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Europe
US Soldiers' Spanish Indictment Appealed
2007-05-20
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Prosecutors on Friday appealed a judge's decision to charge three U.S. soldiers with homicide in the death of a Spanish journalist in Iraq, a court official said.

Prosecutors at the National Court said the troops from the U.S. 3rd Infantry, based in Fort Stewart, Ga., committed no crime when their tank fired a shell at Baghdad's Palestine Hotel in 2003, killing Jose Couso, a cameraman for the Spanish television network Telecinco, and Taras Portsyuk, a Ukrainian cameraman for Reuters. The prosecutors characterized the attack as an accident of war, said a court official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity.
But the Left won't give up that easily.
Under Spanish law, investigative magistrates file charges and prosecutors, who must argue the case at trial, can contest those charges if they do not feel they can be succesfully tried. A crime committed against a Spaniard abroad can be prosecuted here if it is not investigated in the country where it was allegedly committed.

Investigating magistrate Santiago Pedraz charged Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip DeCamp with homicide and "a crime against the international community" - defined under Spanish law as an indiscriminate or excessive attack against civilians during war - for firing at the Palestine Hotel, where many journalists were staying.

Following the incident, then-U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said American troops had responded to hostile fire from the hotel. He said a U.S. review of the incident found the use of force was justified.

Pedraz has issued several arrest warrants against the three soldiers, but the United States has made clear it will not hand them over. The soldiers still run the risk of arrest under a Spanish-issued international warrant should they travel to any country that has an extradition accord with Spain.

The next step is for Pedraz himself to decide whether he accepts or rejects the prosecutors' appeal.
Posted by:Steve White

#2  Throw out the Spanish embassy and all consulates in the US, close Torrejon AB and Zaragoza AB, shut down the Navy Base at Rota, and let Spain rot. There MUST be consequences for bad behavior. Unfortunately, that takes testosterone, and that seems to be in short supply in our government.
Posted by: Old Patriot   2007-05-20 16:42  

#1  One lesson we should learn from the allanists is to over-react whenever our honor or pride is questioned in any way. Charge our men with murder? We burn down your embassy. Escalate as necessary.

As it stands, we apologize as the Orcs rape our daughters and cringe lest Wormtongue call us names.
Posted by: Excalibur   2007-05-20 07:16  

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