Soldiers' Testimony Raises Questions Over U.S. Report (cameraman killing)

[Barrett808]

Soldiers' Testimony Raises Questions Over U.S. Report
Thu Mar 25, 7:26 AM ET
By Andrew Marshall

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. Army officer who killed Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana in Iraq (news - web sites) could have had his vision impaired by sweat in his goggles, according to three soldiers in his unit who testified to an official inquiry.

A statement from a sentry who saw the incident from a watchtower also raises questions about the inquiry's conclusion that the shooter was justified in mistaking Dana's camera for a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher and opening fire on August 17 last year.

Some soldiers from the armored combat patrol Dana was filming at the time told the investigation they were nervous and on edge. Two said they disliked Iraqis and another reported several cases of soldiers accidentally discharging their weapons.

...

The watchtower sentry who saw the shooting from Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad, where Dana had been filming before moving to a road nearby, said he could tell Dana was holding a camera despite looking into the sun through binoculars from much farther away.

"I could tell it was a camera from around 150 meters (yards), the tanks were 25 meters at most from the reporters," the sentry testified. "I was facing the direction of the sun."

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=10&u=/nm/20040325/ts_nm/iraq_testimony_dc_5

[UpInArms]

1. and this tragedy just continues to grow

Another soldier told the investigation: "My opinion is 'We don't like these people'. I think the longer we are here the more frustrated we are becoming."

Asked about their knowledge of the rules of engagement -- which are kept secret by the U.S. Army -- soldiers said they had been adequately briefed. One said discussions on the rules had also followed "multiple incidents of accidental discharges," including one in the town of Falluja around two weeks before Dana's death.

Dana, an award-winning journalist, was killed about 300 yards beyond the market. He had stopped with his driver and soundman to film the patrol, which consisted of two tanks and an armored vehicle.

I am so sorry.

[JoFerret]

2. Error and abuse and tragedy and misstep and mistake and

criminal rashness and loss of life and guilt and all because of Bush and his panic response and his obsession with Saddam.