Posted on 11/17/2004 9:10:16 AM PST by demlosers
I am definitely one that has NOT ever been for leaving--
goofed on previous post--thank you
BTTT
BUMP: Sites betrayal quote - good for complaining to media and elected officials.
Hey Sites, questioning authority is not your JOB as an imbedded -- it is reporting on action and events.
It is NOT your job to set up a squad of Marines, by not telling THEM what you spoke into your microphone: that these are the wounded that had been left before.
It is NOT your job to SET UP a life and death moment of decision, by withholding that key information from that young man, and rolling the tape while he reacted in that terrorized mere moment of uncertainty.
Yes, don't wonder any longer, Sites, you DID betray them! For the sake of TV drama, and making the Administration and war "look bad" in front of the whole world: YOU put that young Marine into that position. You are the criminal, more than he, who pulled the trigger. YOU had critical information about the status of the inhabitants of the building, and you did NOT share it with the squad -- just so you could capture the drama of them entering the building anxiously unaware of what they would encounter. YOU were the director, producer, and scene-setter of this event, and YOU are responsible for the outcome.
Direct and produce on your own time, Sites. You don't belong anywhere NEAR our brave young men, whom you would endanger just to get it on film.
bump
But HE is not the one I want to hear my opinion. Someone higher up who can investigate and press charges against SITES for his wanton behavior which likely caused a killing for which a Marine is being blamed.
Send you regards and thoughts to Kevin Sites.
kevin@kevinsites.net
How can I find Prager on the net?
From today's White House press briefing:
JEFF GANNON, TALON NEWS: I wanted to follow up on Connie's question about the Fallujah incident. She mentioned Al Jazeera and their editorial policy, but I'd like to point out that MSNBC has been running that footage four times an hour for the last two days. Now, is the administration or the Pentagon reconsidering embedding reporters with American troops?
MR. McCLELLAN: Considering what?
JEFF GANNON, TALON NEWS: Reconsidering the policy of embedding --
MR. McCLELLAN: I don't know of any -- no, I don't know of any change. That's a Department of Defense decision.
JEFF GANNON, TALON NEWS: How can American troops be expected to make life-and-death decisions when they have to worry about the camera that's at their back, portraying them to the world and the American public as somehow committing some kind of wrongdoing there?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I think generally speaking, journalists understand the importance of what is going on, and they are careful about the way they proceed in reporting the news when there are ongoing operations. So that's a general comment. I can't speak to every specific incident, but the military worked very carefully with the media in carrying out this policy of including reporters in some of those operations that they carry out.
Just a question. Will Kevin Sites go out on another op? I'm interested in his dedication to the craft of reporting. He should volunteer to report on the next Marine patrol inside Fallujah.
Agreed. I cancelled buying about $1800 in GE appliances after this sh*t.
Your post was more ignorant and biased than most of what I have read concerning the "incident" that you refer to as treason by Kevin Sites. Since when is reporting the facts considered betrayal of one's country? If we fear the truth then we should be more concerned with our own character and actions than that of someone who is bringing that truth to light. You state that Kevin Sites caused damage to morale, yet that claim has little merit. If you researched Kevin Sites and his reporting, something that you would know is that he has not only a lot of experience in wartime reporting but he cares very much for those who he is traveling with. The soldiers respect him because he treats them with respect. You seem to think that "censoring" all reports is the answer, to make sure that everything is presented with your own accepted bias, rather than simply the facts of the matter. If you read the transcripts of the report that Kevin Sites made, you would know that he made a point of stating that the soldiers had recently faced simular situations only blocks away during which apparently unarmed persons were actually booby-trapped and that our forces had suffered casualties as a result. I am certain that - as someone who has been captured by Iraqi radicals himself and had his life threatened for being an "American spy" while reporting during the war - Kevin Sites knows very well the impact that "incidents" like this can have. He has slept in the dirt with those soldiers and spent hours and hours traveling and talking with them and only someone who is reacting with their own bias out of their own emotions rather than a fair observation of the reporting would believe that he would intentionally place those men and women - and his own crew - in danger simply to get a headline. I am sure that you have good intentions and don't want to see our soldiers put in danger by someone who you consider just a hotshot reporter with little regard for others. But, perhaps you should take the time to find out who you are accusing and get your own facts straight before you crucify someone for telling the truth. Yes, war is ugly. Yes, there are times when it is prudent not to go into detail about incidents that happen. But, there has to be a balance and we need to be accountable for our actions. I have two brothers in the military... one was shipped straight to downtown Baghdad several months ago, when insurgents were murdering our soldiers daily. So, I would react poorly to someone trying to fabricate a story just for the airtime, knowing that it would put Americans in danger. But, I am grateful that there are reporters who have the integrity to tell the truth, even when it is not pretty. Kevin Sites did not accuse that soldier of murder. He reported the facts - including the situation that the soldiers had been placed in and how volatile and deadly the city had been during the days and weeks leading up to that moment - and I believe that he made it clear that the troops were not always certain that "innocent" civilians were actually innocent, considering that they had been fired upon and lost lives to "innocent" civilians only hours before. (The transcripts are available on msnbc.com's website.) I don't think that Kevin Sites is perfect, but I do believe that he has integrity and cares very much for those who have suffered during this war... including the men and women who he is traveling with.
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