:-)
Posted on 09/28/2005 8:42:11 AM PDT by Valin
LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters) - The conduct of U.S. troops in Iraq, including increasing detention and accidental shootings of journalists, is preventing full coverage of the war reaching the American public, Reuters said on Wednesday.
In a letter to Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner, head of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Reuters said U.S. forces were limiting the ability of independent journalists to operate. The letter from Reuters Global Managing Editor David Schlesinger called on Warner to raise widespread media concerns about the conduct of U.S. troops with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is due to testify to the committee on Thursday.
Schlesinger referred to "a long parade of disturbing incidents whereby professional journalists have been killed, wrongfully detained, and/or illegally abused by U.S. forces in Iraq."
He urged Warner to demand that Rumsfeld resolve these issues "in a way that best balances the legitimate security interests of the U.S. forces in Iraq and the equally legitimate rights of journalists in conflict zones under international law".
At least 66 journalists and media workers, most of them Iraqis, have been killed in the Iraq conflict since March 2003.
U.S. forces acknowledge killing three Reuters journalists, most recently soundman Waleed Khaled who was shot by American soldiers on Aug. 28 while on assignment in Baghdad. But the military say the soldiers were justified in opening fire.
Reuters believes a fourth journalist working for the agency, who died in Ramadi last year, was killed by a U.S. sniper. "The worsening situation for professional journalists in Iraq directly limits journalists' abilities to do their jobs and, more importantly, creates a serious chilling effect on the media overall," Schlesinger wrote.
"By limiting the ability of the media to fully and independently cover the events in Iraq, the U.S. forces are unduly preventing U.S. citizens from receiving information...and undermining the very freedoms the U.S. says it is seeking to foster every day that it commits U.S. lives and U.S. dollars," the letter said.
"SPIRALING OUT OF CONTROL"
Schlesinger said the U.S. military had refused to conduct independent and transparent investigations into the deaths of the Reuters journalists, relying instead on inquiries by officers from the units responsible, who had exonerated their soldiers.
The U.S. military had failed even to implement recommendations by its own inquiry into one of the deaths, that of award-winning Palestinian cameraman Mazen Dana who was shot dead while filming outside Abu Ghraib prison in August 2003. Schlesinger said Reuters and other reputable international news organisations were concerned by the "sizeable and rapidly increasing number of journalists detained by U.S. forces".
He said most of these detentions had been prompted by legitimate journalistic activity such as possessing photographs and video of insurgents, whichU.S. soldiers assumed showed sympathy with the insurgency.
In most cases the journalists were held for long periods at Abu Ghraib or Camp Bucca prisons before being released without charge.
At least four journalists working for international media are currently being held without charge or legal representation in Iraq. They include two cameramen working for Reuters and a freelance reporter who sometimes works for the agency.
A cameraman working for the U.S. network CBS has been detained since April despite an Iraqi court saying his case does not justify prosecution. Iraq's justice minister has criticised the system of military detentions without charge.
Schlesinger's letter said: "It appears as though the U.S. forces in Iraq either completely misunderstand the role of professional journalists or do not know how to deal with journalists in a conflict zone, or both."
Reuters and other media organisations in Iraq had repeatedly tried to hold a dialogue with the Pentagon to establish appropriate guidelines on how to safeguard journalists. These efforts had failed "and the situation is now spiraling out of control", Schlesinger said.
He asked Warner to question Rumsfeld specifically about the rules of engagement towards professional journalists, the failure to hold independent investigations into shooting incidents and to ask what was the guidance to U.S. forces on how to distinguish legitimate journalists from insurgents.
Reuters is anti-American.
What do you call 66 Reuters journalists killed in a war zone crossfire?
A nice start.
Reuters has it backward: reporters have obstructed fighting in Iraq.
Considering how these jackasses have been misreporting the war and all, we can hardly blame the troops if their aim is off a little bit sometimes.
If I were king, Reuters wouldn't have a reporter within 1,000 miles of Iraq. This organization long ago forfeited any moral right to complain about the quality of the information being disseminated about the war or the American effort in Iraq.
Reuters - just another way to say Al Jazeera.
Guys, this is a war. Remember WWII? You went where you were told to go, and were grateful for the access. If you got your @$$ shot off, well, people die in war. You looked the other way when Kennedy was "dating" women in the White House, you did the same for Bubba (a president with even less to recommend him special treatment), and you ignored a crippled FDR because it would hurt the war effort. But a Republican is President now, and gee, you want to front page every little blip!
Please, STFU or get out.
I trust the US military a lot more than any so called "journalist" especially one from Reuters.
Perhaps one of the most dangerous jobs in Iraq is manning a checkpoint. If you approach it quickly and don't pay strict attention to the troopers you WILL BE SHOT. The first round is often a 50 cal burst into the grill. If you don't stop the second burst is into the windshield. The idea is to kill the terrorists before they can get close enough to detonate a car bomb at the check point. There are signs everywhere that say DEADLY FORCE AUTHORIZED. If you can't obey the signs expect gunfire. I'd rather lose the occasional journalist than see our soldiers getting blown up because they hog tied by political correctness. I'd like to see one of these cretins stand at a checkpoint, wearing body armor in 120 degrees, while worrying if the next car is going to vaporize them.
Cindy and croonies are harming our Troops. They are aiding the enemy with their hate of America.
God Be with our TROOPS and President.
AT LAST, an interesting question from Reuters:
How do we distinguish between people whom Reuters chooses to anoint as "professional journalists" and "insurgents"?
Hmmmmmmm.....
OK, I give up. I just don't see any difference.
I suspect their aim is not all that "off."
I remember this 1960's krap..I've often wondered what I would have done if the me "then" was the me of "now"..
Does anyone else wish to make up for being just a teen-ager, or a mislead young adult? SPEAK OUT!
We the People need to start demanding that traitors be silenced....this is not a freedom of speech issue. We can not allow the hateful anti-USA leftist get a stronghold..their foothold is already established.
"I'd rather lose the occasional journalist than see our soldiers getting blown up because they hog tied by political correctness."
Ditto to that!
Want to safeguard your "journalists?" Here's a tip: Stop hiring terrorists and stop embedding with the enemy.
First of all, I'd like a ruling on all of this. Is this simply Reuter's opinion, or is it fact?!
Secondly, hey, when you decide to stick yourself in a war between terrorists and the US Military, let's just say that you are either fully understanding of the risks or should be a nominee for a Darwin award!
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