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Al Qaeda-Cowed Nation Persecutes U.S. Soldiers

A Spanish court last week issued a “search and capture” warrant against three soldiers involved in the Hotel Palestine incident, in which Spanish cameraman Jose Cuoso and Reuters’s Taras Protsyuk were killed.  Apparently the Spanish judicial authorities had thought better of it, but now their high court says do it. So the persecution of Americans for what has been clearly established as an accident of war goes forward. 

Here’s the Christian Science Monitor:

Although it is unlikely the three will ever stand trial in a Madrid courtroom, the case has drawn worldwide attention and is raising serious questions about wartime justice and the right of one country to judge another’s citizens.

“Spanish courts are competent to judge crimes of war, even when they’re committed abroad, thanks to universal jurisdiction,” says lawyer Leopoldo Torres, who is representing the Couso family. In fact, the principle of universal jurisdiction – which holds that some crimes are so grave as to warrant judicial intervention from any country – has already been used to justify the Spanish prosecution of late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and former Guatemalan president Efraím Rios Montt. The Couso case will explore whether the principle also applies to soldiers during wartime.

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which conducted interviews with eyewitnesses, many Western reporters were observing the struggle for Baghdad from the hotel’s balconies when the American M1A1 Abrams tank, stationed roughly three quarters of a mile away, turned toward the Palestine and fired a single round which mortally injured both Couso and Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk. The American tank sergeant, Thomas “Shawn” Gibson, later said he reported a suspicious spotter on the roof of the hotel to his superior, Capt. Philip Wolford, and received an order to fire. Wolford’s commanding officer, Col. Philip DeCamp, was also implicated in the attack.

 ”We fully investigated the incident and determined that US servicemen acted appropriately,” says Pentagon spokesman Lt. Commander Joe Carpenter. “[The journalist's death] is unfortunately a tragedy of war.”

Not everyone sees it that way. “I went to Baghdad knowing that I was taking the risk of getting hit by an Iraqi bomb, or being kidnapped by Iraqis,” says (Olga) Rodríguez. “I never expected to be fired upon – or that José would be killed – by American forces.”

Mr. Torres takes it a step further: “This was a deliberate attack against civilians like journalists who are specially protected by the 4th Geneva Convention, without any provocation on their part.”

Rafael Jiménez, secretary general of the Spanish branch of Reporters Without Borders, says that on the day US forces took the Baghdad airport, journalists on the scene reported that it wasn’t an easy fight. “The Army wasn’t going to let that kind of ‘propaganda’ continue,” says Mr. Jiménez. “So the day after, they attacked Al Jazeera’s office, and two days later they attacked the Hotel Palestine. It was a clear act to intimidate the press that wasn’t embedded and that [therefore] couldn’t be controlled.”

The Couso family first filed a legal complaint in May 2003, but the National Court dismissed the case, citing a lack of jurisdiction. They appealed, and in December 2006, the Supreme Court overturned the earlier ruling.

The National Court must now begin again the investigatory phase of the trial, and has called the three soldiers to testify. If they do not appear, under Spanish and international law, they can still be tried in absentia.

It is even more unlikely that the three accused would be extradited. “At this juncture, I’m not aware of a scenario in which the servicemen would appear in a Spanish court,” says Lt. Commander Carpenter.

But that doesn’t mean the case is without impact. Besides the symbolic importance it may carry, the search and capture warrant, submitted to Interpol, will effectively keep the three soldiers accused from leaving the United States. Should they travel to a country with an extradition agreement with Spain, they would be immediately subject to arrest.

Not much to say about the RSF and Cuoso family lawyer’s contentions, except that they are entirely full of crap. I was a witness to the events leading up the Hotel Palestine incident, and consider Gibson, Wolford and deCamp to be friends and honorable soldiers.  Jimenez’s organization, in a report titled “Two Murders and a Lie” failed to prove either of those things had occured.  CPJ strove mightily to find a crime, but had to be satisfied with innuendo. As a witness, I would be happy to accept a government-paid holiday in Spain in order to testify about how full of crap all of this is, and also to ask why once-great Spain has turned into a nation of cowards.

Here is what I’ve had to say about it before, with excerpts from David Zucchino’s definitive reporting in “Thunder Run” and other links, compliments of Mudville. 

As for Olga Rodriguez, she needs to look up ”friendly fire.”  It happens, and it is always tragic.  

Pity the Spanish government no longer gives a damn about Iraq, having turned tail and run after Madrid was attacked.  I know, thanks to my friend Jose at Barcepundit, that there are Spaniards who are mortified by their government’s behavior. Official Spain is down to exactly one Middle Eastern tragedy it cares about, a single death, and can’t get its facts straight on that one. 

Thanks to reader Kate for calling my attention to this latest development. 

Topics: Uncategorized

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:47 am on Friday, January 26, 2007

14 Responses to “Al Qaeda-Cowed Nation Persecutes U.S. Soldiers”

1. Paco Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 9:42 am

   I can at least understand the motivation of the Muslim fanatics in trying to re-establish the caliphate - they’re dreamers mired in a semi-mythical past who have developed an immunity to reason. What I don’t understand is why Spain seems so amenable to its own dhimmitude. From the battlecry of “For God, Alfonso and Spain!” to “Let’s persecute those Westerners who ARE trying to halt the Islamic tide”, covers a period in time involving several hundred years, but with respect to cultural and political vigor, the two attitudes are on opposite ends of a moral black hole.

2. The Thunder Run Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 11:12 am

   Web Reconnaissance for 01/26/2007

   A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention.

3. Cliff Clavin Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 11:19 am

   Ahhh, ‘Al Andalus’. It is obvious you like the Moorish architecture, no?

   Yes Paco, I have seen that name before. The talented, witty and intelligent one from an OZ Blog. Welcome to a Bostonian version, of the Blog of Blair. Should you stop by Cheers…the beer is on me….well, I’ll pay, yeah that’s it…pay. Lest “on me” be taken the wrong way.

   I will fill you with witty stories from the Post Office.

4. The Jawa Report Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 11:34 am

   Spain Issues More Warrants for U.S. Soldiers

   Spain: the new France….

5. RebeccaH Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 12:03 pm

   Moral obtuseness and arrogance, mixed with cowardice on the part of Spain. Shame on them.

6. CavMedic Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 1:49 pm

   I used to see the Spanish and Italians around An Nasiriyah in the summer of 2003. There were also Koreans at Talil Air Base and all sorts of other minor partners-including some Japanese-close by (the Brits were further to the south and the Poles were further north-BTW not such a bad coalition huh?). However, the combined combat power of all our allies was probably not more than a division’s worth and the proposed (albeit shamefully tardy) expansion of the Army would theoretically add 3 division’s worth of combat power. I’m assuming that the Spanish press, like the Italian reporter whose vehicle was shot up after she was “released” from the Jihadis, got their credentials because they are coalition partners. It might just be worth the effort of going it alone from now on not to have to deal with foolishness like this again.

7. saltydog Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 4:07 pm

   With “friends” like these….

   RebeccaH, I second the “Shame on them.” They’d better hope they never, ever, find themselves in need of assistance from this side of the pond.

   How about prosecuting them for cowardice in the face of the enemy? Is there any kind of universal jurisdiction for that?

8. RebeccaH Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 5:38 pm

   I don’t know, Salty, but I think if any Americans in Spain are hurt in a terrorist bombing, their families should think about bringing Spanish authorities to trial in an American court for negligence and failure to protect. And if the families really want to get nasty and hurt their feelings, they can file charges in The Hague.

9. kathyedits Says:
   January 26th, 2007 at 7:17 pm

   What evidence do you have that Spain has been “cowed by al Qaeda”? Some people might say that it actually took some courage for the Spanish government to go up against the will of the United States.

   I’m also curious to know where and by whom it has been “clearly established” that the shooting of the two journalists was a “tragedy of war” — other than the Pentagon, which of course is not a disinterested party.

10. Bill's Bites Says:
    January 27th, 2007 at 4:21 am

    Al Qaeda-Cowed Nation Persecutes U.S. Soldiers

    Al Qaeda-Cowed Nation Persecutes U.S. Soldiers

11. bdfaith Says:
    January 27th, 2007 at 4:23 am

    Kathy, did you even bother with reading the post? … I didn’t think so.

12. justbarkingmad.com » Blog Archive » Crittenden’s moved Says:
    January 27th, 2007 at 8:44 am

    [...] Jules has a new blog home.  Here’s the post referred to in Day By Day about the brave Spanish bravely running away…and then trying to persecute our soldiers.  [...]

13. kathyedits Says:
    January 27th, 2007 at 11:20 pm

    To bdfaith:

    I did read the post. There is nothing in it that indicates that Jules Crittendon has any evidence that Spain is a nation “cowed by al Qaeda.” He makes that accusation, but if he means it seriously, and not just as hyperbole, there’s no evidence, no support for the accusation at all.

    I’m also still waiting to find out what disinterested party has “clearly established” that the shooting of the two journalists was unintended.

14. xomox Says:
    April 27th, 2007 at 10:56 am

    this is wonderful news! i have been saying for some years now that “just as the world has seen nazi hunters, so shall it see meriKKkan and zionist hunters”!

    we have this case as well as the case in Italy where there are standing warrants for some what… 17 or so CIA terrorists?

    I’m wondering if there is some kind of reward to capture and bring these fascist usa terrorists to justice. hello bounty hunters?

    death to the number #1 terrorist state usa… may a respectable america rise from its ashes!

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