A significant postscript to both this Prandial post and this piece of Barca blogging. The moral? Don't mess with the media.
A second Spaniard has died in the war - Jose Couso, a cameramen with TV station Telecinco. He died along with two cameramen from Reuters when their hotel room was blasted by a direct hit from an American tank.
People here have been demanding answers. Ansar stood in Parliament for a total of 15 seconds and said how regrettable it was. And that was it - he's not likely to embarrass his new Texan chum by asking difficult questions.
So the media fought back by precisely not doing what they do best. As Ansar arrived in Parliament, everyone put down their cameras and notepads and just watched him, arms folded, not reporting on the events. Then they used their press passes to get access to the main chamber and stood in silence, holding aloft pictures of Couso on which they had written "assassinated". They got a standing ovation for a minute and a half - including, curiously, many of Ansar's own party.
Later that day, Jack Straw and the Spanish home secretary Ana Palacio had a press conference following a summit meet. The first question was "What do you intend to do about the investigation of the murder of Jose Couso?"
When no proper answer was forthcoming, all of the reporters and photographers laid down their tools and stared at Straw and Palacio, who stood there looking very silly for about half a minute, waiting for a follow-up question that never came.
As the journalists filed out the room without saying any more, by previous agreement only one camera kept rolling - and it was pointed at the media themselves. Without the vital public relations exercise, a fairly meaningless summit became a complete waste of time for both governments.
Meaningful protests. And with style.
UPDATE: comments on this entry can be found on my other website here and also on Ben's site here.