thedrifter
08-28-07, 06:09 AM
Diggers' battle videos revealed
By Mark Schliebs
August 28, 2007 10:53am
AUSTRALIANS on the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan feature in internet videos showing troops in battle and freely discussing near-death experiences.
While the identities of the troops involved cannot be confirmed, many posters of violent videos list themselves as Australians or claim that the footage is of Diggers in action.
On LiveLeak.com, an increasingly popular video-sharing site, the number one contributor in the past month appears to be a soldier fighting in the Iraq War.
“biggles9”, who listed his home country as Australia, has uploaded hundreds of videos of troops engaged in battle, playing practical jokes on each other and even one entitled “Marines Boxing at thier (sic) Quarters”.
An Australian Defence Forces spokesman told NEWS.com.au that the user was not an Australian soldier, but said the footage was of coalition troops in Iraq.
But other videos on the site and on YouTube show men with Australian accents discussing their experiences.
In one video, a man and his friend “Pez”, who was identified in the clip as being a Lance Corporal, take viewers on a guide through their sleeping quarters that had just been the target of a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) attack in Afghanistan.
“Me and Pez were just having a bit of… an afternoon nap when we were rudely awoken by that RPG,” the man said in the clip.
“We’ll definitely be buying a lottery ticket when we get home now.”
In another video entitled Javelin Kill – Afghanistan a group of men, who appeared to have Australian accents, fire a javelin missile at a target across a plane.
When the missile lands, the group cheers loudly.
Executive director of the Australian Defence Association Neil James said it “definitely sounds like an Australian narrating”, but believed the troops may have been British.
A YouTube video of an explosion near a convoy of vehicles has also been posted. A man with an Australian accent, believed to be the cameraman, can be heard urging the driver to reverse from the subsequent fire.
The ADF spokesman said it was unlikely that Australian troops could post videos on the internet themselves.
“Sites such as LiveLeak and YouTube are often unworkable on the limited bandwidth available to deployed forces,” he said.
“There are clear guidelines for the release of information by Defence members into the public domain by any means including personal communication.
“Release of information by Defence employees and ADF members (including imagery and public comment, whether classified or not) is also governed by a number of Acts.”
Each day, footage of coalition forces in exchanging fire or being attacked with Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) is uploaded to the LiveLeak.
One clip on the site was of British troops driving through hostile territory and exchanging fire with insurgents.
Another video shows a tank firing towards buildings while soldiers on foot move in.
Ron Huisken from the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre said that terrorists and insurgents see the internet as a very powerful tool.
“I think it’s undeniable that the propaganda… is being taken very seriously,” Dr Huisken said.
“It’s a whole new dimension to the war, and I think the Coalition is, belatedly, realising this.”
The US military itself has reportedly encouraged its frontline troops to upload positive videos of their service in an attempt to win an online propaganda war against extremists, as well as posting its own “boots on the ground” videos on Youtube.
Insurgents in both Iraq and Afghanistan have been filming violent exchanges between themselves and the allied invaders since the war began.
Footage of IEDs killing and wounding coalition forces have long been uploaded onto popular websites.
And before the internet was utilised, DVD’s showing attacks on troops were distributed in the Middle East and, according to reports, the United Kingdom.
The ADF spokesman said that the use of the internet has made the propaganda war harder to control.
“Although the use of information in warfare is as old as war itself, the immediacy and penetration of these new (internet) distribution methods has significantly changed the global information environment.”
To watch videos
www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22321185-5001028,00.html?from=public_rss
Ellie
By Mark Schliebs
August 28, 2007 10:53am
AUSTRALIANS on the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan feature in internet videos showing troops in battle and freely discussing near-death experiences.
While the identities of the troops involved cannot be confirmed, many posters of violent videos list themselves as Australians or claim that the footage is of Diggers in action.
On LiveLeak.com, an increasingly popular video-sharing site, the number one contributor in the past month appears to be a soldier fighting in the Iraq War.
“biggles9”, who listed his home country as Australia, has uploaded hundreds of videos of troops engaged in battle, playing practical jokes on each other and even one entitled “Marines Boxing at thier (sic) Quarters”.
An Australian Defence Forces spokesman told NEWS.com.au that the user was not an Australian soldier, but said the footage was of coalition troops in Iraq.
But other videos on the site and on YouTube show men with Australian accents discussing their experiences.
In one video, a man and his friend “Pez”, who was identified in the clip as being a Lance Corporal, take viewers on a guide through their sleeping quarters that had just been the target of a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) attack in Afghanistan.
“Me and Pez were just having a bit of… an afternoon nap when we were rudely awoken by that RPG,” the man said in the clip.
“We’ll definitely be buying a lottery ticket when we get home now.”
In another video entitled Javelin Kill – Afghanistan a group of men, who appeared to have Australian accents, fire a javelin missile at a target across a plane.
When the missile lands, the group cheers loudly.
Executive director of the Australian Defence Association Neil James said it “definitely sounds like an Australian narrating”, but believed the troops may have been British.
A YouTube video of an explosion near a convoy of vehicles has also been posted. A man with an Australian accent, believed to be the cameraman, can be heard urging the driver to reverse from the subsequent fire.
The ADF spokesman said it was unlikely that Australian troops could post videos on the internet themselves.
“Sites such as LiveLeak and YouTube are often unworkable on the limited bandwidth available to deployed forces,” he said.
“There are clear guidelines for the release of information by Defence members into the public domain by any means including personal communication.
“Release of information by Defence employees and ADF members (including imagery and public comment, whether classified or not) is also governed by a number of Acts.”
Each day, footage of coalition forces in exchanging fire or being attacked with Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) is uploaded to the LiveLeak.
One clip on the site was of British troops driving through hostile territory and exchanging fire with insurgents.
Another video shows a tank firing towards buildings while soldiers on foot move in.
Ron Huisken from the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre said that terrorists and insurgents see the internet as a very powerful tool.
“I think it’s undeniable that the propaganda… is being taken very seriously,” Dr Huisken said.
“It’s a whole new dimension to the war, and I think the Coalition is, belatedly, realising this.”
The US military itself has reportedly encouraged its frontline troops to upload positive videos of their service in an attempt to win an online propaganda war against extremists, as well as posting its own “boots on the ground” videos on Youtube.
Insurgents in both Iraq and Afghanistan have been filming violent exchanges between themselves and the allied invaders since the war began.
Footage of IEDs killing and wounding coalition forces have long been uploaded onto popular websites.
And before the internet was utilised, DVD’s showing attacks on troops were distributed in the Middle East and, according to reports, the United Kingdom.
The ADF spokesman said that the use of the internet has made the propaganda war harder to control.
“Although the use of information in warfare is as old as war itself, the immediacy and penetration of these new (internet) distribution methods has significantly changed the global information environment.”
To watch videos
www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22321185-5001028,00.html?from=public_rss
Ellie