BOYCOTT GE AND EVERY NBC ADVERTISER.
So in some ways, embedded in this unit, I begin to feel I’ve betrayed the people that depend on me to be skeptical; to question the dominant powers and institutions of my nation and the actions it undertakes in the name of its citizens. I am not a military or American cheerleader, not a mouthpiece signed on to some institutional agenda whether I believe in it or not. I am here to ask the hard questions of the people who make the hardest decisions; ones that result in people dying or people being killed. I must remember as one journalist advised, “write in your notepad every day ‘I am not one of them.
More importantly, the embedded reporters should kicked out of the war zone as non-essential personnel.
Great, great commentary. Worth the time to read. Thanks for posting it.
Post support for marine here:http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1281701/posts?q=1&&page=701
Sign petition here.
Or even here:http://www.petitiononline.com/as123/petition.html
The soldier in question should not be reprimanded and SOMEONE (unit commander, a General, Rummie, or Bush) should tell instead reprimand the press.
Once again we need to look to wiser, non-PC'd affected people and times for the precedent on what to do here. Pull the press out? No, the Islamo-facists extremists (terrorists) will spin it that we are now hiding things. Instead, I think we go back to WWII-style censoring of outgoing communications back home to the US (and to the world). Remember GI letters then were often full of cut outs?
We should put up press/civilian satellite jammers all over the place in Iraq and if the press wants to get a story out (including video and sat phones) they bring it to the military for review first (with WWII tight clearance standards) for transmission over military frequencies to the US and elsewhere. Perhaps more technology-savvy freepers can say if this is doable.
This de-moralizing kind of self-serving trash story should've been killed immediately never to be heard of again. The President said he would do everything possible to protect our troops. Well now they need protection from the leftward homefront press!
Just goes to show that you don't leave an enemy alive behind your back...or a terrorist either.
In the interest of fairness, Kevin Sites should be kept in Iraq but his duties should be expanded. From now on, his camera-man can keep Kevin on camera while he, personally, checks dead bodies and those of the wounded to make certain that they are what they seem to be. If Kevin is looking for a Pulitzer, this might just be his ticket!
if ANYTHING happens to this Marine or his family... i wouldn't give a plug nickel for this POS's future.BTTT
Send you regards and thoughts to Kevin Sites.
kevin@kevinsites.net
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.