Iraqi deaths shown online
2006-10-07 07:51
San Francisco - Scattered among the humour and music videos on popular websites such as YouTube and Google Video are graphic images of soldiers and civilians being killed in Iraq.
YouTube officials told The New York Times on Saturday that it removed the images when company officials were aware of them, but the clips were continuously posted and easy to find.
A video labelled "Sniper dedicates nine bullets to Bush" shows a sniper picking off American soldiers. It's unclear from the footage whether the soldiers survived.
The sites also include many images of United States soldiers killing Iraqis.
YouTube officials did not return telephone calls for comment on Friday.
Google has a video uploading policy prohibiting "graphic violence or other acts resulting in serious injury or death", but spokesperson Jennifer Hakes said she wasn't aware that any videos had been removed from the site.
Al-Zarqawi speaks in clip
On Google Video, for instance, a six-minute video clip shows dozens of US military vehicles exploding and bodies of US military personnel flying in the air.
The clip ends with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who led al-Qaida in Iraq until his death on June 7, shooting a gun and addressing the camera in Arabic.
The company's policy states: "Our current policy regarding content on Google Video is that we are not required to host or display uploaded content. Google Video may refuse to host or allow links to content that violates its policies.
"However, we believe in making as much content available to users as possible, and we encourage user uploads from all genres."
Major Matt McLaughlin, spokesperson for the US central command, also known as Centcom, said: "All manner of fact and fiction is posted to the internet.
"Centcom believes that the information consumer can sort the wheat from the chaff, and yes, of course the nature of our free society allows for unpleasant and disquieting images to be viewed by many."
- AP