Josh Stieber, a former U.S. Army Specialist, is speaking out. A member of the Bravo Company 2-16 whose acts of brutality made headlines this week with the Wikileaks release of the video “Collateral Murder,” Stieber says such acts were not isolated incidents, but were commonplace during his tour of duty. “After watching the video, I would definitely say that that is, nine times out of ten, the way things ended up,” says Stieber. “Killing was following military protocol. It was going along with the rules as they are.”
“Collateral Murder” provides footage from an American Apache helicopter involved in a July 2007 shooting incident outside of Baghdad that left over a dozen people dead, including two Reuters employees. Stieber was not present at the scene, but knows those who were and is familiar with the environment. “A lot of my friends are in that video,” he says. “If it shocks and revolts you, it shows the reality of what war is like. If you don’t like what you see in it, it means we should be working harder towards alternatives to war.”
Josh Stieber Bio
Stieber is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War working to promote peace and seek alternatives to combat. He currently resides in Washington, D.C