The Eason Jordan Repository

La Shawn Barber's Corner ^ | 2/3/05 | La Shawn Barber

[JoanB]

A repository is place where you put things for safe-keeping, but I prefer the fourth definition of the word: a burial vault or a tomb. That's what you should consider this post. Eason Jordan's burial vault. It will contain links, analysis and a chronology of how Jordan buried his career. To catch up on the developments, read the first post.

I didn't want "burial vault" in the title because I don't want people to think I'm trying to kill him. ;) The story is still developing because Jordan's statement, a semantical gymnastics routine, is laughable. Read it on Carol Liebau's blog:

To be clear, I do not believe the U.S. military is trying to kill journalists in Iraq. I said so during the forum panel discussion. But, nonetheless, the U.S. military has killed several journalists in Iraq in cases of mistaken identity. The reason the word "targeted" came up at all is because I was responding to a comment by Congressman Franks, who said he believed the 63 journalists killed in Iraq were the victims of "collateral damage." Since three of my CNN colleagues and many other journalists have been killed on purpose in Iraq, I disputed the "collateral damage" statement, saying, unfortunately, many journalists --- not all --- killed in Iraq were indeed targeted. When someone aims a gun at someone and pulls the trigger and then learns later the person fired at was actually a journalist, an apology is appropriate and is accepted, and I believe those apologies to be genuine. But such a killing is a tragic case of mistaken identity, not a case of "collateral damage." That is the distinction I was trying to make even if I did not make it clearly at the time. Further, I have worked closely with the U.S. military for months in an effort to achieve a mutual goal: keeping journalists in Iraq safe and alive.

I remind you of what Rony Abovitz said he heard: "Eason Jordan asserted that he knew of 12 journalists who had not only been killed by US troops in Iraq, but they had in fact been targeted. He repeated the assertion a few times, which seemed to win favor in parts of the audience (the anti-US crowd) and cause great strain on others."

I'm so tired of weak-kneed and jelly-spined men, it's not even funny anymore. Say what you mean and mean what you say, and stop backpedaling! I'd have more respect for Jordan if he admitted that although he said Americans were targetting and killing journalists, he said so out of frustration with the war or the death of his journalist friends. Be a man and tell the truth. Good grief.

As a liberal journalist, Jordan clearly hates the war and doesn't feel too kindly toward George Bush. The world hates America, if you believe mainstream media. Jordan and other journalists have said these things before but were never called on it. That was before the blog swarm.

In BLOG: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World, Hewitt writes: "When many blogs pick up a theme and begin to pursue a story, a blog swarm forms. A blog swarm is an early indicator of an opinion storm brewing. which, when it breaks, will fundamentally alter the general public's understanding of a person, place, product, or phenomenon."

Blog swarms formed around Trent Lott and his disastrous birthday toast to Strom Thurmond, the New York Times and their plagiarizing affirmation action baby named Jayson Blair, John Kerry's lies about being in Cambodia on Christmas Eve in 1968, the Swift Board veterans' account of the real John Kerry, and Rathergate, where CBS tried to pass off forged memos for the purpose of damaging a sitting president.

As Hewitt notes in BLOG, newspaper circulation, CNN and the networks' readership is falling; the blogosphere, FOX News and talk radio is riding. Jordan will not be able to hide, and CNN will not be able to remain silent on this for much longer. CNN is trying to bury the lead on this.

I highly recommend Hewitt's book. I quote and reference Hewitt a lot, and many of you are probably asking, "Why?" Good question. Read the book, and I think you'll answer your own question. Whether or not you have a blog, if you've been reading this one regularly, you've also been caught up in the swarm.

One final thought about blogs, the new media. Hewitt writes: "The old information monopoly had an enormous ability to decide where and when news would be 'news.' That gatekeeping function is gone, and blogs have rushed in to decide for themselves what matters. The episodes detailed earlier were the first few rounds of conflict between MSM and bloggers."

I, blogger, have decided that an American journalist accusing the military of his own country of murdering journalists is NEWS. This post will be updated throughout the day with links from bloggers and MSM. If you're blogging about Eason Jordan or related matters, trackback to this post and I'll include your link.

Myopic Zeal, The Baron, Pajamahadin, Rathergate.com, Dr. John Mark Reynolds...

Captain Ed notes that MSM has yet to report on this story (and here). Rony Abovitz ("gound zero") makes another statement. SCSIwuzzy offers a link to list of journalists killed in Iraq.

Update: FOX News web site mentions Eason Jordan:

And CNN's top news executive Ethan Jordan (search) has found himself called to account by none other than Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Barney Frank (search). This after Jordan seemed to suggest that the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, that American troops were deliberating targeting and killing foreign journalists in Iraq, including Western journalists.

It's not much, but at least it's something. But notice that FOX refers to him at "Ethan."

Rebecca MacKinnon, the blogger/journalist who confirmed Abovitz's version of events, writes: "The right wing bloggers have been very vocal on this story. The left and middle have been largely silent. We have yet to hear much from journalists working on the ground in Iraq. I heard back from my friend Brian Palmer who wrote..."

[Eva]

Look what I found at Al Jazeera. Is this article the cause or the result of Jordan's accusations?



Features
Taysir Alluni: A reporter behind bars


Tuesday 25 January 2005, 12:36 Makka Time, 9:36 GMT


Some images from Afghanistan were too distressing to show



Related:
Taysir Alluni: Profile
Why it is your duty to help Alluni
Spain condemned over Alluni arrest



Tools:
Email Article
Print Article
Send Your Feedback



Taysir Alluni could never have suspected that the 9/11 attacks and the US war against Afghanistan in its hunt for al-Qaida and Taliban leaders would dramatically change his life.


Alluni, who began his career as an Arabic translator for a news agency in Granada, Spain, is credited as being the only journalist based in Afghanistan in October 2001 to show the world what the US war machine was doing to one of the world's poorest countries.



By then working for Aljazeera, Alluni was able to capture images of civilian victims in the destitute villages of Afghanistan and the miserable streets of Kabul. His coverage triggered international outrage over the US action in Afghanistan.



Alluni's work in that war-torn country came to an end when US forces bombed Aljazeera's Kabul office just hours before the Northern Alliance entered the Afghan capital. While many say the office was deliberately targeted, Aljazeera keeps an open mind, while still asking for an official investigation.



Alluni left Kabul shortly before his office was bombed, following the Taliban retreat and reporting on it. Much of what he witnessed was too distressing to show and he was himself assaulted. "Scenes that, I'm sorry, I could not describe to anybody," he said.



Beaten and mugged, Alluni has not said who attacked him but described the incident as leaving him "in deep psychological shock".



Back to Qatar




Taysir Alluni has a serious heart
condition and has had surgery

Alluni returned to Doha, Qatar, exhausted and with mixed emotions. Although professionally satisfied at being able to report the war - reportage that earned him international recognition - the images of suffering were painful to carry.



A respected member of staff, the appreciation he received from his colleagues back in Doha helped Alluni recover from his stint in Afghanistan and surgery he underwent in the Qatari capital.



To war zone once more



Despite his deteriorating health, Alluni headed to Baghdad in the second week of the US war on Iraq in March 2003 on his next assignment.



While reporting there, he once more narrowly escaped a US bombardment. That he survived the US bombing of the Aljazeera Baghdad bureau is little short of a miracle. Aljazeera continues to pursue an official response to this attack - an onslaught that killed his colleague, Aljazeera reporter Tariq Ayub.



Behind bars



When US President George Bush officially declared the Iraq war over, Alluni chose Spain as his destination for a holiday, thinking that his Spanish citizenship would help him avoid harassment and facilitate his movements.



His hopes proved to be unfounded. Syrian-born Alluni, a father of five, was arrested in September 2003 at his home in Granada.



His wife, Fatima al-Zahra, told Aljazeera that her husband was arrested under the pretext of misusing his position as a journalist to carry out an interview with Usama bin Ladin, during which the latter called for jihad (holy war). His colleagues suggest his successes may have counted against him.

Alluni was bailed on medical grounds about a month later. He has a serious heart condition.

However, he was re-arrested in November 2003 for fear he may flee the country while awaiting trial.

He remains behind bars, a situation that has sparked outrage among Arab human rights groups, journalists and colleagues, who describe this controversial prosecution of this very modern Arab icon as nothing more than an attack on the freedom of the press.