press Television News showed
a Black Hawk helicopter hovering about three feet from the top of the
tower and apparently trying to tear down the banner. The footage showed
US Humvees driving by and the crowd throwing stones at them. Heavy gunfire
broke out and the demonstrators hit the ground.
Martin
said soldiers from the 1st Armored Division opened fire after stones,
gunfire and one rocket-propelled grenade were directed at them.
One
civilian was killed and four were wounded, he said. He said no soldiers
were hit.
Sadr
City, formerly known as Saddam City, is a Shiite Muslim stronghold in
the otherwise Sunni Muslim-dominated capital.
Pay
special attention that fourth paragraph, which says that the AP has in
its possession amateur footage showing that the US chopper was purposely
tearing down the banner.
The
next day, at 2:00 PM EST, the Associated Press released a follow-up article,
"US
Military Apologizes to Shiite Muslims" by Sameer N. Yacoub. Although
it goes into detail about the incident, it completely leaves out mention
of the video footage, which proves that the US position is a lie.
The entire article reads as follows:
BAGHDAD,
Iraq - The US military apologized to the people of a Baghdad neighborhood
Thursday for an incident in which a man was killed after a Black Hawk
helicopter blew down an Islamic banner.
In
the southern city of Basra, a bomb killed one British soldier and wounded
three others, British military spokesman Capt. Hisham Halawi said. It
was the first British combat death in nearly two months.
On
Wednesday, American forces fired into a crowd of 3,000 demonstrators
in Sadr City, a Shiite Muslim slum, after a man shot a rocket-propelled
grenade at the soldiers. The shooter was killed and four bystanders
were wounded.
"Our
intent is not to alienate the Shiite people," said Lt. Gen. Ricardo
Sanchez, commander of coalition forces in Iraq.
"Apparently,
the helicopter blew down the flag or somehow the flag was taken down,
and we are taking steps to ensure that doesn't happen again," he
said, answering a barrage of reporters' questions about why the Black
Hawk was hovering above the communications tower.
"There
is no policy on our part to fly helicopters to communication towers
to take down flags," Sanchez said, insisting the banner was mistakenly
blown down by the force of the helicopter blades.
Some
Sadr City residents seemed calmed by the US apology.
"I
think that this minor incident and misunderstanding is over now. Most
of the people are accepting the apology. We will not forget that it
was the US soldiers who liberated us from Saddam (Hussein)," said
Abid Ali, an auto repair shop owner.
No
American soldiers or helicopters were seen patrolling Thursday in Sadr
City, where another US apology — in English — was distributed
in writing.
"What
occurred was a mistake and was not directed against the people of Sadr
City," said the statement signed by Lt. Col. Christopher K. Hoffman
of the 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment. "I am personally
investigating this incident and will punish those that are responsible."
Most
Iraqi Shiites welcomed the ouster of Saddam, who brutally put down a
Shiite uprising after the 1991 Gulf War. Saddam's minority Sunni Muslim
Baath Party oppressed the Shiite majority throughout his regime.
At
his weekly news conference, Sanchez also sought to emphasize that American
forces were changing tactics while not altering US goals of wiping out
guerrilla resistance to the U.S.-led occupation.
"The
conduct of our operations is to take into consideration the Iraqi culture
and sensitivities, and we want to be precise in our application of combat
power. We are going to continue to be aggressive, we have to be aggressive.
We're fighting a low intensity conflict here," Sanchez said.
The
British casualties Thursday were all army medics traveling in an ambulance
on the outskirts of Basra, where residents rioted last weekend to protest
fuel shortages and power cuts.
Eight
Britons have been killed in combat since May 1, when President Bush
declared major combat over in Iraq. In the same period, 60 American
soldiers have died in attacks.
The AP has sent its own reporting down the memory hole. Here's the key
paragraph, for posterity:
However,
amateur video footage obtained by Associated Press Television News showed
a Black Hawk helicopter hovering about three feet from the top of the
tower and apparently trying to tear down the banner. The footage showed
US Humvees driving by and the crowd throwing stones at them. Heavy gunfire
broke out and the demonstrators hit the ground.
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