Sniper on Palistine Hotel roof

FNC | Miamiconser

[Domestic Church]

"Maybe we made a mistake"

Maybe they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, hostages by virtue of their jobs. Or maybe the Reuters staff made a mistake. It wouldn't be the first time the media aided the enemy.

I recall the soldiers the night before at Saddam's Palace saying they had sniper fire coming from that Hotel location so it was only a matter of time until it was hit.

[Nan48]

Our family heard gun shots last night while watching the CBS live feed from the Palestine Hotel. Then we heard a huge boom. We thought our computer had exploded! Then we found out on FR that the hotel had been hit.

[Jeff Head]

I don;t care what the reporters and journalists are saying in this ... I believe that our soldiers were taking fire and returned it. I am glad they did.

These journalists have chosen to stay in a HOTY WAR ZONE for crying out loud. It's all fine and good that they are dedicated to their job and story ... and I respect that dedication. But they are not immune and they knew the risks when they took them.

When it comes to American service personnel lives being at risk ... I say they cannot tip toe around and put themselves and comrades at risk. Those journalists could not find a more careful army than our own as far as their welfare is concerned.

[putupon]

Clip of sniper fire on the roof shown on Fox.

Somebody show it to O'Reilly, he just said it was a screw up we fired on the hotel.

[YaYa123]

I've seen shots of snipers on Baghdad rooftops, but I don't remember their specific location being identified. If you're sure, email FOXNews and tell them about it.

Some reporters today said journalists were not allowed access to the Palestine roof, but tonight on Brit's show, Juan Williams said journalists could go up on the roof. That's critical information, because of course Saddam's shooters wouldn't let journalists on the roof if they were shooting weapons from there.

Every account I've seen seems to acknowledge that Saddam's people were in the hotel. Wolf Blitzer mentioned they had made it difficult for journalists to leave the hotel, and Baghdad Bob said Saddam's soldiers were there "to protect journalists". (isn't that funny?) So, Saddam soldiers were in the hotel, and it's plausible to me that Saddam would "use" the hotel for cover, like he used schools, hospitals, and residential areas.

Today on CNN, Christianne Amanpour was livid that tanks had fired at that hotel...obvious she wanted heads to roll over the illegal response, which is how she characterized tanks responding to little old rifles.

Me? I'm appalled by the media's self-absorption. I'm sick of them all!!!

[cricket]

"They weren't shell casings, they were fragments of concrete thrown up by the incoming fire."

. . .could this have started with just the sun reflecting off the lens; looking like a flash from a gun perhaps. . .

WHATever; tanks in the street, bombs being dropped on a city; non-embedded reporters standing on a balcony in flak jackets and aiming cameras. . .

. . .'shots happen' in that environment. . .

[PISANO]

They're making it seem as if its the militarys word against the reporters.

All this handwringing makes me nauseous, THIS IS WAR, people die, GOOD GUYS and BAD GUYS, journalists are NOT exempt. I admire more than I can say how our troops have gone above and beyond to MAINTAIN HONOR on the battlefield by NOT killing civilians. Now that journalists were killed, somehow that FACT rises to a level that is just can NOT be accepted.

[YaYa123]

"I don;t care what the reporters and journalists are saying in this ... I believe that our soldiers were taking fire and returned it."

I couldn't agree more. And another point about Christianne Amanpour: She was droning on and on how it should be illegal for tanks to fire on a hotel where journalists are staying, that's the way it was in the Gulf War, she said. Such a stupidprejudicedbitch!

It was illegal for planes in the Gulf War, and it is still illegal for planes to target the journalists hotel, or any building housing noncombatants. But those rules for planes do NOT apply to tanks, or to soldiers who think they've been fired upon.

[Ken H]

I'd bet a year's pay that someone on Saddam's payroll fired from that hotel.

[watchwoman]

I saw one report that said that the Iraqi Ministry of Information people have basically set up temporary headquarters at the Palestine Hotel, since they felt their regular building would be a target (and it has been, I believe.)

[Benjamin Dover]

This story will never get the desired media-outrage effect for a couple of reasons. There are too many different accounts of what happened; some caught on video. If this was a blatant oops, we would be inundated with the "smoking gun" proof of a US screw-up. The press knows there was gunfire or RPG's coming from the hotel or close by. They're not going to push it. They'll end up looking stupid. Also, most American's first reaction was, "you're in a freaking warzone in downtown Baghdad! What did you expect?"

[Rightwing Conspiratr1]

Fox News showed a clip earlier of a camera position on the roof of the Palistine Hotel from last night,and you could clearly hear gunshots and see shell casings flying from the gun on the roof untill the camera was knocked over.

WRONG! That clip was from the Abu Dhabi TV network building on the WEST side of the river and DEFINATELY NOT the PALESTINE hotel on the east side of the river. NO ONE was killed in the Adu Dhabi TV building.

[Skibane]

I'll say it wouldn't suprise me in the slightest that snipers were among the journalists.

Not all the hotel's guests are even journalists. Acording to a PBS interview with one of the reporters in Baghdad, Iraqi citizens are also staying at that hotel, due to their belief that Coalition forces won't strike it.

What better location to snipe from?

[xusafflyer]

"I saw one report that said that the Iraqi Ministry of Information people have basically set up temporary headquarters at the Palestine Hotel,"

This report was from the German reporter in the Palestine hotel that talks to Fox News every night.

Tell the CNN War Whore that the hotel is now a military target because it is the new Ministry of Information.

[watchwoman]

That's what I was getting at in my post #31...the Iraqis are "embedding" themselves with the journalists for safety.
Seems quite possible to me that some Iraqi decided to take some potshots at our troops from the hotel, thinking we would not return fire.

[Woahhs]

Now, which group has better credibility? Hint, it's not the reporters.

I sent a nasty-gram to MSNBC because they let some English reporter from ITN pontificate about the claim of sniper-fire from the hotel was absurd. This moron let the viewers know sniper-fire is only good for about 600 meters. When my wife was in J-school they called that a fact-error. (What can you expect from a disarmed nation?)

I told MSNBC I had visited their station from my normal FOXNEWS, because I'd heard they were doing a good job. I wasn't watching MSNBC more than five minutes before they had this dip-stick on.

I told them if they couldn't hire reporters that were at least conversant with the subjects they reported on I'd stay with FOX; thank you very much.

[Apollo]

Today on CNN, Christianne Amanpour was livid that tanks had fired at that hotel...obvious she wanted heads to roll over the illegal response, which is how she characterized tanks responding to little old rifles.

I saw that also. I would have asked her if she thought it would be ok if the soldiers had returned fire with machine guns and the journalists had been killed with bullets instead of a tank round.