The Command Post - Op-Ed - Spain Considers U.S. Army Terrorists

September 30, 2004

Spain Considers U.S. Army Terrorists

I hope the feces are going to hit the air ventilation systems over this one. The Spanish parliament yesterday decided to consider José Couso, a Spanish camera man for TeleCinco, a victim of terrorism.

Couso was killed by American fire while filming from his balcony in the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad on April 8, during the American liberation of that city. There was an investigation by the US Army, which concluded that the tank commander acted correctly. There were snipers in the area, and the lense of a camera flickering in the sun can be similar to that of a sniper's scope or a spotter's binoculars. The U.S. Army did apologize for the matter to Spain's then Aznar government, which considered the matter closed.

Not so for the Socialists, and in their all-consuming hate for everything Aznar has done for this country, the prime directive for Zapatero's government seems to be to revise history wherever possible. Add to this the virulent anti-Americanism present in his government, and Prime Minister Zapatero's stance of actively undermining US foreign policy and thereby indirectly putting American GIs as well as the Iraqi population under increased threat, as well as seeking alignment with Arab dictatorships, the next low for the Spanish socialists had to be to accuse the Americans of terrorism.

The Communist left (IU) together with a regional ecological party have introduced a bill in parliament, which would consider José Couso's death an act of 'international terrorism'. Zapatero's Socialists have said to support the bill, focusing for their part on the state benefits his family will receive because of this, the intention of the bill is clear: The U.S. Army are terrorists.

If they want to pay his family benefits, there's a million different ways to do so in this Keynesian wet dream of a country.

Former Prime Minister Aznar's Partido Popular party is against it, logically one would want to think, but in this country I sometimes get the impression that everything has been put upside down since Al Qaeda chased them out of Iraq.

I sincerely hope the United States lodge a formal complaint with the Spanish government on this.

first published at Southern Watch.

Posted By V-Man at September 30, 2004 10:26 AM | TrackBack

Comments

I'd like to hear VinoTinto's comment on this. To make sure nothing got lost in translation...

Posted by: v at September 30, 2004 10:35 AM

It's remarkable how similar are the views of Spain's Socialists and those who call themselves Progressives here in the US.

Posted by: TL at September 30, 2004 01:01 PM

Well,

This time incomplete information.

�There was an investigation by the US Army, which concluded that the tank commander acted correctly�---- Don�t offend, but the �investigations� by the US Army stink. The Palestine Hotel, was the Hotel in which all the foreign journalists were accommodated in Baghdad. The Hotel is one of the highest buildings in the area, and easily identifiable. Apart from all the combat units were warned about this. All the journalists there, including American journalists said that nobody was shooting from the building, there was not a single sniper there. Also, the tank commander identified the Hotel and asked for confirmation before shooting against the building. The order was confirmed.

�The U.S. Army did apologize for the matter to Spain�s� ---- As many of you said here, to talk is easy, the words are cheap, etc, etc�

Many journalists, from different nationalities, said that the building was attacked in order to �dissuade� the journalists of filming battles in which the means used by the US Army are not �orthodox�. Probably from this fact comes the consideration of Jose Couso as victim of terrorism, but I am not sure, since for me all the issue is quite irrelevant. The war reporters know the risk, and the businessmen know the risk of being in Iraq now. If they don�t accept the risk, they should keep in their homes. For me, it is ridiculous to talk about a single dead person in a war in which dozens of persons lose their lives each day. There, you can become famous, you can become rich, you can win a huge prestige�but you can lose your ass. End of the history.

This decision is more for political reasons than any other reasons. For me, Jose Couso is not a victim of terrorism, and I don�t like this decision, not for the offence against USA (I don�t care a bit about this) but because the inclusion of Jose Couso in this collective is unjust for the true victims. I disagree with the Socialist Government, because I am not a �yes-sir� to my government, unlike the most of you.

Posted by: VinoTinto at September 30, 2004 06:51 PM

"Many journalists, from different nationalities, said that the building was attacked in order to �dissuade� the journalists of filming battles in which the means used by the US Army are not �orthodox".
..this opinion is outragest and purely spouted to inflame.The US ARMY firing into a occupied building just to�dissuade� journalists is purely wrong and if not for its seriousness this would be laughable..

Posted by: Rob_NC at October 1, 2004 09:11 AM

Yawn, so what? What else would you expect from a country that aids and abets Terrorism?

They may not harbour terrorists, yet, but give them time.

Posted by: CERDIP at October 1, 2004 01:01 PM