[miamiconser]

Clip of sniper fire on the roof shown on Fox.

[FairOpinion]

Debka didn't mention a sniper, but said that their sources told them it was an explosion set by Iraqi intelligence that killed the reporters, not a shot from a US tank.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/888393/posts

[Paraclete]

What peeves me about a lot of the network coverage of this incident is they don't qualify that every reporter in that hotel has Iraqi "minders" watching everything they say. You call that "objective" reporting????

[antaresequity]

I beleive the clip you refer to is a camera postion on top ofthe Abu Dabai media villa. That villa is on the west side of theriver and to the north of the bridge.

From that cameras viewpoint the Palastine hotel would be directley across the top of the tank on the east side of the river.

[jdege]

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

[Malsua]

see shell casings flying from the gun on the roof

Any chance you have a screenshot of this? I'll say it wouldn't suprise me in the slightest that snipers were among the journalists. I would like to see some hard evidence. Either way, the whiny journalists should get the hell out of dodge if they don't like being shot at.

[Doctor Raoul]

One of the talking heads on O'Reilly (MGEN Paul Valire or was it the COL?)) said that with the tank optics, the drones and other sources, he's damn sure they saw a sniper or they would not have fired.

I believe that's the case. Our forces have been pretty deliberate in their engagement.

[Cboldt]

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

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

[cavtrooper21]

If the vid is the one I'm thinking of that has been splattered across the TV for the last 12 or so hours, those be bullet hits (not shots being fired) in front of the camera, and I'll bet from close to the same level and off to the right of the frame. The camera was not a manned camera but a remote, the camera was not hit, the tripod or mount was... We'll never know who shot the camera, but I'm 50/50 on the issue..

[jackbill]

Frankly, I don't see why so many people are making such a big thing of this. War is hell. If you put yourself on the battlefield, you are vulnerable. Why in the hell should an American soldier, who is responsible for himself and his buddies, give a shit about some stupid journalist who puts himself/herself in the middle of battle?

Sure, it's sad. But nobody promised that it would be "fair". As we used to say, back in the '40's, there's a war on.

[MattAMiller]

That looked like concrete being thrown up by incoming fire to me.

[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!!!

[Ken H]

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

[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.

[m1911]

We'll probably never know the truth, unless someone comes up with a believable interview of the tank crew. In any case, today has been a PR disaster for the US. We are fighting two wars, one we can barely lose, one we can only hope for a draw. This is a major setback in the second one. Nothing like declaring air supremacy on the same day they hit three planes, splashing one, and you admit an aircrew is lost from a fourth over the weekend. I guess CENTCOM was upset that Baghdad Bob was getting all the press for being out of touch.

[Rev. Lou Chenary]

I just happened to wake up just in time to watch that incident live.

looked like incoming shots but when that camera went down the fools should have took the message.
They were giving up strategic info and were basically warned to shut down.

There may well have been snipers shooting from that building..I'll trust the discretion of A US soldier over the word of the folks that take the word of Baghdad Bob at face value.