U.S. Army kills Afghans speeding video, not edited by Speigel.tv

Listen, before any claims of my political beliefs are made, I'm against every current war/(what is Libya??) the U.S. is involved in. Aside from that, I love my country for its positive reasons. I'm also against soldiers acting recklessly and accidentally/maliciously harming civilians who's only crime was living in their own damn country.

What I am against is disinformation from both sides of any debate. I feel so strongly about this that I worked up the guts to make my first thread (long time lurker, barely time poster). There's a post gracing the front page recently about U.S. Soldiers killing a pair of Afghans on a motorcycle. The video clearly shows a group of tense soldiers crouching near the side of a road. A pair of Afghans ride around the bend and appear to speed up towards the left side of the soldier now standing on screen. The soldier discharges his weapon (other soldiers firing is entirely possible as well). The soldier falls down and the motorcycle disappears in a cloud of dust.The soldier stands up and moves towards the wreckage.

This is where it gets important What happens next is entirely different in these two videos.

Speigel.TV's video Spiegel's video cuts to a soldier stating something to the effect of "Lemme check my kill". Then another cut to the soldiers non-chalantly standing around the dead Afghans.

Rolling Stone Footage The Rolling Stone has the same video posted, however, it happens to be unedited. In TRS's footage, The soldiers cautiously walk through the dust and walk off adrenaline high's. After the initial shock has worn off, the previous on screen soldier is heard saying "He drew down on me, he drew down on me". It was quite some time later that the soldier is heard saying "Lemme check out my kill".

You see, the words "he drew down on me" got me wondering what exactly happened in that video. A few years ago, I would have blindly argued that the Afghans got what they deserved. Now, after having made ATS my home for a while, I have had my mind opened to awful truths that cannot be ignored. I watched and rewatched the video to make sure I was aware. I have come to the conclusion that I believe the afghan on the back of the motorcycle drew a weapon with his right hand and pointed it at the soldier in the road.

Should the soldiers have shot the Afghans? Should the soldiers have even been there in the first place to shoot the Afghans? Probably not. But that's not my point.

My point is that trashy ratings hounds like Speigel.tv edit videos all to hell to create the swing they want to portray. It's like that picture (I'm really sorry, I can't find it right now. If someone can, please post it) where an iraqi man is center focus, and to his left a gun is pointed towards his head, and to the right a soldier is giving him water. The image shows that cropping of a picture can completely sway the meaning of the story.

I don't blame the OP of the Speigel version, it's a compelling video for sure. I only wish that ATSers would at least try and find more credible sources of information. Maybe try and find more pictures of the same incident? More videos of the same story? What they don't tell you is most likely the most important.

Peace and Love yall!

Why were they speeding down a small pathway like that, the soldier had...almost every right to shoot, but then again they shouldn't even be in the war to begin with.

Good catch on the edited/unedited versions of the video.

You can see the back rider's hand go out from his side, but it's hard to tell if anything is in it or not. Both riders were wearing camo/military-style pouches, which seems odd to me. But on the unedited video, I would think that if the soldiers had found a gun on either rider, they would have filmed that as proof, and I didn't see that.

Not a good situation no matter how you slice it.

Toward the end of the video, you can see what I think is the driver of the bike (after they turned him over) laying on top of what looks like the barrel of an assault rifle sticking out into the pathway. That on top of the fact that yes, they were both wearing magazine carriers, and yes one of them did raise their arm (not clear if anything was in that hand or not) towards the soldiers. I think they were fighters caught completely by surprise by the patrolling Americans.


ETA: Right after the shots rang out you can hear the soldier that discharged his weapon say "did you see him pull up on me?" These are clearly not simple civilians.
Also you're right OP, the difference in editing of the videos can tell two completely different stories.

I think that the Rules of Engagement need to be clarified,,,,,,

Originally posted by CosmicCitizen
I think that the Rules of Engagement need to be clarified,,,,,,

If we don't have them, the war in Afghanistan would end any time sooner. We should get out of Afghanistan!