MSNBC Electronically Blurring Muslim Soldier's Face?

MSNBC TV ^ | 3/23/03 | Seeking the Truth

[Seeking the truth]

I was in the middle of doing some stuff around the house this morning and I turned on the puter and the TV to get caught up.

I kept switching between Fox & MSNBC to see the Iraqis setting fire to weeds along the river and the "search" for the downed aviators.

MSNBC then switched to an update re: the Black Muslim soldier from the "not really fragging" (my term) incident of yesterday.

I had already seen the footage of this guy lying on the ground many times and then being picked up by his hands tied behind his back. Therefore, I was not paying all that much attention.

This time, I swear I saw that MSNBC showed footage that electronically blurred the soldiers face and the general quality of the footage was degraded; i.e., not as clear as previous showings of this footage.

Simply unbelievable what is going on with this incident.

Did anyone else see this?

[CROSSHIGHWAYMAN]

Medusa Syndrome

[mewzilla]

The soldier's face was pixilated. That's been done on all the footage I've seen.

[gorush]

Hi Gene, just saw the same thing on Fox News...wierd. They had no problem showing his face last night. Maybe he used his one call to hire Johnny Cochran.

[InShanghai]

I read somewhere that POWs are not supposed to be photographed and publicly displayed. Maybe something to do with the Geneva Convention. I've also seen other photos on the internet were also blurred out.

[demkicker]

Has it definitely been established that he's Muslim? I heard on Fox News that his motive was revenge from being disciplined and told he would stay in camp and not be allowed to go into Bagdad. I'm curious if he is Muslim and want the military to hurry and release his %*^# name.

[Seeking the truth]

Well, I'm glad to hear that your memory is the same as mine. I know that last night they were showing the footage without any blurring - on all the stations.

[Grand Old Partisan]

The Pentagon has a war going on right now. The traitor will be dealt with at a slightly less distracting time.

[two23]

I saw the pixilated version this morning, but last night, they were showing this guy--unpixilated.
I guess they had to sanitize the story so no one gets "offended".

[Seeking the truth]

I did not see any pixilating - on any station - yesterday and even until I went to bed last night around midnight EST.

[mewzilla]

Well, in fairness, since the guy is only a suspect and was injured, maybe the Army wanted to be able to notify next of kin before they saw him on TV.

[Seeking the truth]

Has it definitely been established that he's Muslim?

It had been widely reported by mainstream media that he was; i.e., until the sanitizing of this incident started.

Reminds me of the air brushing the Russians used to do on those balconies during May Day parades!

[Behind Liberal Lines]

I think the pixilation stems from a lawsuit against the show "COPS" a few years back. A guy whose face was shown and later found not guilty sued FOX and won for invasion of privacy. So now they pixilate faces of non-convicted people as a matter of course (unless the person was a public figure--ex, OJ Simpson--beforehand).

But I could be wrong.

[Seeking the truth]

Does the military notify next of kin for injuries? I thought that this occured only upon a death.

[Eternal_Bear]

This perp is no POW. POW's wear uniforms of foreign combatants. He should be executed immediately. I don't understand why they are treating him with kid gloves. He is a terrorist.

[Seeking the truth]

You may be right about that but, if that was the case, I would suspect that the "blurring" would have occured immediately, rather that allowing the actual footage to be seen worldwide a zillion times - by all networks - for over a day!

[untwist]

NBC just showed the video without distorting the face. He is African- American. Rumsfeld is on the show and very wisely saying very little.

[templar]

. Maybe something to do with the Geneva Convention.

Geneva would only apply to another countries soldiers, not our own.

[Seeking the truth]

Was that NBC or MSNBC? I saw it on MSNBC.

[untwist]

Meet the Press. Rumsfeld is Russert's guest.