Media tipped off on Baghdad Hotel attack.

Apparently, the terrorists told several media outlets about the planned attack in order to ensure good media coverage.

A series of massive explosions hit Baghdad at sunset this evening. The explosions are now reported to have been two car bombs and, for good measure, a cement truck filled with explosives! They were detonated right in front of the Palestine Hotel where many in the media are housed. The AP and others were notified ahead of time so that they could focus their cameras on the event and record it for history.

Given the front row seats the media occupied for this latest terrorist extravaganza, the TV footage was on the air instantaneously. Anyone who witnessed the explosions seen on TV will have to admit the terrorists did put on quite a show.

What are the odds that the media informed the Iraqi or US security forces about the impending attack? Oh well, just another sacrifice that needed to be made for good ratings!

The terrorists did this obviously to create a perception of strength in the media. After the abysmal failure at disrupting the election they needed something spectacular to regain the confidence of the media.

UPDATE

From Reuters comes this hilarious attempt at drawing a moral equivalency between terrorists and the US:

This is not the first time the hotels have been targeted. In April 2003, the Palestine Hotel – a traditional way station for journalists and consultants – was hit by US tank fire. That incident resulted in the deaths of two journalists, one from news agency Reuters and the other from a Spanish television network.

Notably, on the same day, US troops also opened fire on the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network's Baghdad office, killing television reporter Tariq Ayoub.

US military officials later apologised for both incidents, which they said were the result of erroneous intelligence regarding insurgent positions.

Some Baghdad-based reporters say that journalists are regularly subjected to intimidation by the authorities, who hope to suppress coverage of the war's less flattering aspects.

"Journalism in Iraq has been in crisis since the beginning of 2004," said one reporter who preferred anonymity. "The Iraqi government and US forces have put pressure on us because they're afraid of what we have been showing the world."