DefenseWatch This article is provided courtesy of DefenseWatch, the official magazine for Soldiers For The Truth (SFTT), a grass-roots educational organization started by a small group of concerned veterans and citizens to inform the public, the Congress, and the media on the decline in readiness of our armed forces. Inspired by the outspoken idealism of the late Colonel David Hackworth, SFTT aims to give our service people, veterans, and retirees a clear voice with the media, Congress, the public and their services. Related Links DefenseWatch Website Article Archive Hot Discussions Have an opinion on this commentary? Sound off. Get Breaking Military News Alerts An Insider's Guide to Joining the Military

  Email this page to friends

[Have an opinion about the views expressed in this article? Sound off in the Hot Issues with Defensewatch Forum.]

By Chad Miles

Recently, a Spanish judge announced that he wanted to question three U.S. soldiers regarding the death of a Spanish cameraman during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

The incident occurred on Apr. 8, 2003, when the soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division, rolling into Baghdad after heavy fighting outside of the city, came under enemy fire. The soldiers, crew of an M1A1 Abrams tank, were moving toward the Palestine Hotel in downtown Baghdad, which was housing most of the foreign journalists who were not embedded with coalition forces at the time.

After misidentifying the cameraman for a “spotter” giving enemy mortar crews information on the location of U.S. troops, the tank crew – which had been under intense indirect fire earlier in the morning during several firefights outside the city – fired a main gun round into the hotel. The shot killed two journalists, including the Spanish cameraman, and injured several others.

A U.S. Army investigation into the incident cleared the 3rd ID soldiers of any wrongdoing or fault. However, legal experts say the questioning by the Spanish judge could possibly lead to charges by the Spanish courts of murder or war crimes against the three soldiers. As of this writing, the Department of Defense has no plans to allow Spain access to the three soldiers for questioning.

It would be easy to dismiss the judge's ploy as a political statement at the expense of three American enlisted soldiers. After all, the judge seems to have shown absolutely no interest in questioning higher-ranking officers or coalition force leaders who may have been involved in sending the tank toward its ill-fated rendezvous with the Palestine Hotel.

Still, this development is part of a very troubling trend. U.S. troops find themselves being second-guessed for split-second decisions on the battlefield while they scramble under enemy fire. Never before have we seen our troops in the field harassed and second-guessed as we are seeing today.

The Spanish judge's investigation comes on the heels of unfounded accusations that have been put forward suggesting that the U.S. military has been intentionally targeting journalists throughout the war in Iraq. These allegations are not only coming from Europe and the Middle East, they are also coming from American journalists themselves.

Then-CNN Chief News Executive Eason Jordan last Jan. 27 boldly proclaimed that soldiers had intentionally targeted journalists during the war in Iraq. He made the comments during a panel discussion of a World Economic Forum conference in Switzerland. Jordan reportedly asserted that it was “official military policy to take out journalists.” The resulting furor over Jordan's accusation prompted him to resign as CNN's news chief two weeks later.

But soon afterward, Newspaper Guild President Linda Foley echoed Jordan's comments, claiming that U.S. troops had specifically targeted Arab journalists and described the nature of the American military as “brutal” and “cavalier.”

Claiming that soldiers intentionally target civilian journalists is both outrageous and irresponsible. These statements serve no other purpose than to fan the flames of hostility against our soldiers fighting the Global War on Terrorism.

Not only have the news media and foreign governments been doing this. Incidents such as the recent murder charges against Marine Corps Lt. Iliario Pantano – later dropped – show that even the military services have indulged in harmful second-guessing of decisions made in combat. It seems that there is more hand-wringing about the treatment of the terrorists confined in Guantanamo Bay than with the day-in and day-out threats that our soldiers fighting and dying in the field face every day.

Even with all of this going on around them, the troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and dozens of other countries around the world are doing an amazing job in preventing another terrorist attack on our shores. Recent operations near the Syrian border and Fallujah show the resolve and determination of these soldiers and Marines not only facing a deadly insurgency, but facing an onslaught of viscous personal attacks as well.

It's a pity that these days the grunts in the field not only have to worry about roadside bombs, snipers and insurgents. They also must – in the words of their fighter pilot comrades – “check six” against those who would stab them in the back with unfounded accusations, legal pitfalls and prosecution.