[Grovenet] A Matter of Perspective

Fri Oct 13 23:20:55 PDT 2006

The report you cited is a relatively old one from last Tuesday, Oct 10th.
The ones provided links for were released three days later on the 13th. 

I've enough experience with news reports no to take them too much at 'face
value'. What bothers me is the fact that the USA seems to be ignoring the
British courts. After all, they are supposed to be our allies. 

Ron D'Eau Claire 

-----Original Message-----
From: grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com [mailto:grovenet-bounces at rdrop.com] On
Behalf Of David Morelli
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 10:58 PM
To: Forest Grove local interests list
Subject: Re: [Grovenet] A Matter of Perspective

One timeline of the incident appears at
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6037171.stm

According to that report, the reporter who died was shot by iraqis in  
the stomach, placed in a minivan which was then shot by the tank.   
The surviving photographer appears to have stayed in the  Press car.   
The two others who died were removed from their "Press" truck and  
placed in the back of a pickup truck which was hit by artillery and  
exploded.

The Press vehicles appear to have been shot initially by the Iraqi  
troops.  The people who died appear to have been in vehicles other  
than the marked "Press" vehicles.

Is the report accurate?  I don't know.  If the US tank crew ignored  
the Press vehicles and blew away an unmarked pickup truck in the  
Iraqi convoy, that is defensible. If the minivan being used as an  
ambulance was unmarked, that is defensible.  If the minivan was  
marked as an ambulance, that is a problem.  If our military had  
discovered that the Iraqi military was using marked ambulances for  
anything other than medical evacuation, the shooting might be  
defensible.

David

On Oct 13, 2006, at 10:30 AM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

> How is it there's so much hoopla over a pedophile who doesn't kill
> anyone
> and almost nothing at all over US Marines shooting a British  
> journalist in
> the stomach while he's riding in a plainly marked PRESS vehicle,  
> then the US
> troops load him into a makeshift Iraqi ambulance and then shoot him  
> dead
> with a bullet in the head?
>
> The result is for the British to call for the US soldiers and
> officers to be
> tried for 'war crimes'.
>
> If you haven't followed it in both the American and British press,
> here's
> some excerpts below with links to the full story.
>
> Ron D'Eau Claire
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
>
> One of Britain's most experienced journalists was unlawfully killed
> by U.S.
> soldiers in Iraq, a British inquest into his death ruled on Friday,
> prompting calls for the perpetrators to be tried for war crimes.
>
> Veteran war correspondent Terry Lloyd...was initially wounded in the 
> stomach. He was then shot in the head by U.S. troops after he had been 
> picked up and put in an Iraqi minibus, the court heard.
>
> Coroner Andrew Walker said at the conclusion of the inquest..."I
> have no
> doubt it was an unlawful act of fire on the minibus."
>
> The ITN News crew, which unlike most journalists covering the war was 
> unattached to any U.S. or British unit, had first come under fire
> at Iman
> Anas, near Basra, while driving toward the port city in two  
> vehicles marked
> "Press."
>
> His translator Hussein Othman, was also killed while French
> cameraman Fred
> Nerac, is still missing believed dead. The other cameraman Daniel  
> Demoustier
> was the only one to survive.
>
> Louis Charalambous, the Lloyd family's lawyer, said those
> responsible for
> his death should be brought to trial for what he termed "a very  
> serious war
> crime."
>
> "It was a despicable, deliberate, vengeful act," he added.
>
> He said the unlawful killing verdict had been "inescapable" and had
> come
> about because "U.S. forces appear to have allowed their soldiers to  
> behave
> like trigger-happy cowboys."
>
> Reuters: 
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061013/ts_nm/iraq_britain_lloyd_dc_1
>
> Also in the BBC news:
>
> A fourth man in the crew, Belgian Daniel Demoustier, survived the
> incident
> but told the inquest: "I was absolutely sure I was going to die. I  
> was 100%
> sure."
>
> The inquest heard that their vehicles, which were clearly marked as
> Press,
> were hit by US tanks.
>
> "Most of the bullets were definitely coming from the American
> tanks," said
> Mr Demoustier.
>
> Mr Lloyd suffered a serious but non-fatal wound and was transferred
> to a
> makeshift ambulance. But that vehicle was then fired upon and he  
> was killed.
>
>
> Major Kay Roberts, of the Royal Military Police, told the inquest  
> 15 minutes
> of footage appeared to be missing from a film of the incident which  
> was
> supplied by the US military.
>
> Mr McLaughlin said the US authorities had not only failed to co- 
> operate with
> the inquest but had actually obstructed it.
>
> "They have not sent anyone to appear at the inquest and have shown  
> complete
> contempt for the British legal system and it makes a mockery of the
> so-called special relationship," he said.
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6040372.stm
>
>
> Ron D'Eau Claire
>
>
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