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Originally Posted by SmokeyTheBear
infact in the very last scene TWO humvees pass, one passes , then they fire ont he white car , then another humvee passes, the camera and gunman must be looking right at the humvee, if this was just random firing , they would have not shot the white car.
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Last Update: Saturday, December 10, 2005. 8:00am (AEDT)
US military probes video of Iraqi civilian shootings
The United States military has launched a formal criminal investigation into a video that appears to show contractors firing on civilian vehicles in traffic in Iraq, a military spokesman said.
The video, which has been circulating on the Internet, shows a compilation of video clips taken from the rear window of a vehicle showing other cars on the road apparently coming under fire from it.
No faces appear in the video and only a few words are heard on the soundtrack that was dubbed over with an Elvis Presley song Mystery Train.
But at one point the silhouette of a barrel of an automatic weapon is visible inside the vehicle, followed by what appears to be a burst of fire.
In another clip, the impact of rounds can be seen hitting a vehicle on an open road. The vehicle then can be seen coming to a slow stop.
The video clips first appeared on a blog site called "Aegis PSD" operated by a former employee of Aegis Defence Services LTD, a British firm with a $US293 million contract to provide the US Government with security services in Iraq.
"There is an investigation under way by the US Army's Criminal Investigation Division in Iraq," said Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson, a spokesman for the Multi National Force-Iraq in Baghdad.
"When investigators became aware of the tape, they put it under review and subsequently decided that a formal investigation is warranted. We do not disclose any aspects of CID investigations while they are ongoing."
Aegis Defence Services Ltd said it had no connection to the website where the video appeared but it was maintained by a former member of an Aegis security escort team.
It said it has established a formal board of enquiry with US military authorities to investigate "whether the footage has any connection with the company and, should this prove to be the case, under what circumstances any incident took place".
The company provides the US Government with protection for military and civilian personnel travelling throughout Iraq, it said.
The company said its personnel in Iraq operate under rules of engagement set by the US military, the State Department and the now defunct Coalition Provisional Authority.
"These rules of engagement allow for a structured escalation of force to include opening fire on civilian vehicles under certain circumstances," the company said in a statement posted on its website.
"All incidents of the use of such escalation of force, which includes the use of firearms, are logged and investigated to ensure that there has been strict adherence to the rules of engagement," it said.
"Should any incident recorded on the video footage have involved Aegis personnel, this too will be subject to scrutiny by the board of enquiry."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...2/s1528097.htm