Gates Defends US Soldiers in WikiLeaks Video
April 15th, 2010 § 2 Comments
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates discussed the Obama administration’s revised “nuclear posture” and other recent foreign policy issues on ABC News recently.
The portion of the interview released by ABC on YouTube expectedly begins with statements about the so-called “Iranian threat,” a delineation which Clinton expands upon even though she begins by admitting that the Obama administration takes everything Iran says with “more than a grain of salt.” When the secretaries are asked about nuclear-armed Israel’s non-participation at the Summit, Clinton dodges the implied purpose of the question by arguing that one of the central goals of the event is to address only those nuclear threats presented by “terrorists.”
At 9:52 Gates is questioned about Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s recent references to the US army as “occupiers” and his statements about joining the Taliban. Gates attempts damage-control by arguing that Karzai is merely catering to his domestic audience and General McChrystal has an excellent relationship with Karzai who is beyond “cooperative.” Be that as it may, the result of US policies through Karzai continue to paint a negative picture when the reality on the ground is examined.
In a continuation of Bush Administration conduct, Gates also responds to a carefully worded question about a WikiLeaks released video documenting the shooting-murder of 20 innocent people in Iraq by US soldiers by building upon the interviewer’s leading statement about the “fog of war” and adding that viewership of the video will likely not have “any lasting consequences.”
In a Wall Street Journal article entitled “Gates Says Civilian Deaths Test War Strategy,” also accompanied with the misleading page headline “Gates Laments Afghan Civilian Tragedies,” Gates has harsh words for WikiLeaks:
These people can put (out) anything they want and are never held accountable for it
and
You’re looking at a situation through a soda straw, and you have no context or perspective.
Ironically, the same statements can be applied to the Obama administration’s continued foreign policy blunders in Iraq and especially in Afghanistan where US forces murdered and wounded several civilians traveling on a bus in Kandahar earlier this week.
What does the video prove?
It proves that the helicopter crewmen did not know whom they were firing at. The civilian deaths were very regrettable, but unintentional.
As for the comments, well…all soldiers talk that way. Hating the enemy comes with the territory.
Max, you are an idiot.
The 9/11 bombers didn’t know who was in the buildings they rammed the planes into. The American deaths were very regrettable, but unintentional.
What abominable logic. You must wet yourself with glee when your country murders innocent people in your name. You are a sick man.