Just Foreign Policy Iraqi Death Estimator    

Friday, June 24, 2005

This is Exhibit A in support of "Dead Messengers:
How the U.S. Military Threatens Journalists.

"Part I Hearing What Eason Jordan Said
Part II Army Failed to Probe Its Attack on Palestine Hotel
Part III Targeting the Media the American Way
Part IV But What About Al-Jazeera?

Two Murders and a Lie
By Reporters Without Borders
Thursday 15 January 2004

An investigation of the US Army's firing at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on 8 April 2003.

Reporters Without Borders called today for the reopening of the enquiry into who was really responsible for the US Army's "criminal negligence" in shooting at the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on 8 April 2003 and causing the death of two journalists - Ukrainian cameramen Taras Protsyuk (of Reuters news agency) and Spaniard José Couso (of the Spanish TV station Telecinco)

.The call came in a report of the press freedom organisation's own in-depth investigation of the incident, which gathered evidence from journalists in the hotel at the time, from others "embedded" with US Army units and from the US military soldiers and officers directly involved

.The report said US officials at first lied about what happened and then, in an official statement four months later, exonerated the US Army from any mistake or error of judgement.

The report provides only some of the truth about the incident, which needs to be further investigated to establish exactly who was responsible.

Pentagon spokespersons said right from the start that an M1 Abrams tank opened fire on the hotel in legitimate self-defence in response to "enemy fire" coming from the hotel or the area around it.

This line was maintained and emphasised at the highest official level in the days that followed.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/022505A.shtml

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