Group tied to Al-Qaida posts video

A U.S. military spokesman said he was outraged by the video.
WASHINGTON POST
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An insurgent group posted a video on the Internet Wednesday purporting to show the flaming wreckage of an American Apache helicopter that was shot down last weekend. In the footage, men could be seen dragging away what appeared to be the burning body of a pilot.
The U.S. military said in a statement that it could not confirm that the footage showed the crash scene of an AH-64D Apache Longbow that was presumed shot down outside of Baghdad on Saturday.
"Although reports of a Web site video suggest that terrorists removed part of a body from the crash site, the authenticity of the video cannot be confirmed," the statement said.
The Mujaheddin Shura Council, an insurgent group closely tied to Al-Qaida in Iraq, released the video along with a statement asserting responsibility for shooting down the helicopter at about 5:30 p.m. Saturday near Yusufiyah, about 15 miles southwest of the capital.
What was shown
The footage was blurry and wobbly but showed what appeared to be the burning carcass of a helicopter in a field. At one point, several men were shown dragging what appeared to be a smoldering, flaming body from the wreckage. Several of the men were armed with AK-47 assault rifles.
"We are outraged that anyone would create and publish such a despicable video for public exposure," a U.S. military spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Withington, said in a statement. "The terrorists continue to demonstrate their immoral disregard for human dignity and life."
In a statement released Sunday, the military said the helicopter "went down due to possible hostile fire" while "conducting a combat air patrol." The statement confirmed the deaths of the two pilots and said their remains had been recovered.
The statement on Wednesday said the military "confirmed the recovery of all available remains found on the scene given the catastrophic nature of the crash."
The two pilots were identified as Timothy Moshier, 25, of Albany, N.Y., and Chief Warrant Officer (CW3) Michael L. Hartwick, 37, of Orrick, Mo.