"He was looking at me funny..."

About 4 months ago, a Reuters cameraman and eight young bystanders in the Gaza Strip were killed by a tank crew they were filming. Sounds like a just cause for legal repercussion, right? And they say looks can be deceiving. According to Israel's senior military lawyer, the soldiers will not face any kind of legal action. At least slap them on the wrists and subject them to a time out or something.

Obviously, some networks (Reuters in particular) were distressed by the alarming verdict. This basically undercuts whatever freedom was given to the press by handing a soldier the ill advised right to shoot first and check for PRESS labels later.

Fadel Shana, the 24 year old cameraman, positioned himself to film about a mile from where the tanks were. With the last two minutes of video that he caught, we can see a tank firing a shell that burst open, raining down thousands of metal darts known as flechettes upon the reporter and many others that were nearby.

Here's what bothers me the most: The fact that the men were wearing protective flak jackets ("Common to Palestinian terrorists" & coincidentally marked with a bold reading of PRESS) was cited by the senior military lawyer as causes for suspicion leading to the tank crew's decision. Brigadier General Avihai Mendelblit of the Israel Defense Forces wrote: "The tank crew was unable to determine the nature of the object mounted on the tripod and positively identify it as an anti-tank missile, a mortar or a television camera,"

Mendelbit also added that given the situation, the conclusion reached by the tank crew and its superiors that the characters were most likely hostile and carrying a weapon was that of "sound" reason.

David Schlesinger, Reuters Editor-in-Chief had this to say: "I'm extremely disappointed that this report condones a disproportionate use of deadly force in a situation the army itself admitted had not been analyzed clearly. They would appear to take the view that any raising of a camera into position could garner a deadly response."

Reuters wrote a letter to Mendelbit filled with questions that included those of why the tank crew eliminated the posibilty of Shana being a harmless camera man, why the fact that he was positioned in direct view of the tanks wasn't seen as a lack of deadly intent, and why, if the tanks were so concerned, did they not just retreat away from the target's line of sight.

Last shot taken by the deceased cameraman: