[Cannoneer No. 4]

Put yourself in a tank on the streets of Baghdad. You are in a fight and your enemy is in various buildings around you. He has used civilians as human shields. He has hidden in mosques, schools and hospitals. He has a proclivity for shedding his uniform for civilian clothes. Thus far in this war, the most effective weapons used against you have been shoulder-fired antitank missiles. Maybe you have been told that the Palestine Hotel is "off limits," maybe not. In the haze and confusion of battle you can hear rounds plinking off your turret. Is it just some sniping, or is somebody trying to "button down" your tank so his comrades can get off a shot with a Kornet missile or an armor piercing RPG. Who are those guys on the roof or the balconies of that building a couple hundred yards away? They're hunched over something. Is it a missile launcher - or a video camera?

[colorado tanker]

Well said.

Journalists are so self-absorbed. They assumed "everyone" knew they were at the Palestine Hotel. Really? A bunch of guys who had been in the desert training for two months before the Iraq war started were supposed to know where CNN's crews were staying?

Besides, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if there were Iraqi FO's in that hotel. It had a sweeping view of US forces. How would the journalists know one war or another?