Pentagon: US soldiers' shooting of 2 Reuters journalists justified

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The 2005 shooting death of a Reuters journalist in the midst of a fire fight in Baghdad was justified because US soldiers believed the camera protruding from an unmarked car was a rocket propelled grenade, the Pentagon's internal watchdog concluded Tuesday. In an 82-page report, the Defense Department's inspector general also said that Reuters safety practices contributed to the death of sound technician Waleed Khaled and the wounding of cameraman Haider Kadhem. The report was critical of how the initial investigation was conducted because it said the military unit's investigating officer did not follow correct procedures. It concluded, nevertheless, that a "preponderance of evidence establishes that the cameraman and driver took actions during the incident that reasonably led US soldiers to believe they were confronting hostile intent."