Leaked video of US troops firing on civilians in Iraq raises questions

A non-profit website called WikiLeaks has released footage of an incident in Iraq from July 2007 that shows the death of two employees of Reuters News Agency at the hands of American troops.

Because the men worked for Reuters, their deaths were no secret, but the circumstances had remained so until WikiLeaks released their footage. The Pentagon maintained that the two men were killed during a firefight between insurgents and U.S. forces who hovered above in an Apache helicopter, but the video shows something different. The Americans, believing they have spotted insurgents, stalk the two Reuters employees from the air before firing on and killing them. That mistake, and a callous reaction to the injury of two children, also caught on the same video, has sparked debate about whether the Americans were justified – or out of control.

For more, we’re joined by BBC Baghdad correspondent Jim Muir and Josh Ray Person, who was in the Marines from 1999-2003, serving both in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Below, the video, as captured by a gun-sight camera from the Apache helicopter which fired on the group of men. WARNING: THE VIDEO SHOWS GRAPHIC VIOLENCE.