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A Spanish court has thrown out murder charges against three US soldiers accused of killing a Spanish cameraman during the war in Iraq. Jose Couso, 37, died in April 2003 after a US tank fired on a hotel used by foreign journalists in Baghdad. Madrid's National Court dropped all charges, ruling there was "insufficient evidence" to continue with the trial. The court ruling underlined that the case was being definitively dismissed, with no further opportunity to appeal. US officials ignored two international arrest warrants issued for Sgt Thomas Gibson, Cpt Philip Wolford and Lt-Col Philip De Camp, in 2005 and...

Getting into a war zone to report live and do live shows takes some effort and flexibility. Here's the latest on Gunny Bob's expedition to Iraq. On 4 January, the Gunny will fly to Kuwait City via Beirut as it stands now, but that route could change. In any case, he should arrive in Kuwait on 6 January and them hopefully get a hop into Baghdad on 7 January. On 8 January, Gunny will join the 2nd Marine Division in Fallujah. He will stay there until the 10th or so for some live and taped interviews and reports, and then...

There's a new video about a terrorist plan and attack that took place a few days ago. It shows the terrorist as they plan and then execute the bombing of two hotels in Baghdad. Can anyone find it? What's the URL?

A videotape posted Friday on the Internet claims to show how al-Qaida in Iraq carried out Oct. 24 suicide attacks on two Baghdad hotels that killed as many as 17 Iraqi pedestrians and security guards. The video purports to show the terror group rehearsing the attack, with a commander giving directions to bombers in a car. The video also shows the actual bombings, which the Internet posting says was filmed by al-Qaida. The 13-minute video is called "Badr Raid," after a famous victory by Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Its authenticity could not be verified but it appeared on an Islamic Web...

Jack Kelly: Reservation for terror The media missed the story on the Baghdad hotel attack Sunday, October 30, 2005 Al-Qaida has claimed credit for a large, sophisticated attack Monday on the two hotels in Baghdad where most foreign journalists and many defense contractors stay.           The attack failed, but it was a near-run thing. The Palestine and Sheraton hotels are across a short street from each other, adjacent to Firdous Square, a traffic roundabout where the statue of Saddam Hussein was torn down on April 9, 2003. The attack involved three suicide bombers and an unknown...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A U.S. soldier shot and killed one of three suicide bombers who attacked the Palestine Hotel complex before he could reach his intended target and that probably saved lives in the building, the military said Saturday. In a statement on Monday's attack, the military confirmed for the first time that insurgents on the ground apparently lent support to the suicide bombers with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades in the well-coordinated strike on the hotel complex, where many foreign journalists live and work. The three powerful explosions killed 17 Iraqis who were in the area at the...

The US military in Iraq has released new information about a triple vehicle attack near Baghdad's Palestine Hotel complex, a base for many foreign journalists work. The October 24 attack killed 17 Iraqis and wounded several reporters. In a statement on Saturday US officials said that a soldier guarding the complex had probably saved many more lives at the hotel by killing the bomber before he could reach the entrance of the building and set off his explosives. "He was trying to kill people," said the soldier involved, Specialist Darrell Greens. "It was good we stopped him because he would...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. soldier shot and killed one of three suicide bombers who attacked the Palestine Hotel complex before he could reach his intended target and that probably saved lives in the building, the military said Saturday. The military also said the insurgents used small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in their well-coordinated strike on the hotel complex, where many foreign journalists live and work. Several people in the complex were wounded but all 17 people killed were Iraqis in the area at the time, the government said.

Updated: 15:44, Monday October 24, 2005 Three powerful blasts have reportedly rocked Baghdad near a hotel occupied by foreign journalists.The explosions scattered debris over a wide area near the Palestine and Sheraton hotels and sent smoke rising into the sky.More follows...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2005 – A combination of rockets and car bombs exploded near the outer walls of the Palestine and Sheraton hotels in downtown Baghdad today, military officials reported. A statement from Multinational Force Iraq said civilian casualties have yet to be determined, but that no coalition forces were injured in the attack. Iraqi security forces and coalition forces are securing the area and bringing order to the bombing site, the statement said. Reportedly, a number of Western journalists stay at the Palestine Hotel. In other Iraq news, Iraqi army troops detained two men and their stash of ordnance...

The Palestine and Sheraton hotels were the world's windows on Baghdad during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Television reporters stood on rooftops of the side-by-side hotels for their live shots, using a nearby blue-domed mosque in Firdous Square as a backdrop. Photographers took pictures of smoldering palaces from the hotels' upper floors. And Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf gained international fame for his absurd claims of Iraqi military victories - all delivered from a Palestine Hotel banquet room. The Palestine was shelled on April 8, 2003, by a U.S. tank from across the Tigris River. Soldiers said they believed...

This from Fox News:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,173192,00.html "BAGHDAD, Iraq — Three massive vehicle bombs exploded Monday near the Palestine Hotel (search), home to many Western journalists, killing at least 20 people. Dramatic TV pictures showed one of the bombers driving a cement truck through the concrete blast walls that guard the hotel, then blowing up his vehicle. Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie (search), said the attack — which appeared well-planned — was a "very clear" effort to take over the hotel and seize journalists as hostages." So I wonder - does this mean the press is going to start trash talking Insurgents...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three massive vehicle bombs exploded Monday near the Palestine Hotel, home to many Western journalists, killing at least 20 people. Dramatic TV pictures showed one of the bombers driving a cement truck through the concrete blast walls that guard the hotel, then blowing up his vehicle. Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, said the attack _ which appeared well-planned _ was a "very clear" effort to take over the hotel and seize journalists as hostages.One of the car bombs exploded near the police position on the northeast side of Firdous Square, where a statue of Saddam Hussein...

MADRID, Spain (CNN) -- A Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant Wednesday for three U.S. soldiers, charging them with murder in the death of Spanish TV cameraman Jose Couso in Baghdad, Iraq. Couso, who worked for Spain's Telecinco network, died at the Palestine Hotel on April 8, 2003, as U.S. forces advanced to take control of the city in April 2003. Investigating magistrate Santiago Pedraz of the National Court will seek the extradition of the soldiers to Spain, a court spokeswoman told CNN. They are wanted for "murder" and "a crime against the international community," according to the warrant,...

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish judge wants to question three U.S. soldiers as suspects in the death of a Spanish cameraman who was killed when a U.S. tank fired on a hotel housing foreign journalists during the 2003 assault on Baghdad. "It would be a very, very cold day in hell before that would ever happen," said a State Department official, who asked not to be named. The Pentagon has found no fault with the soldiers, but High Court Judge Santiago Pedraz wants to question the three men who were in the tank, a court official said on Tuesday. Telecinco...

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish judge wants to question three U.S. soldiers as suspects in the death of a Spanish cameraman who was killed when a U.S. tank fired on a hotel housing foreign journalists during the 2003 assault on Baghdad. The Pentagon has found no fault with the soldiers, but High Court Judge Santiago Pedraz wants to question the three men who were in the tank, a court official said on Tuesday. Telecinco cameraman Jose Couso and Reuters cameraman Taras Protsiuk died and several other people were injured by a shell fired on the Palestine Hotel in the Iraqi...

Don't Let U.S. Soldiers get Railroaded 3/27/05 By Defendingliberty Sgt Shawn Gibson, Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment. Who is he? He is the soldier that fired the tank round that hit the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad 4/8/03 killing two journalists . Amy Goodman’s Democracynow http://www.democracynow.org/ is pimping the theory that this was a war crime with an “Un-embed the Media Tour” 1 featuring Phil Donahue and others. The usual anti-war suspects are calling this “Murder “ and a “War Crime”. The brother of Spanish journalists (Jose Couso) killed in the attack will be taking his case to the...

Journalists' killers 'not being brought to justice' Dominic Timms Tuesday January 18, 2005 The culprits responsible for killing more than 100 journalists and other media workers worldwide last year are only half as likely to be caught as London burglars, a leading international press group claimed today. The International Federation of Journalists said most of the 129 deaths of media staff in 2004 - the highest on record - resulted from either "deliberate attacks" by gunmen, corrupt officials, armed gangs and governments, or "nervous, unruly and ill-disciplined soldiering". In most cases, the IFJ added, the killers were still at large....

KIEV (Reuters) - Family and friends of Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk gathered in Kiev on Thursday to mark a year since he was killed by U.S. troops in Baghdad amid calls on Washington to probe further the deaths of journalists in Iraq Protsyuk, a Ukrainian, and Jose Couso, a cameraman with Spanish television Telecinco, died when a U.S. tank fired a shell into the Palestine Hotel, where most foreign media were staying during the U.S.-led invasion. Couso's brother laid flowers in his memory in the Iraqi capital and demanded those responsible be brought to account. Tarek Ayoub, of Qatar-based Al...

Explosion heard in Baghdad.   Greg Palkot from the Sheraton Hotel in Baghdad, across from the Palestine Hotel:   "We are hearing that the explosion is to the south of us...took place in the southern part of Baghad, around the Karada district, this is a very busy area...certainly would be...busy tonight..." "We're told that there's a large plume of smoke coming from that area."   Confirmed..."in Karada...a base for other international bodies...in area of Al Hamra (sp) hotel, a base for int'l (operations)...(witness saw) "a rocket arc...could have been a rocket propelled grenade..or missile...a red arc....Helicopters in the air...gunfire, we've...

The Baghdad donkey bomb was a bust, but it - and rockets fired from donkey carts - showed an increasingly "adaptive" and "ingenious enemy," a U.S. commander said. Iraq rebels fired up to three rockets from a cart early yesterday at Baghdad's Palestine Hotel - home to many journalists and U.S. civilian workers - one of which missed and hit the nearby Sheraton, said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt. Almost simultaneously, at least seven rockets were fired from another cart at the Iraqi Oil Ministry, setting parts of it ablaze but injuring no one, he said. Two more rocket-armed carts...

Rockets on donkeys hit major Baghdad sites By P. MITCHELL PROTHERO Published 11/21/2003 11:13 AM View printer-friendly version BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Rockets fired from donkey-drawn carts struck two major hotels used by foreign journalists and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil Friday in a barrage that shook downtown Baghdad. The Palestine and Sheraton Hotels, which are adjacent, were hit by a series of rockets fired by one unmanned donkey-drawn cart in the central Saydoon neighborhood of Baghdad at about 7:15 a.m. At about the same time, another series of rockets - also fired from an unmanned cart -...

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Rockets fired from donkey-drawn carts struck two major hotels used by foreign journalists and the Iraqi Ministry of Oil Friday in a barrage that shook downtown Baghdad. The Palestine and Sheraton Hotels, which are adjacent, were hit by a series of rockets fired by one unmanned donkey-drawn cart in the central Saydoon neighborhood of Baghdad at about 7:15 a.m. At about the same time, another series of rockets - also fired from an unmanned cart - hit the Oil Ministry, igniting a fire on the fifth floor of the sprawling office building, which was...

Baghdad Rocket Attacks Are 'Militarily Insignificant' By Gerry J. GilmoreAmerican Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Nov. 21, 2003 – Unconventional rocket attacks that struck the Iraqi oil ministry and two hotels in Baghdad today indicate insurgents' increasing difficulty in carrying out assaults against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, according to a senior U.S. military officer. Donkey-cart-launched rockets hit the Palestine and Sheraton hotels as well as the ministry building, Army Brig. Gen. Mark T. Kimmitt, deputy director for operations for Combined Joint Task Force 7 in Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad press conference. "Clearly, the enemy has been taking...

Press Clips by Cynthia CottsThey Shoot Journeys, Don't They? CPJ Calls Hotel Palestine Deaths Avoidable June 4 - 10, 2003 New evidence suggests that a war crime may have taken place in Baghdad on April 8. That morning, Taras Protsyuk, a Ukraine-born cameraman employed by Reuters, was standing on the 15th-floor balcony of the Palestine Hotel. José Couso, an employee of the Spanish news company Telcinco, was filming from a balcony one floor below. Suddenly a U.S. tank less than a mile away fired a single round at the hotel, hitting the 15th-floor balcony. Protsyuk was found lying on his...

BAGHDAD - A large explosion in the centre of Baghdad on Friday could be felt kilometres away. A cloud of smoke was seen rising from the direction of Martyrs' Square, where the U.S. military has a base. Few details are yet available about the explosion. Witnesses felt the blast about six kilometres away at the Palestine Hotel.

Just reporting...no details at this time.

LONDON, Aug. 18 — International journalists' groups and Reuters demanded today that the American military hold a full public inquiry into the death of a Reuters cameraman who was fatally shot by American soldiers in Iraq on Sunday as he filmed outside a prison. The cameraman, Mazen Dana, 43, was the second Reuters journalist to be killed by American troops in Iraq since the invasion began on March 20. His colleague Taras Protsyuk, a Ukrainian usually based in Warsaw, died on April 8 when an American tank fired a shell at the Palestine Hotel, from which Mr. Protsyuk was filming...

WASHINGTON (AP)--A U.S. military investigation has concluded that U.S. soldiers who fired on a Baghdad hotel April 8, killing two journalists, had strong reason to believe that hostile forces were using the building to direct fire on the Americans, according to a U.S. defense official. The official, who had been briefed on the investigation's findings and discussed them on condition of anonymity, said members of the 3rd Infantry Division fired on what they believed to be an enemy spotter on a balcony of the Palestine Hotel, which was the main hotel used by war correspondents. Their actions were based on...

A US military investigation has concluded that the crew of a US tank acted properly when it fired on a Baghdad hotel filled with foreign journalists April 8, killing two television cameramen, US officials said.The investigation found that the tank fired at the Palestine Hotel because of reports a spotter was coordinating Iraqi fire from there, an official said.A Ukrainian cameraman for Reuters television, 35-year-old Taras Protsyuk, and a Spaniard working for the Spanish television network Telecinco, 37-year-old Jose Couso, were killed by the shell blast.Three other Reuters television journalists were wounded in the incident, which came amid heavy...

We got it wrong on hotel attack, admits Sky Ciar Byrne Wednesday June 25, 2003 Media coverage of the attack on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad that killed two television cameramen was "overblown" because journalists were at the centre of the story, BBC and Sky correspondents in the Iraqi capital have claimed. The head of Sky News, Nick Pollard, today told the MediaGuardian forum on war coverage that on the day of the attack on the hotel - the main centre for western journalists reporting the war - he decided after a few hours to stop running it as the...

Dead Journalist's Family Sues U.S. Troops .c The Associated Press MADRID, Spain (AP) - The family of a Spanish journalist - killed by a U.S. shell fired at a Baghdad hotel during the war in Iraq - has sued three U.S. soldiers, accusing them of war crimes and murder, a National Court official said Wednesday. The suit, filed Tuesday, is to be considered by investigative magistrate Guillermo Ruiz de Polanco, the court official said, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. Polanco will decide if there are sufficient grounds for a trial before any move is made to try to bring...

BERLIN (AFP) - US troops which fired on Baghdad's main hotel occupied by journalists, killing two, had called in fighter planes to bomb the building, a German journalist who witnessed the event said on Tuesday. "The tank commander called for support from the air. But he did not know the building was a hotel," said Ulrich Tilgner, on ZDF public television. It was a US journalist, "embedded" with the troops, who alerted them to the fact the Palestine Hotel was used as a base by the international media in Baghdad and the strike was called off, Tilgner said. The...

Report: Tank Captain Unaware of Baghdad Media HotelMon Apr 21,10:28 AM ETPARIS (Reuters) - The commander of a U.S. tank unit that hit a Baghdad hotel, killing two cameramen during the battle for the Iraqi capital, says he was unaware the building was packed with journalists, according to a French magazine. Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and Jose Couso, a cameraman for Spanish channel Tele 5, were killed when a tank shell hit the 15th floor of the Palestine Hotel. Three other members of the Reuters team were wounded. Capt. Philip Wolford, who led the Abrams tanks defending a bridge near...

  Sky's Chater in Baghdad ME AND SADDAM'S HEAVIES First light came with gunfire throughout the city.A fat, waxing American moon hung over Baghdad. The armoured wagons of the US Marine Corps surrounded our hotel, writes Sky's Baghdad correspondent, David Chater. The pools of burning oil had been extinguished...but fresh flames were being set by the looters.My last night in the Iraqi capital after three weeks of war.Paranoia punctuated the dawn drive westwards to Jordan.In the outskirts of the city, we passed a checkpoint still manned by the Iraqi militia.Then through the Coalition's surrounding chokeholds where all questions were...

From the "Human Shields" website today (16 April 2003):( Human Shield') "Uzma Bashir Threatened by U.S. Marines in Baghdad Uzma Bashir, a Human Shield volunteer in Baghdad, confronted imperial troops as they entered Baghdad last week. She wanted to know, from U.S. Marines, what it felt like to murder Iraqi children. Uzma has subsequently been physically threatened by U.S. Marines and we have received thinly veiled threats via our website from people saying they belong to the U.S. military:" (goes on to list 'threats')

Its on TV Now you can hear the firefight in Baghdad!

The manager of the Palestine hotel put on his best suit and a broad smile and crossed his parking lot to meet the Americans. "Happy to see you," he said to an approaching group of soldiers. Cradling their M16s and casting wary glances around them, the marines had just emerged from their armoured vehicles in front of the hotel in the middle of Baghdad. They looked taken aback by the strange welcoming committee. With his helmet pulled down low over his brow, Colonel B P McCoy of the US Marine Corps seemed surprised to be shaking the hand extended to...

The View from CNN - (Hold mein Hell Hath No Furry Like Journalists Alert!)CNN LIVE ON LOCATIONMany Questions Remain in Deaths of JournalistsAired April 8, 2003 - 14:26 ETWOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The two journalists who were killed today in that tank shell were killed at the Palestine Hotel. That's been a base for international journalists in Baghdad. Both of the dead were cameramen, one with Reuters, the other with Spain's Telecinco (ph). Three journalists were wounded in that same incident. The CENTCOM says American forces responding -- were responding to what they described as -- quote -- "significant fire"...

Would Journalists have “embedded” Themselves in Hitler’s Bunker in 1945? It is very obvious that the regime of Iraq will use journalists as human shields, and use the occupancy or housing of journalists in the same way they use mosques, schools and hospitals, in the same manner the regime uses their own citizens. Would this be a surprise to these journalists? They did not, do not, expect that? Obviously, they must not be covering the war at all if this is a surprise to them. And so, what are they doing there, in a building with the Iraqi Information Minister?...