The Writings of my Iraqi Friend: an email I just received...

[Social Spit]

Does not mean I hate Mike, or Zap, or Christian, or Jorn, or you, or anyone else who don't hold that same view.



But if Mike deems himself a reporter on the order of that Tarik guy from Al Jazeeera, then he needs to be more investigative, and he needs to tell us about the infractions done by EVERYONE in this situation, rather than focusing on US shortcomings.



Is there a Disneyland in what was east berlin yet?

[LarreeMP3]

Mike is nothing but an anti-American propagandist. When the war is over and the Iraqis are thanking us he will still say it was a bad thing.

[MIKE BURN]

I'm not a "reporter".



I made this Forum for myself to vent about this war

and to share information.



It belongs to you what you make out of the information.



I don't have to proof anything to the complainers here

and they did not get an invitation or big advertisement to come here.

[Social Spit]

Ha Ha Ha.



Anyways:



US troops are shooting back at positions that are firing on them.



These Chicken-shlt Fedayin are shooting from buildings holding civilians, as in schools, hospitals, and even a hotel holding news reporters.



These guys are the biggest pu$$ies in the history of mankind- putting innocent people IN HARMS WAY.



You want to post blame? Blame is spelled F e h d a y i n.



Rat Bastard PRlCKS

[DreamTone7]

The Fehdayin are using the media, basically. They know that not all the photos and reporting will tell the true story of why those civilians were killed.....and obviously have no regard for their lives either. This works to garner anger against the coalition forces (America is not the only one in Iraq) with people who refuse to acknowledge the bigger picture.



I would note that this is not generally a tactic of the US military. Some people have more scruples than others.

[Social Spit]

"Pulmanary Embolism"- what "killed" Michael Bloom



Yah RIIIGHT.



MY FATHER had three of those in his lifetime, the third one killed him, only cos I did not find him IN TIME.



I wonder what really happened to him, if he got a sniper bullet and they want tro keep that from us for the time being.

[MIKE BURN]

Keyword "Dead Reporters"...



The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is thinking about a international court trial because of obvious American warcrimes...

Quote:

---

Outcry over journalists' deaths





There are calls for an inquiry after three more journalists are killed in Iraq, bringing the media death toll to 12.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) - which represents hundreds of thousands of journalists worldwide - issued a statement on Tuesday condemning both sides in the conflict.



The organisation called for the inquiry after three media workers died in two incidents in Baghdad on Tuesday. It also accused Iraq of apparently using civilians and journalists as human shields.



Two cameramen - who worked for the Reuters news agency and Spain's Telecinco - died when a shell or missile hit the Palestine hotel. It has not been confirmed who fired the shot.



A third journalist was killed when a US missile hit the offices of al-Jazeera TV.



'Explanation'



Initially, US military officials expressed regret at the Palestine hotel incident, saying one of their tanks had fired on the building in response to sniper and rocket fire.



"A tank was receiving small arms fire... from the hotel and engaged the target with one tank round," General Buford Blount, commander of the US 3rd Infantry Division in Baghdad, told Reuters.



Doubts were later raised about whether any US tanks were in the position to hit the hotel, but the admission has nonetheless prompted Spanish defence ministry officials to say that Madrid would demand an explanation from Washington.



Greece - which holds the rotating presidency of the European Union - condemned the attack on the Palestine hotel and said it would ask the US to guarantee the safety of journalists.



The 15th floor of the hotel - where most of the foreign media is based - was hit at about 1200 local time (0800 GMT).



Sky TV reporter David Chater said: "One of the tanks had its barrel pointed up at the building. We went inside and there was an almighty crash, a huge explosion that shook the hotel."



BBC correspondents and other journalists who were in the building at the time said they heard no fire coming from the hotel.



Reuters said Ukrainian cameraman Taras Protsyuk died and a reporter, a photographer, and a technician were wounded when the building was hit.



Spanish television network Telecinco said cameraman Jose Couso died during surgery for injuries sustained to his leg, chest and jaw.



Television pictures showed two people being carried on blankets through the lobby of the hotel, as journalists - some visibly shaken - rushed out of the building clutching their equipment.



'Mistake'



In a separate incident, al-Jazeera said its correspondent Tareq Ayoub died and a cameraman was injured when two missiles hit its office, virtually destroying it.





Reporting from Iraq is fraught with danger

US military officials said the building was struck by mistake.



"It is something we all regret. But I don't believe that it is possible that it was deliberate," US State Department spokesman Nabil Khoury told the network.



But the Reporters Without Borders pressure group said al-Jazeera had been careful to inform the Americans of the exact location of its offices and demanded an inquiry into the attack.



Abu Dhabi television said its Baghdad bureau was also hit by US bombing.



Two other foreign journalists died on Monday in an Iraqi missile attack.



Julio Anguita Parrado who worked for Spain's El Mundo newspaper and Christian Liepig, who was covering the war for German weekly Focus, were travelling with US forces when they came under attack.



Twelve foreign journalists have died in Iraq since the start of the war, and two are missing.



On Tuesday, two Polish reporters turned up safe and well after escaping from Iraqi captors who had detained them at a checkpoint south of Baghdad the previous day.



Marcin Firlej, from TVN24 news channel, and Jacek Kaczmarek, from Polish state radio, slipped away when the town they were being held in came under attack, Mr Firlej's wife told TVN24.



They said they had been helped by one of the Iraqis who gave them the keys to their car.

---

[Social Spit]

If these guys could not correctly assess the RISKS then they should NOT have gone.



That thing will be trown out of any decent court in the world.

[DreamTone7]

What alarms me a little more is that a group of jounalists seem to think they have the right to PASS judgement (which is very different from judging) on a sovereign nation. If they are taken seriously, we are in for a world of trouble (literally).