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Any day now ... -- Part 3 (Today's the day) »

After Easongate and Judge Quixote's issuance of arrest warrants for 3 American Soldiers for accidentally killing a Spanish cameraman filming from the Palestine Hotel during the early stages of the battle for Baghdad, I'm shocked, shocked, that the MSM isn't up in arms about this:

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Journalists' Hotel Attacked in Iraq
Monday, October 24, 2005
Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Three massive vehicle bombs exploded Monday near the Palestine Hotel home to many Western journalists, killing at least 20 people. Dramatic TV pictures showed one of the bombers driving a cement truck through the concrete blast walls that guard the hotel, then blowing up his vehicle.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, said the attack — which appeared well-planned — was a "very clear" effort to take over the hotel and seize journalists as hostages.

[Read on]

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C'mon, MSM, where are you? Is everyone too busy planning 2k celebrations to notice?

Update (after some sleep):

Looks like Dafydd was writing about this about the same time I was and wondering "NOW Will Ya Gimmie Some Fightin' Room?" He found a longer version of the AP article than I did and noticed this passage:

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"These appalling attacks are fresh reminders of the myriad dangerous [sic] facing those who continue to report from Iraq," [the Committee to Protect Journalists] Executive Director Ann Cooper said....

"By attacking the Hotel Palestine, which is commonly known to be home to many foreign journalists, those behind this cowardly attack sought to deliberately target the Western media," the press freedom organization [Reporters Without Borders] stated.

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As Dafydd notes:

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We may have entered uncharted waters here: this could be the very first time the press has condemned a suicide bombing in Iraq. The world is topsy-turvy.

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On the other hand, Dafydd, they still couldn't bring themselves to use the word "terrorist."

Power Line has more from their man in Baghdad:

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The number of terrorists involved and the follow-on small arms attacks make it clear that the overall goal was to use suicide vehicle bombs to breach the security perimeter, then take over the hotel and hold the international guests as hostages. Instead, they failed to achieve those objectives and the attackers were killed.

Now, the terrorists can only hope that the video of a failed attack will result in a strategic victory by undermining the level of support that war-weary American people have for the democratization of Iraq. I am writing to encourage readers to take a different view.

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OK, MSM, now that Eurabia has attacked the Ministry of Truth, is time to admit that they're the ones we've relly always been at war with?

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Welcome Big Lizards fans. Please kick off your shoes and stay a while. Here's a link to my main page. (If you didn't come here from Big Lizards, hurry and click that first link to see Dafydd's latest.)

Update 2 (After some delay due to technical problems at TypePad):

Welcome Big Lizards fans. Please kick off your shoes and stay a while. Here's a link to my main page. If you didn't come here from Big Lizards, hurry and click that first link to see Dafydd's latest. I envy his clarity of thought:

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[T]his wasn't just a failed terrorist attack: it was an attempt to pull off another Beslan Massacre, except instead of children, the hostages would be a bunch of journalists (no jokes, please).

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Update 3 (2005.10.26):

Donald Sensing, writing at Winds of Change, has other ideas about why the attack happened. Go read them. (Hat tip: Mudville)

Posted by Bill Faith on October 25, 2005 at 02:43 AM | Permalink

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» Fightin' Room With a (New) View from Big Lizards
Scott at Power Line has much more on the attempted attack on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad; their frequent correspondent Major E. has an eyewitness account, and he states that it was clearly a failed attempt at a much larger... [Read More]

Tracked on Oct 25, 2005 9:39:22 PM

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