The global managing editor of the British Arabist news service al-Reuters blames the United States for the deaths of Reuters employees in Iraq: US ‘to blame’ for journalist deaths. (Hat tip: el Barto.)

THE global managing editor of British news agency Reuters said today the US military was entirely to blame for the deaths of three of its employees in Iraq since the start of the war there in March 2003, an allegation disputed by the Pentagon.

“All of them were killed by the American army,” Reuters chief David Schlesinger told reporters on the sidelines of a media conference in the southern Portuguese resort of Vilamoura, Portuguese national news agency Lusa reported.

“There is no understanding on the part of the US military regarding the exercise of journalism,” he said, according to the agency.

Can you believe those inconsiderate soldiers, getting in the way of journalists doing important work, just because they’re all hung up on, like, winning and killing the enemy and stuff?

Two Reuters photographers and a cameraman are among the more than 60 war-related deaths of media workers recorded in Iraq.

The most recent death occurred in the Iraqi city of Ramadi on November 1.

The US military said a cameraman killed there while on assignment for Reuters died in a gunbattle between marines and insurgents, but the Iraqi man’s colleagues and family have said they believe he was shot by a US sniper.

Well, that settles it; the Arab cameraman’s family says he was deliberately shot by the US, and that’s good enough for al-Reuters.

Another Reuters cameraman, a Ukrainian citizen, was killed in April 2003 when a US army tank fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.

A cameraman from Spain’s Telecinco television network was also killed in the strike, which injured three other reporters.

Again with the lack of understanding! How dare the US Army fire on a hotel with journalists in it, just because Iraqi fedayeen were known to use it as a staging area? There were journalists in there, doing important work, damn it.