Posted on 08/08/2004 5:58:37 AM PDT by Callahan
For most of the central figures in the Arab-produced documentary film "Control Room," the grisly images that emerged from the US invasion of Iraq last year were no cause for a change of opinion. Jehane Noujaim, the producer, gives an inside look at the war through the eyes and lenses of Al Jazeera's journalists, based at US Central Command headquarters in Doha, Qatar. And over the length of her film, the chasm only widens between US military officials who speak about the "liberation" of Iraq and the Al Jazeera reporters skeptical of the invasion. The exception is a Marine lieutenant named Josh Rushing. Rushing, who was a Central Command spokesman assigned to escort the documentary makers during their time in Qatar, is among the film's most sympathetic characters. He is portrayed as a thoughtful young man moved over time by the grim reality of war. At no point is he shown doubting the justness of the US effort in Iraq, yet the film documents a friendship between Rushing and an Al Jazeera reporter, Hassan Ibrahim. There are also moments on camera when Rushing is wrestling with the film's central themes: war, bias and the Arab world's strongest media outlet. The Marine's role in the film turned him into a minor celebrity among those who saw the film. But the candid comments he made in the documentary and in interviews after its release ran afoul of his superiors in the Marine Corps, which he now reportedly plans to leave.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Then you didn't comprehend the problem.
I am sure this marine was thoroughly briefed about what he is supposed to say or could and could not say when dealing with these people, obviously he went over the line. Your free speech is limited once you sign that paper making you an American fighting man, our asses are uncles and what you say is considered policy.
People don't understand what a complex organization Al Jazeera is," the article quotes Rushing as saying. "They say it's all Islamists, or Ba'athists, or Arab nationalists. You have all that, but you have really progressive voices too. Al Jazeera shows it all. It turns your stomach, and you remember there's something wrong with war."
Al Jazeera is a most vehement anti American pro Muslim pro terrorist propaganda machine...has been since the get....this Marine Officer....did the pooch in...as did his wife.....after 15 yrs as an enlisted he should have known better....
There is a war going on...it is FAR far from over
Al Jazerra is our enemy
His job was to be a USMC guard dog.. not roll over to get his belly scratched...
imo
"I am sure this marine was thoroughly briefed about what he is supposed to say or could and could not say"
You are making assumptions about what he was told. The article does not state what policy he broke besides being friends with an Al Jezzera reporter.
He was an escort, nothing more. How did he allow himself to be filmed saying anything? Doesn't he know the term "no comment" if the cameras are running? His judgement certainly must come into question.
Apparently, you have not been in the military. Chain of command, Code of Conduct, UCMJ and other things you would not be aware of.
Read the article again. He stuck his finger in the socket with his comments after the documentary was released.
I hope we aren't look at the John Kerry of the Iraq war.
The Corp may have assumed that a Marine officer with fourteen years experience wouldn't be stupid enough to talk on camera when he was acting as an escort.
Then you need to take a further look.
EXCERPT:
" ... For their part, Marine officials said their problem was not with what Rushing said in the film, but with comments he made after the film was released and received international attention. Some suggested that he did not understand his role as an officer."
"He did a few interviews that indicated he might not know what his lane is," said Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Kay, deputy director of Marine Corps public affairs at the Pentagon. "He was way too far in the opinion realm."
"One of the articles Kay cited appeared in the Village Voice in May. "People don't understand what a complex organization Al Jazeera is," the article quotes Rushing as saying. "They say it's all Islamists, or Ba'athists, or Arab nationalists. You have all that, but you have really progressive voices too. Al Jazeera shows it all. It turns your stomach, and you remember there's something wrong with war."
A minor Marine officer follows established guidlines. He does not make policy or give statements that are not cleared with command. He represents the United States Marines, not Rushing.
Further, and with all due respects, it is not whether you have a problem. It is whether the United States Marines Corps has a problem.
JMHO
Yet there are those even on FR who would protect Al-Jezerra's broadcasting of beheadings as free speech.
"Apparently, you have not been in the military. Chain of command, Code of Conduct, UCMJ and other things you would not be aware of."
My father was the commander if the 137TAW. I think I know a little about the chain of command and the UCMJ.
All I am saying let us wait for ALL of the facts before jumping to conclusions.
You have all that, but you have really progressive voices too.
This "marine" let his guard down with that statement. Where were his superiors? What were they thinking? This "marine" from his words, tells me volumes about where he is coming from. A certain "lifestyle" is not out of the question.
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