By now, you've probably seen this latest piece of terrorist propaganda, which purports to show a single jihadist blowing up a Bradley fighting vehicle.
When I first saw the video, I had my suspicisions. Something about the footage, indeed, the entire incident seemed fake. A Bradley sitting idly, apparently uncrewed and unguarded? Where are the tread tracks? How was the cameraman able to remain in that position for an extended period of time (assuming that there was a firefight after the explosion.
Could the terrorist fake the video? It apparently came from a "production house" that supports the terrorist cause, so the answer to that question seems to be yes. Admittedly, most of my broadcast and video production experience is pre-digital (by more years than I'd like to admit), but I've spent enough time in editing suites to understand that you can do some pretty remarkable things with a few snippets of video and an Avid.
Over at the Belmont Club, Wretchard has an excellent discussion of the video, and numerous posts from readers who point out obvious flaws in the "production." One reader (named Tony) notes that a Bradley is about 10 feet tall, from the bottom of its treads to the top of the turret. Using that scale, the terrorist who places the explosives beneath the Bradley is no taller than the vehicle's headlights, no more than 3-4 feet off the ground.
Jihadi midgets? Nah, just a bunch of terrorists who need better production values.
2 comments:
"In Shiite-controlled eastern Baghdad, a U.S. Bradley fighting vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb Saturday evening, set afire and destroyed, said spokesman Maj. Steven Lamb said. There were no casualties." -AP, March 21, 2007
The location in that story doesn't match the terrorist tape. In the propaganda video, the attack is said to have occurred in western Anbar Province, well away from the Shiite neighborhoods of eastern Baghdad.
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