When a soldier on a U.S. Tank shot a Reuters cameraman, Mazen Dana, last month while he was filming the aftermath of a terrorist attack at the American-run Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad, he came the 17^th journalist to die in Iraq. Given that there have been fewer than 300 U.S. Military casualties since the war began last March, this is a startlingly high statistic.

 

Even more startling is the fact that five of the dead journalists have been victims of “friendly fire.” And unlike past wars where such casualties were most often caused by land mines, firefights, snipers or artillery, these five died after they or their offices were made direct targets.

 

 

When a soldier on a U.S. Tank shot a Reuters cameraman, Mazen Dana, last month while he was filming the aftermath of a terrorist attack at the American-run Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad, he came the 17^th journalist to die in Iraq. Given that there have been fewer than 300 U.S. Military casualties since the war began last March, this is a startlingly high statistic.

 

Even more startling is the fact that five of the dead journalists have been victims of “friendly fire.” And unlike past wars where such casualties were most often caused by land mines, firefights, snipers or artillery, these five died after they or their offices were made direct targets.

 

 

When a soldier on a U.S. Tank shot a Reuters cameraman, Mazen Dana, last month while he was filming the aftermath of a terrorist attack at the American-run Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad, he came the 17^th journalist to die in Iraq. Given that there have been fewer than 300 U.S. Military casualties since the war began last March, this is a startlingly high statistic.

 

Even more startling is the fact that five of the dead journalists have been victims of “friendly fire.” And unlike past wars where such casualties were most often caused by land mines, firefights, snipers or artillery, these five died after they or their offices were made direct targets.