US MILITARY ERASES FOOTAGE/PICS OF THEIR DAMAGE DONE

>From what I can work out, it seems like there was a suicide bombing in Afghanistan that killed two civilians and wounded 17 others. The bombing was apparently targeting US Marines. The reason I can't be sure is that no one seems to be reporting on the bombing, itself, because (I'm guessing) it's just another suicide bombing in Afghanistan. Once a rare occurrence, now all too common. What are they covering? The suppression of any coverage of the bombing. It seems that US troops went a little trigger happy after the bombing and shot up a civilian vehicle fleeing the scene of the bombing. When journalists started snapping pics and shooting footage of three dead civilians in an a bullet-riddled SUV, according to [http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2922669&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312|A March 4, 2007 article] from AP.org available at ABCNews.Com:

U.S. troops deleted their photos and video and warned them not to publish or air any images of U.S. troops or a car where three Afghans were shot to death. Afghan witnesses and gunshot victims said U.S. forces fired on civilians in cars and on foot along at least a six-mile stretch of road in Nangarhar province following a suicide attack against the Marine convoy. The U.S. military said militants also fired on American forces during the attack. The U.S. military and Afghan officials said eight Afghans died and 34 were wounded in the violence. One Marine was also injured. A freelance photographer working for The Associated Press and a cameraman working for AP Television News said a U.S. soldier deleted their photos and video showing a four-wheel drive vehicle in which three people were shot to death about 100 yards from the suicide bombing. The AP plans to lodge a protest with the American military.

Turns out US soldiers both seized cameras and deleted/erased pics/footage or threatened journalists to do it themselves. Check out another cutting from the article:

Taqiullah Taqi, a reporter for Afghanistan's largest television station, Tolo TV, said Americans were using abusive language. "According to the translator, they said, 'Delete them, or we will delete you,'" Taqi said.

The US Mil's explanation for the deletions comes in [http://newstandardnews.net/content/ion/index.cfm/bulletin/6488|a March 5, 2007] post at NewStandardNews.Net reporting on an AFP.com article:

The US military in Afghanistan on Monday defended the erasing of photographs and video after an incident that left up to 10 civilians dead, saying this was allowed in "extreme circumstances." ... The journalists had gone beyond a security perimeter, the military argued, and had been asked to remove their images to "protect the integrity of the investigation."

In short, the military realized they overreacted and when journalists tried to report on it, they decided to use force to make sure no one could get all the truth out. Gotta love that. It would seem that the military can't handle the truth. Oh, the irony...

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