you are right - there is no justification for this, no news-worthiness, nothing. The only reason for doing so is the hope that this brave individual will be killed or intimidated in a rogue effort to try and thwart the movement toward freedom and democracy.
I just hope this reporter return to Iraq and they sentence the guy to five years for what he has done. At that, he would be getting of light in my estimation.
Perhaps it would just be best if they handed him over to the people he is aiding and abetting.