Piss off, you surrender monkey appeasers!
Posted on 01/16/2007 3:49:36 PM PST by kiriath_jearim
Spain has issued an international arrest warrant for three US soldiers accused of causing the death of a TV cameraman during the Iraq war.
Jose Couso, 37, died in April 2003 after a US tank fired on a hotel used by foreign journalists in Baghdad.
The US has admitted its tank crew fired at the Palestine Hotel but has cleared Sgt Thomas Gibson, Cpt Philip Wolford and Lt-Col Philip De Camp of blame.
The soldiers say they thought they were being shot at when they opened fire.
Caught on film
The Palestine Hotel was the base for almost all the foreign media crews in Baghdad during the US-led invasion of Iraq. Mr Couso was working for Spain's Telecinco television station at the time.
Reuters cameraman Taras Portsyuk, a Ukrainian, was also killed in the blast and three other Reuters staff injured.
Footage of the incident on the day before the fall of the regime of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - which did not record any fire from the hotel - was witnessed around the world.
A US review of the incident ruled that the use of force by the tank was justified, but the family of Mr Couso decided to press criminal charges through the Spanish courts.
Freeze on assets
Spain's Supreme Court re-opened a murder investigation into Mr Couso's death in December 2006, overturning a previous ruling that the Spanish legal system was competent to judge the three US soldiers.
As he issued the international search-and-capture order for the three tank crew members, Judge Santiago Pedraz demanded that prosecutors also investigate whether it was possible to freeze the soldiers' US assets in case of future compensation claims.
The BBC's Danny Wood in Madrid says Spain's justice system is accustomed to taking on controversial international cases.
In 1998, Spain attempted to extradite Chile's former leader, Augusto Pinochet, while he was in London.
The British government turned down that request, and the US authorities are very unlikely to co-operate with this latest international arrest warrant issued by a Spanish judge, our correspondent says.
But four years after the death of Mr Couso, his family have achieved a symbolic victory, he says.
I'm sure the soldiers are terrified of the Spanish "justice" system. /s
Spanish Iquisition?
(OK - have at it.....)
I suppose that's all that matters to some people.
What will happen once the International Criminal Court system is in place?
This sort of thing will not seem quite so funny.
How about a class action suit on behalf of all Hispanics against Spain for plundering the New World, stealing gold from Amerindians, making slaves of them, and killing huge numbers of them with their diseases (germ warfare).
Piss off, you surrender monkey appeasers!
I don't know what to think about Spain right now. Initially they helped us in the War on Terror, but after 3/11 and electing Zapatero they've gone down the wrong road. From what I hear Zapatero's popularity has taken a nosedive after the recent airport bombing (since he had basically surrendered to ETA beforehand). I have a feeling that Zapatero's reign of surrender will probably only be temporary and that Spain will swing right during the next elections (similar to Colombia with Álvaro Uribe) as the Spanish have learned the hard way that surrendering to these monsters doesn't work.
Nonetheless, since they helped us out in the beginning of Iraq, I refuse to dig on Spain.
I think I speak for all of us here when I say "Over my dead twitching corpse will you take my countrymen!"
As the US has ruled that the soldiers were acting properly within the scope of their duty, the actions taken by these soldiers were not in their individual capacities but instead as agents of the United States of America.
The only proper party for Spain to seek action against is the United States of America.
So Spain, what's it going to be? Are you with us, or the terrorists?
When you go to a war zone you should have a decent expectation that you may get shot at.
Now in spite of what Journalists feel they do not have immunity to death or disfigurement while trying to sell their stinking news articles./
If you wlak out in the middle of the Capital beltway at 4:30 pm chancs are you will get hit.
I dont see how any country with common sense can feel that a soldier doing his duty has a responsibility to check for press credentials before firing .
wow, stole the words out of my mouth. glad i read the whole thing before posting.
They are technically American citizins, so it's our job to put them on trial so spain can just suffer
We have lived on the Med coast of Spain and loved the Spanish people. But very disappointed in them in general after their 3/11 and have no desire to ever return for a visit. Other than that - I will not dig on them either. The timing of the bombing, the panic among the people, and the election all played a part.
"I think I speak for all of us here when I say "Over my dead twitching corpse will you take my countrymen!"
Where's the pic? Not this sh*t again!
They are not cowards. They were with us in the beginning during the Iraq War, but they lost their confidence. Now they have to learn the hard way that appeasing does not work. But they will be back on the right side in a few years. Aznar was a great leader for Spain and it was just terrible that they kicked him out of office. But there are other leaders who will throw out Zapatero.
Additionally, it is probably not nice to flame every Western and Central European nation. Personally, I am most angry that you have called the Germans cowards. It is uncalled for and you should apologize to all of our German FReepers (as well as any other Western and European FReepers).
Remember, the US originally opposed entering both WWI and WWII even though our allies said that it was something that could not be delayed and would eventually threaten our freedom (like we are telling them in the current war). Would you have called the US cowards if you were British or French then? Just because our allies haven't fought to the same degree that we have in this war doesn't mean that they won't. They are just slower to get involved.
typo: Western and Central European...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.