Saturday, March 10, 2018

After The Niger Ambush, The Pentagon Is Reviewing The Use Of Head Cams

A framegrab of the propaganda video released by ISIS. CBS News

Time: ISIS Stole Footage From a Soldier in the Niger ISIS Ambush. Now the Military Is Reviewing the Use of Head Cams

An ISIS propaganda video released over the weekend that appears to include combat footage from the helmet cameras of an ambushed U.S. Special Forces team has prompted the military to review the use of such devices by its troops. The ambush occurred on Oct. 4 in the West African country of Niger and resulted in the deaths of four Americans and five Nigeriens. It marked the deadliest combat incident since President Donald Trump took office.

The nine-minute ISIS propaganda video, which consists of previously unseen footage of the ambush, rippled across the Internet on Sunday after it was posted to social media accounts. The roughly edited film contains what appears to be captured helmet-camera footage taken from one of the Americans killed near the village of Tongo Tongo while on a counterterrorism mission.

Read more ....

WNU editor: This discussion is making the rounds among those who cover the military .... ISIS Wants You To Watch US Troops Dying. Is That News? I Don’t Think So (Task & Purpose). In my case .... over the years of doing this blog I have come across many videos of U.S/NATO/etc. soldiers being killed or severely wounded in combat. My policy is simple .... I do not post them. The news stories that I link to may have such videos, as was the case for this one .... ISIS Releases Propaganda Video That Shows U.S. Soldiers Under Attack In Niger (March 5, 2018) .... and I may post a picture (like the one above). But I will not post the videos.

Update: Upon reflection there is one exception that I made to this rule. It is the actions of Captain William D. Swenson in Afghanistan during the Battle of Gangal when he aided a mortally wounded U.S. soldier (Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook) to a Medevac helicopter. I posted the video because it showed the deep bound among soldiers who experience combat, and in this case it was Captain William D. Swenson kissing the forehead of Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Westbrook (it is at the 1:30 mark of the bottom video and it is a must see). For his actions during the battle of Gangal, Captain William D. Swenson was awarded the Medal Of Honor.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks, WNU for doing what's right. Many would just go for the clicks -you don't. Kudos.

Unknown said...

WNU,

I agree with your policy.

I have seen videos of people getting killed. It was for training in the military. They were showing us what nice people the GIA were.

Stephen Davenport said...

Somewhat disagree here, I think every once in a while, the citizens need to see that their soldiers (military) are fighting and dying for them. Doesn't need to be turned into any kind of gun or death porn but occasionally we need to see what are military are facing everyday. IMHO.