Lets Not Forget The Other Scandal Concerning Iraq

While many are concentrating their efforts on the Downing Street Memo, let's not allow this to drop off the radar screen either. From Common Dreams In case you don't remember the incident in question, it occurred back in 2003 during the initial assault on Iraq at the beginning of the invasion. At that time, a U.S. tank fired on a hotel that was well known for housing most members of the foreign press, Journalists, and their cameramen and women. These actions caused the death of a Spanish Cameraman, Jose Couso and Reuters cameraman Taras Protsiuk. Several other people were injured by a shell fired on the Palestine Hotel in the Iraqi capital on April 8, 2003, in the U.S.-led war to topple Saddam Hussein As was to be expected (since this administration never admits to anything that could possibly show their responsibility let alone possible complicity to anything), The Pentagon said it found no fault with the soldiers actions. But The High Court Judge Santiago Pedraz wants to question the three men who were in the tank, a court official said on Tuesday. Judge Pedraz can only investigate the death of the Spanish cameraman because the Spanish court would only have jurisdiction in the death of a Spanish citizen. Pedraz's investigation stems from a complaint brought by the Couso family, so on Tuesday he agreed to send a request for U.S. cooperation in the investigation, but he is still only in the initial stages of the criminal investigation and several steps away from bringing charges. The soldiers would be questioned as suspects for murder and for crimes against the international community, which carry sentences of 15 to years in jail and 10 to 15 years respectively. In order to expedite the matter and in a spirit of full cooperation from the Spanish Government and its' Judiciary, The judge is even willing to travel to the United States to obtain the soldiers' statements. Of course, and as expected, the Pentagon continues to stonewall as usual concluding that U.S.-led forces bore "no fault or negligence." in the matter. The report released in August of 2003 by the Pentagon ruled that American forces acted "in an appropriate manner" when they fired into the hotel, but the full report was classified. This immediately raises suspicions in my mind, since this is the usual modus operandi used by this Administration when trying to hide the truth. They usually classify it, and usually under the guise of that old tried and true maneuver (national security). .Spanish journalists stand behind their cameras as they stage a protest April 9, 2003, in front of Madrid's U.S. embassy against the killing of Spanish cameraman Jose Couso, 37, from Spain's Telecinco television network. A U.S. tank fired on a Baghdad hotel packed with foreign journalists, killing two cameramen, and prompting an outcry from media watchdog groups demanding an investigation. Cameramen from Reuters and Spanish television died and three other Reuters staff were wounded in the shelling on Tuesday, soon after a journalist from al-Jazeera was killed in what the Arab television channel called a U.S. air strike on its office. Banner reads 'Couso, they hit us all.' REUTERS/Andrea Comas Legal sources say the U.S. Army is unlikely to grant access to the soldiers, and if the case ever got far enough to warrant arrests the soldiers could only be arrested in Spain, The New York-based committee To Protect Journalists obtained the 52-page report under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and said it strengthened its own finding that the hotel shelling could have been avoided. And once again, A U.S. Embassy spokesman had no immediate comment. Of course as has been shown about anything that comes out that doesn't put a happy face on King George and his group of sleaze-bags, the mainstream press will ignore this along with reporting about how Bush lied to get the US into war, how he is continuing to lie regarding the Downing Steet Memo, and of course the current stonewalling by the Administration over the situation with John Bolton.