Collateral Murder

 Collateral Murder!

Before watching the events shown in Collateral Murder, I had no idea how disturbing and violent it would be. The events showcased in the video reminded me how history continues to repeat itself even as we move forwards in time. Whenever politics are presented, lies are used to justify callous and horrific actions conducted by people in power. Often times when exposed, we see that people will do almost anything to justify said actions and/or put the blame on anyone else.

Throughout history, the press and media are quick to report anything the government says or does about almost anything, but in this case, specifically, war. This is a slippery slope due to the press having to be in support of the government, so they are not really looked down upon. Then you look at journalists who share the full truth usually for the right reasons but are looked down upon and often times punished for doing so. There's another category to consider which is "whistleblower" which means "a person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity." Essentially you have a person or people who release information without permission, and the consequences regarding that can be quite extreme.

The government lying to try and cover up awful acts that they have committed is nothing new as we look in today's time as well as the past. This ultimately causes more harm and leads to more lies and issues down the line. In this case, we have a site called Wikileaks which was founded by Julian Assange, an Australian editor, publisher, and activist in 2006. In 2010, WikiLeaks published a series of shocking leaks which were provided by a U.S. Army intelligence analyst named, Chelsea Manning.

   

The footage that leaked showed a U.S. Apache helicopter shooting and ultimately killing innocent men who they claimed had weapons and were dangerous along with severely two innocent children. After seeing the video for myself, the men do not showcase any threatening behavior, nor does it even seem like they have any form of weapons whatsoever. This footage being released was of course a huge deal and large repercussions soon followed not only for Assange but the government as well since the truth was out. 

The dialogue shared between the men aiming at the poor innocent people was just really sad to hear as the audience can tell that the men on the ground are doing nothing wrong. One horrific line that stood out to me was, "Light 'em all up." because it was so easy for them to just do it and there was absolutely no hesitation which was scary to witness. There was simply no regret, remorse, or care in the world for not only hurting and killing men but children.

The video being released helped many people see the truth which then led to people being split on their views regarding the government. Once again to cover their tracks, the government panicked and blamed Assange, and had him put in prison.