The U.S. military acknowledged on Sunday that its troops in Iraq had "engaged" a Reuters cameraman, saying they had thought his camera was a rocket propelled grenade launcher. "Army soldiers engaged an individual they thought was aiming an RPG at them. It turned out to be a Reuters cameraman," Navy Capt. Frank Thorp, a spokesman for the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told Reuters in Washington.
This is one of the dangers that the Combat Camera units are warned about. You’re kneeling with your ENG camera (RPG) on your shoulder and looking through the viewfinder (sight) at the subject (target) you are taping (aiming at). If they don’t know who and where you are, you are at risk.
Cameraman Mazen Dana, 43, was shot and killed on Sunday while filming near a U.S.-run prison on the outskirts of Baghdad. Witnesses said he was shot by soldiers on an American tank.
Under fire in a hostile area, they saw somebody pointing something at them and responded, correctly in my view. |