Target Centermass

Category: Middle East

  • Iraq Kidnap Reports May Be Exaggerated

    Stories of mass kidnappings in a small, divided Iraqi town flew through the media Saturday. Now, one day later, it looks as if reports of huge numbers of hostages among the residents of Madain were overblown, if not almost entirely fictional.

    Iraqi security forces backed by U.S. troops had the town of Madain surrounded Sunday after reports of Sunni militant kidnappings of as many as 100 Shiite residents, but there were growing indications the incident had been grossly exaggerated, perhaps an outgrowth of a tribal dispute or political maneuvering.

    The town of about 1,000 families, evenly divided between Shiites and Sunnis, sits about 15 miles south of the capital in what the U.S. military has called the “Triangle of Death” because it has become a roiling stronghold of the militant insurgency.

    An AP photographer and television cameraman who were in or near the town Sunday said large numbers of Iraqi forces had sealed it off, supported by U.S. forces farther away outside Madain.

    The cameraman said he toured the town Sunday morning. People were going about their business normally, shops were open and tea houses were full, he said. Residents contacted by telephone also said everything was normal in Madain.

    And American military officials said they were unaware of any U.S. role in what had been described as a tense sectarian standoff in which the Sunni militants were threatening to kill their Shiite captives if all other Shiites did not leave the town.

    […]

    The confusion over Madain illustrated how quickly rumors spread in a country of deep ethnic and sectarian divides, where the threat of violence is all too real. Poor telephone communications, and the difficulty of traveling from one town to the next because of daily attacks on the roads make it difficult even for government officials to establish the facts.

    National Security Minister Qassim Dawoud warned Parliament on Sunday of attempts to draw the country into sectarian war and said three battalions of Iraqi soldiers, police and U.S. forces were sent to Madain. He said the Iraqi military was planning a large-scale assault on the region by week’s end.

    […]

    Iraq’s most influential Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, urged government officials to resolve the crisis peacefully, his office said.

    […]

    Also on Sunday, Sheikh Abdul Salam al-Kubaisi, a spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, an organization of Sunni clerics, denied hostages had been taken in Madain. “This news is completely untrue,” he told al-Jazeera television.

    Even al-Quida in Iraq, a group oh so eager to claim part in any or all hardship, has denied involvement and called the reports of mass hostages fabrications.

    Whatever happened in Madain began Thursday when Shiite leaders claimed Sunni militants seriously damaged a town mosque in a bomb attack. The next day, the Shiites said, masked militants drove through town, capturing Shiites residents and threatened to kill them unless all Shiites left.

    Shiite leaders and government officials had earlier estimated 35 to 100 people were taken hostage, but residents disputed the claim, with some saying they had seen no evidence any hostages were taken.

    Security forces began raiding sites Saturday in search of those abducted, Dawoud said.

    The story does illustrate the confusion of war-time reporting, especially when the media seem all too willing to report troublesome rumors as certain news.

  • Soldiers Cleared in Sgrena Shooting … or Not

    From MSNBC (hat tip to the Jawa Report):

    Report Clears U.S. in Friendly Fire Incident

    The friendly fire shooting at a U.S. military checkpoint last month in Baghdad wounded Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and killed intelligence agent Nicola Calipari.

    Now, NBC News has learned that a preliminary report from a joint U.S.-Italian investigation has cleared the American soldiers of any wrongdoing and provides new details into the shooting.

    […]

    It was dark when the Italians turned onto a ramp leading to the airport road where the U.S. military had set up a temporary checkpoint.

    The investigation found the car was about 130 yards from the checkpoint when the soldiers flashed their lights as a warning to stop. But the car kept coming and, at 90 yards, warning shots were fired. At 65 yards, when the car failed to stop, the soldiers used lethal force — a machine gun burst that killed Calipari and wounded Sgrena and the driver.

    Senior U.S. military officials say it took only about four seconds from the first warning to the fatal shots, but insist the soldiers acted properly under the current rules of engagement.

    The investigation failed, however, to resolve one critical dispute: The Americans claim the car was racing toward the checkpoint at about 50 miles per hour, the Italians say it was traveling at a much slower speed.

    Wait, the Associated Press says not yet:

    Italy, U.S. Disagree Over Agent Shooting

    Reluctance by Italian investigators to accept the U.S. version of the killing of an Italian security agent by American troops in Iraq last month is holding up the conclusion of a joint inquiry into the shooting, Italian newspapers said Thursday.

    Also Thursday, the U.S. State Department said the investigation was ongoing and denied an NBC report that the U.S.-Italian commission had completed a preliminary report clearing the Americans of any wrongdoing in the killing.

    […]

    “Anyone asserting that conclusions have been reached, or anyone claiming that conclusions have been reached, and they know what they are, must be misinformed,” State Department press officer Thomas Casey said.

    Casey noted that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had said on Wednesday after a meeting Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini that the most important thing was to do the investigation right, not to do it fast.

    An Italian Foreign Ministry official said the commission was continuing its work. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to comment on the reports of a clash among the investigators.

    For once, she of the ever–changing story is quiet:

    Sgrena: I Won’t Comment on Leaks

    “We’ll keep doing whatever we can to find out what happened on March 4 near Baghdad’s airport” Giuliana Sgrena said speaking in the offices of the Province of Rome where she is taking part in a demonstration promoted by the Press Federation to call for the release of Florence Aubese, the correspondent of French newspaper ‘Liberation’ who was kidnapped in Iraq 100 days ago. Giuliana Sgrena chose not to comment the first leaks from the Italy-US Investigating Committee (“I’ll comment only on the conclusions of final official sources”).

    Well, if her version that mentioned 300 to 400 rounds fired or her version where she scooped shells off the seat were true, this would’ve been a pretty cut-and-dried investigation.

    Keep quiet, liar.

  • Dying for Another Tet II

    After the second recent attack on Abu Ghraib, I blogged that the terrorists were trying to use the dramatic attacks to create another Tet.

    The terrorists, despite vows to the contrary, had to watch an Iraqi citizenry give the finger to fear and vote for their own future. The attacks against U.S. troops have repeatedly failed and casualties are declining. It is time for the terrorists to turn back to the Viet Nam playbook – they need another Tet.

    Now, one week and another glorious failure by the terrorists, this one an assault on a Marine encampment near the Syrian border, columnist Austin Bay reaches the same conclusion.

    While bomb attacks on unarmed Iraqi civilians continue (particularly against Shiites), public opinion now matters in Iraq, and the thugs’ public slaughters have killed too many Iraqi innocents. January’s election dramatically lifted public morale and changed the media focus — suddenly, democracy looks possible, and an Arab Muslim democracy is Al Qaeda’s worst nightmare.

    Hence the “Tet gamble.” Bombs haven’t cowed the Iraqi people — but perhaps the American people will lose heart and buckle if Al Qaeda concocts a military surprise.

    U.S. forces, however, are “hard targets” — unlike civilians standing in line to vote, U.S. troops shoot back. Since 9-11, Al Qaeda has never won a military engagement at the platoon level (30 men) or higher. Coalition forward operating bases are heavily fortified.

    But the Tet fantasy is so compelling.

    Go give it a read. Hat tip to In the Bullpen‘s Chad Evans, who adds some solid insight to expand on Bay’s column.

    Al Qaida is not just losing because they are outnumbered, have inferior technology to that of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers, rely on old weaponry funneled in through Iraq’s borders, the fighters have the marksmanship of a virgin hunter, are suffering from heat exhaustion because they have to hide their identity or even because they have had their leaders captured or killed at an alarming rate. Most importantly, Al Qaida and similar terrorist groups are losing in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the entire world because the world public rejects their ideology of hatred.

  • Shareholders Vote Down Bulldozer Resolution

    Well, this is an abrupt end to an attempt to have far-left politics intrude on a business.

    Caterpillar Incorporated officials say their shareholders have soundly rejected a resolution that would have directed the company to investigate the use of its bulldozers by the Israeli army.
    The resolution was defeated today at the heavy equipment manufacturer’s annual meeting 97 percent to three percent.

    It stated that Israel has used Caterpillar equipment to destroy more than three-thousand Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since 2000.

    The fact the the vote was such an overwhelming landslide merely demonstrates it wasn’t a matter of bottom line vs. social justice, but rather a case of rationality vs. lunacy.

  • Poland Sets Date for Iraq Pullout

    There’s no real news here, other than a fairly certain timetable for the Poles’ withdrawal from their involvement on the ground in Iraq.

    Ending months of uncertainty over the precise timing, Poland announced Tuesday that it would withdraw all its troops from Iraq once the United Nations mandate for the multinational force expires in December.

    Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said the cabinet had decided to bring home the 1,700 troops, but he left open the possibility that the mission could be extended if the United Nations mandate were renewed.

    “At the time of the expiry of the Security Council’s mandate, meaning at the end of 2005, the operations of the Polish stabilization mission should be finished,” Szmajdzinski said after the cabinet meeting. He said that Prime Minister Marek Belka’s government would not in the meantime be committing troops to any new missions.

    This has been expected for some time. When a planned withdrawal was first announced, I expressed my gratitude for the Poles’ strong contribution (and have repeatedly called for them to be rewarded as a true ally). Now I thank them for withholding a timetable until significant progress had been made on the ground and in the Iraqi government.

    Today’s article goes on to show why I admire the Polish commitment and efforts — the motives have been as noble as the service.

    Poland’s decision to support the U.S.-led war in Iraq and then provide military assistance annoyed several of its European Union partners. But similar to other former communist countries, Poland said its own experiences of living under dictatorship influenced its decision to back the ousting of the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, and later provide military assistance and training.

    Additionally, the central and east European countries, some of which joined the NATO military alliance in 1999 and others last April, were much more Atlanticist than some EU countries, particularly France and Germany, which led opposition in Europe to the war in Iraq.

    What’s more, the Poles aren’t washing their hands of the matter, realizing that success in Iraq has long-term implications for Europe and the globe.

    But Poland said it would continue to be involved in helping NATO train Iraqi officers both inside and outside Iraq. A NATO spokesman said Tuesday that more than 1,000 Iraqi officers would be trained by the alliance inside the country during this year and a further 500 officers trained outside in military academies in several countries, including Germany.

    “All NATO countries in one way or other are involved in the training,” said the spokesman.

  • Rummy Warns Iraq Not to Purge Security

    Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld cautioned the new Iraqi government to not go the route of a mass purge of Sunnis and those affiliated with the Ba’ath party from the country’s fledgeling security forces.

    The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, delivered a thinly veiled warning to Iraq’s government yesterday not to purge the security forces or abuse its power for patronage.

    On a visit to Baghdad Mr Rumsfeld signalled US disapproval of any attempt to sweep Arab Sunnis and former members of the Ba’ath party from the police and army.

    The Shia and Kurdish blocs that will dominate the new administration want to install their supporters in the security services and oust those who served under Saddam Hussein. But Mr Rumsfeld said, in effect, that such people were among the best qualified to tackle the insurgency.

    “It’s important that the new government be attentive to the competence of the people in the ministries and that they avoid unnecessary turbulence.”

    […]
    Mr Rumsfeld used his visit to lobby the newly appointed Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, and Shia prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, over key issues. Having won the election and sealed their political ascendance after decades of oppression many Shia and Kurdish politicians want their rebel militias to take a leading role in the state security forces.

    They mistrust interior and defence ministry officials left over from Saddam’s time and accuse some of them of leaking intelligence to an insurgency drawn largely from the Arab Sunni minority.

    Critics say the “deba’athification” process could become a sectarian witchhunt against Sunnis who have the experience lacking in the hastily recruited security forces.

    With the interior and defence ministries offering vast scope for patronage there is also concern that a purge could be an excuse to dole out jobs and contracts to cronies.

    “We have an opportunity to continue to make progress politically, economically … anything that would delay that or disrupt that as a result of turbulence, or lack of confidence or corruption in government, would be unfortunate,” said Mr Rumsfeld.

    Mr Jaafari responded politely but vaguely: “I am sure we are going to form very good ministries. So I think we can cooperate, all of us, and face these challenges successfully.”

    The leading paragraph, with its talk of a “thinly veiled warning,” comes across more harshly than the rest of the story, but that’s the best chance for a reporter to color the news.

    Rummy’s words seem wise — a mass purge or a move to squeeze out Sunnis would be a horrid move, both in terms of public stability and loss of competence. However, the Iraqi government has, to date, been extremely inclusive in its formation, and there is no reason yet to think that this will not continue. Admittedly, I am certain the security forces still contain many of questionable loyalty that should be investigated, watched and possibly removed. However, that does not conflict with Rummy’s wise cautioning against mass purges along religious or political lines.

  • Iraq Ambassador Urges Lifting Sanctions

    When the United Nations meets reality in Iraq — and rational arguments — the wheels of progess just seem to grind to a halt.

    Iraq’s U.N. ambassador urged the Security Council on Monday to lift the arms embargo and economic restrictions it imposed on Saddam Hussein’s government, calling them “shackles and burdens” on Iraq’s fledgling democracy.

    Samir Sumaidaie said Iraq’s new transitional leaders want the council to end the use of Iraqi oil revenue to pay U.N. weapons inspectors and to dismantle other legal and bureaucratic restrictions “which have outlived their relevance.”

    Sounds reasonable.

    Officially, Sumaidaie noted, Iraqi imports are still subject to inspection — a restriction that can only be lifted by the Security Council, along with the arms embargo imposed after Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

    “We must not be kept waiting (and paying) month after month,” he told council members. “Iraq is a fledgling democracy committed to the rule of law, both internationally and domestically. As such, it has the legitimate right to expect to be treated like any other member state.”

    Sounds reasonable.

    Last month, Sumaidaie complained that more than $12 million annually in Iraqi oil money is going to the U.N. commission charged with chemical, biological and missile inspections and $12.3 million in the next two years to the International Atomic Energy Agency for nuclear inspectors.

    The U.N. and IAEA inspectors left Iraq just before the March 2003 U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein, and the United States has barred them from returning.

    The two bureaucracies “are doing absolutely nothing that is relevant to Iraq” and the money should be going to the Iraqi people for reconstruction, he said.

    Sounds reasonable.

    China’s U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said lifting the arms embargo on Iraq should be considered “as we see this political process moving forward,” and he said decisions on the future of U.N. inspectors will be made “in the next few months.”

    Why wait months after all of these reasonable points? Oh yeah, it’s the bureaucratic-rich communist China exercising their influence over the bureaucratic-rich UN.

    The Security Council welcomed the selection of Iraq’s transitional leaders and called for the early approval of ministers and a quick start to the drafting of a constitution.

    Sumaidaie said the assembly will soon start preparations for writing a constitution and expects to conclude the process by the end of the year with elections for the country’s first constitutionally elected government.

    “Now that Iraqis have had their first taste of freedom they will not be denied it,” he said.

    Damn that virus that is democratic exression and freedom. Well, that explains China’s problem.

    Sumaidaie said the United Nations had appointed Fink Haysom, a South African lawyer who formerly advised Nelson Mandela, to be lead U.N. constitutional adviser for Iraq. U.N. officials had not announced Haysom’s appointment because Iraqi leaders had yet to accept it, U.N. Associate spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

    Acting U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson, speaking on behalf of the more than 130,000-strong U.S.-led multinational force from 27 countries, urged the United Nations to play a greater role in promoting a national dialogue in Iraq and building consensus on the new constitution.

    Did the AP just say multinational? Did they point out 27 current participants in the coalition? I thought this was a unilateral action. Damn, looks like the U.S. missed out on its chance to be the imperialistic bastards they were so widely proclaimed.

    “We would like to see the U.N. expand implementation of its responsibilities for economic and humanitarian reconstruction assistance,” she added, urging a robust U.N. presence in the northern city of Irbil and the southern city of Basra where the world body established a small presence in February.

    Sumaidaie criticized the United Nations for “going overboard” with security concerns. “Especially for Irbil and Basra, there is really not justification for such caution,” he said.

    U.N. envoy Ashraf Qazi said the United Nations hope a review currently under way will lead to an increased U.N. presence in Irbil and Basra.

    I really have little to add after my injections except that it is just another statement to the sadness that is the UN — events so far outstrip and so quickly outpace the UN’s ordained concepts, but yet reality continues progressing.

  • What I’m Reading Tonight

    Hey, as a proud member of the Coalition of Unpaid Bloggers, I have long reserved the right to remember this is just a hobby.

    I’ve looked for stories to blog about and, while some have been interesting enough to read, none have gripped me enough to comment on them tonight. That said, I’ll leave you with the stories that came close.

    Sadr Loyalists Plan Campaign to Oust US

    Iraqi President Foresees US Troop Withdrawal Within 2 Years

    The Chinese-Japanese Cold War

    States Scramble to Defend Military Bases from Closing (this topic I expect to blog on as the process continues)

  • Signs of Division in Iraq Insurgency

    In an amazing breakthrough, the Associated Press is reporting of sharp divisions and breakdowns among those who are fighting against a forward-moving Iraq.

    There are growing signs of hostility between secular Iraqi insurgents and Muslim extremists — some of them foreigners — fighting under the banner of al-Qaida.

    The factions have exchanged threats and are increasingly divided over the strategy of violence, much of it targeting civilians, that aims undermine the fragile new government.

    The increased tension, critically, arises as the mainstream component of the Sunni Arab-led insurgency — which remains active, deadly and vibrant nearly two years since it began — has opened a campaign designed to reap political gain out of its violent roots.

    Post-election realities appear to have forced the tactical change as majority Shiites and Kurds consolidate power and the population grows increasingly angry over the largely Sunni-driven insurgency that is killing vast numbers of ordinary people and the country’s fledgling army and police force.

    Well, the AP can’t give up the ghost just yet. I want to point out that I question the following choices of phrasing: “Muslim extremists — some of them foreigners”, “fragile new government”, and “killing vast numbers.” All three of the emphasized words imply an unidentified scale or opinionated wording that could have been either substantiated or phrased in a more neutral manner.

    “You see a withering of the insurgents that had a short-term agenda, like preventing the January election. But the insurgency is not unraveling yet,” said Peter Khalil, former director
    of national security policy for the now-defunct U.S.-led occupation authority in Iraq.

    Now let me selectively quote and add my own punctuation: “You see a withering of the insurgents … but the insurgency is not unraveling … yet.”

    The divide among militants, however, is becoming more noticeable.

    In Ramadi, the capital of Anbar Province and a stronghold of the insurgency, homegrown Iraqi fighters have begun recently to air their differences in menacing fliers plastered on walls and distributed in mosques — making threats and denouncing the tactics of the extremists, according to witnesses who have seen the fliers.

    Some of the fliers threaten reprisals against the militants or threaten to inform police of their identity and whereabouts. The extremists have not publicly responded, but residents say the fighters have kept a low profile since the appearance of the fliers in the Euphrates-side city and that some of them may have moved to the outskirts to avoid clashes.

    Implicit in my bolded portion is an open admission of the growing authority of the Iraqi police forces.

    Ramadi’s insurgents argue that al-Qaida fighters are giving the resistance a bad name and demand they stop targeting civilians and kidnappings. Al-Qaida militants counter that Iraqis who join the army and police are “apostates” — Muslims who renounce their faith — and deserve to be killed.

    “They have tarnished our image and used the jihad to make personal gains,” said Ahmed Hussein, a 30-year-old mosque imam from Ramadi, speaking of al-Qaida fighters. “They have no legitimacy,” said Hussein, who claims insurgency links but says he’s not a fighter himself.

    Not that your image was all that great outside the Arab world anyway, Ahmed. Too long have y’all silently, seemingly condoned kidnappings, beheadings and butchery for your cause.

    In Baghdad’s mainly Sunni Azamiyah district, another insurgency hotbed, residents have repeatedly brought down from walls and street light poles the black banners of al-Qaida in Iraq.

    Repeatedly, but never reported until now.

    Iraq’s newly elected president, Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani, urged insurgents to sit down and talk with the new government, but he’s made it clear his offer is exclusively available to homegrown Iraqi insurgents and not to extremists or foreign fighters.

    “We must find political and peaceful solutions with those duped Iraqis who have been involved in terrorism and pardon them, and invite them to join the democratic process,” Talabani said Thursday as he was sworn in at parliament. “But we must firmly counter and isolate the criminal terrorism that’s imported from abroad and is allied with criminal Baathists.”

    Even the AP is now admitting a wedge exists among the opposition. This is an excellent way for the Iraqi government to slam a mallet against that wedge.

    Ideological or tactical shifts within the insurgency are difficult to gauge because of the secrecy surrounding it and the different, sometime conflicting, agendas of its disparate groups — with the majority of homegrown insurgents hardcore members of Saddam’s Baath party, former members of his army and security forces as well as religious nationalists.

    Associated Press reporters in the insurgency strongholds of Ramadi, Baqouba and Samarra say there have been fewer attacks in those towns in recent weeks. They also report rising hostility toward militants associated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian al-Qaida leader in Iraq.

    U.S. defense officials say nationwide attacks were down to 40-45 a day in recent weeks, lower than the pre-election daily average of 50-60.

    The change was apparent after the Jan. 30 elections, with the number of U.S. soldiers killed dropping from 58 in February to 33 in March — the lowest monthly death toll since 20 American soldiers were killed in February 2004, according to an Associated Press count.

    Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed news reports in Arab media that factions of the insurgency may be indirectly negotiating with authorities to lay down their arms in return for amnesty, jobs and reconstruction money. The Iraqi government has not commented.

    I’ve blogged before about the declining casualties and the admission among the Sunnis of their strategic blunder to generally avoid the elections. It’s nice to see the AP slowly catching up to the obvious.

    It’s also good to see our Iraqi opponents, smelling blood in the water, beginning to turn on the foreign radicals and Saddamists holdouts.

    Okay, maybe they aren’t smelling blood in the water. Maybe they are finally seeing the writing on the wall.

  • When the Journalists Become the News

    Here’s a news flash — a good number of them aren’t on our side, or even just neutrally out to get a story.

    CBS Stringer Arrested in Iraq

    A CBS stringer has been arrested as a suspected insurgent, U.S. military officials said Friday.

    The video cameraman was wounded during a firefight in northeastern Mosul between U.S. troops and insurgents Tuesday.

    U.S. military officials said the man’s camera held footage of a number of roadside bomb attacks against American troops, and they believe he was tipped off to those attacks.

    A U.S. military statement said troops believe the man “poses an imperative threat to coalition forces” and that he “will be processed as any other security detainee.”

    Greyhawk at the Mudville Gazette has been on this story since it first broke this afternoon, including a number of updates from several sources showing the morphing media coverage of the incident.

    According to CBS when he was shot he was a “cameraman employed by CBS News” shot “while working” – when he was arrested he was “A cameraman carrying CBS press credentials.”

    Wow.

    Chad at In the Bullpen chimes in with his two cents.

    While journalists have every right to roam the country-side of Iraq looking for stories, doing so without an extensive bodyguard escort or through embedding with the enemy who are firing upon U.S. soldiers has proven time and time again to be rather foolish.

    Are the journalists actually embedding with the terrorists? Dr. Rusty Shackleford at the Jawa Report thinks a couple of the recently-named Pulitzer winners prove it.

    Everyone Is Looking At the Wrong Pulitzer Prize Photos

    The Washington Times does a half-ass job of questioning the Pulitzer Prize in this editorial. The article raises important questions, but like most of the blogosphere and those in conservative circles, they examine a single photo.

    But there were 20 photos in the series. As we have been arguing from the beginning, what is troubling is the totality of the story those photos show. The story those photos tell is of an empowered insurgency, demoralized U.S. troops, and American brutality.

    Several of the photos are disgusting, such as the one in question which shows the execution of Iraqi election officials and another which shows the residents of Fallujah celebrating the murder of American civilians as their charred bodies hang from a bridge, but it may be the case that these photos were taken by Iraqi photojournalists who were anonymously tipped off or who just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

    We have also noted in the past that the photo in question is not nearly as damning as two others which clearly indicate something like ’embedding’ with the isurgency is (or was) going on with AP stringers in Iraq.

    Go look — the photos make a pretty persuasive case that not only were the photogs with the insurgents but also were quite willing to try to capture those trying to kill Americans in a brave or noble light.

    Perhaps, with all this, today wasn’t the best day for journalists to push their luck with the U.S. military. But they did anyway.

    Journalists Seek Info on 2003 Iraq Deaths

    The International Federation of Journalists on Friday urged U.S. officials to provide credible evidence American troops did not intentionally kill two television cameramen at a Baghdad hotel in 2003.

    The two were killed April 8, 2003, when an American tank fired at the Palestine Hotel, where scores of journalists were based during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. U.S. officials insist the soldiers believed they were being shot at when they opened fire.

    Jose Couso, cameraman for Spanish television network Telecinco, and Taras Protsyuk, Ukrainian TV cameraman for Reuters, were killed by the U.S. tank.

    But critics say the journalists were targeted by U.S. troops moving in on Baghdad, and the IFJ said Friday a report on the killings was a “whitewash.”

    In a letter to President Bush, IFJ General Secretary Aidan White wrote, “the United States stands accused of failing to meet its obligations to deliver justice and fair treatment to the victims of violence by its own soldiers.”

    Following the Palestine incident, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said American troops opened fire after drawing hostile fire from the hotel. He said a U.S. review of the incident found the of force was justified.

    Here’s a little tip for y’all journalists in a warzone: weapon fire may be fairly easy to see through a tank’s thermal sights, but press credentials are not.