By Prensa Latina,
Washington : The two journalists killed in the Iraqi hotel Palestine in 2003, during the US invasion of Iraq were in a building spied and considered a possible target of attacks, a former Pentagon intelligence officer revealed on Tuesday.
According to Sergeant Adrienne Kinne, who retired four years ago, monitoring the conversations by the media personnel that stayed at that hotel, which underwent shots by a US tank on April 8, 2003, was among her missions at the Fort Gordon military base.
In the charge, cameramen Taras Protsyuk, from Reuters news agency, and Jose Couso, from Spanish Telecinco television station, died, while three other people were wounded.
The mentioned incident was called an accident by the US Defense Department, under the explanation of supposed presence of enemies with rocket launchers in the attacked place.
However, Kinne told Democracy Now network that besides monitoring the conversations, she had access to a list of Pentagon probable targets in the Arab nation, including the hotel Palestine.
That time, I approached my superior to tell him I was worried about those journalists, who thought they were at a safe place, but the answer was “that was not my problem,” the former military woman explained.
According to Kinne, the program to tap satellite telephone calls originated in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other neighboring countries, also included spying and analyzing comments by International Red Cross members and those of other humanitarian organizations involved in the wars.
A Spanish court started a trial, accusing three US officers of assassination, including the head of the combat vehicle M-1 Abrams, which opened fire against the hotel Palestina.
President Geroge W. Bush’s administration has refused to try those military officers, Democracy Now recalled.