Geraldo Rivera Leaving Iraq in Flap with Pentagon

Reuter ^ | 040103 | Steve Gorman

[dep]

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A day after the Pentagon demanded he leave the war zone in Iraq for divulging U.S. troop positions in a broadcast, maverick television reporter Geraldo Rivera has "volunteered" to leave the country, the Fox News Channel said on Tuesday.

Rivera, who was traveling with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, ran afoul of military commanders with a live report on Sunday in which he sketched a map in the sand to show viewers his relative location in Iraq and where troops might advance next.

Pentagon officials said Monday that Rivera's report "compromised operational security" of the Army unit and that at the insistence of the field commanders, Fox News had agreed to remove him from the war zone.

Rivera himself later suggested all was well between him and the military and accused his competitors at former employer NBC of "spreading some lies" about him.

Fox, a unit of News Corp. Ltd. and the top-rated all-news cable network in the United States, had initially maintained that the matter was under review with the Pentagon.

The veteran correspondent, known for his provocative on-screen style, was not officially "embedded" with the 101st Airborne -- a status by which journalists accompany U.S. troops while adhering to certain ground rules designed to safeguard military security. But he was permitted to join up with the unit from Kuwait after the war began and had been accorded "ad hoc embedded" treatment, a Fox News spokesman said.

Late Tuesday, the network issued a statement saying Rivera's brief stint in Iraq was over for now.

"Geraldo Rivera volunteered to return to Kuwait from his embedment with U.S. troops after learning of concerns that he may have inadvertently violated the rules governing embedded journalists," the statement said. "Given those concerns, Fox News and Geraldo thought it better he return to Kuwait while the situation is reviewed. Fox News believes that Geraldo did not knowingly disregard the rules of embedment."

A Fox spokesman said Rivera was expected to leave the country first thing Wednesday morning, Iraq time, but no details were available as to the means of his departure.

For Rivera, who left his seven-year-old talk show on CNBC in 2001 to cover the war in Afghanistan for Fox News, the Iraq war posed his latest encounter with journalistic controversy.

Days after arriving in Afghanistan, Rivera recited the Lord's Prayer over "hallowed ground" near the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar where three U.S. soldiers and several anti-Taliban Afghan fighters died in a U.S. airstrike.

But after Rivera's presence at the site was challenged by the Baltimore Sun, Rivera acknowledged he had been several hundred miles away at the scene of another "friendly fire" incident that he confused with the first, even though it took place three days after his initial report. He was quoted in the Sun as saying that his mistake was due to the "fog of war."

He also drew criticism in journalistic circles for carrying a gun on assignment in Afghanistan, despite long-standing taboos against war correspondents arming themselves.

Fox News is a division of News Corp. Ltd.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc. . NBC is owned by General Electric Co.

[dep]

i think he probably stuck around long enough so that he can take personal responsibility on "fox and the simpsons" tomorrow morning for the rescue tonight.

dep

[Brian S]

Well thats why it took him so long to leave Iraq, don't you know? Unfinished business. I can hear it now.

[jacquej]

Great news! Fox redeems itself in my eyes!!! My only complaint is that they should have done it the morning after!

[First_Salute]

Gerry Rivers bites the dust.

[k2blader]

"Given those concerns, Fox News and Geraldo thought it better he return to Kuwait while the situation is reviewed. Fox News believes that Geraldo did not knowingly disregard the rules of embedment."

Still under review. Sure is an odd situation.

[Howlin]

Who is Fox making all these statements to, as I haven't seen one yet and have had Fox on all day long.

[tirednvirginia]

I still haven't heard this officially announced on Fox News. When do you think they will finally let us know?

[CheneyChick]

"Fog of War" covers a multitude of sins.

[OldFriend]

Since when is ignorance an excuse!

[deport]

Jerry moving his operations into Kuwait..... There's always a need for another top notch report to do extended reports on the off loading of supplies and equipment.... Maybe he can draw maps in the water next to the dock....

[A. Morgan]

Late word has it, Geraldo is going home to POUT!

[PianoMan]

I hear England's Daily Mirror is hiring shameless journalistic prostitutes of all persuasions.

[dep]

Who is Fox making all these statements to, as I haven't seen one yet and have had Fox on all day long.

to the press. like other media (with the exception, actually, of national geographic), they look down on mere consumers of news.

dep

[Yo-Yo]

adios, Jerry Rivers

[Coroner]

My favorite whore-aldo moment was on Fox. When he paid an Afghani to shoot in front of him and we saw him scramble for "cover". The only problem was; his brother/camera man exposed him, he did'nt take cover and held the camera for a perfect shot.

[vigilante2]

Revoldo

[GBTexan]

And yet I'm sure Geraldo will still be there with the 101st tomorrow. This whole thing is a freaking joke. The rest of the press says he's out--then he reports in, still with the 101st. The rest of the press says he's on his way out--then there he was this morning, still with the 101st.

Forgive me for not trusting CNN, Reuters, MSNBC or the AP on this. I'll believe it when I see it.

[MHGinTN]

Geraldo Rivera is a gungho clown who shot his mouth off giving out operational objectives prior to the unit going into action on those objectives. He is a danger to the Soldiers with whom he tarvels and upon whom he is depedant for survival. He's liability, not an asset. Frankly, he did it in Afghanistan the week before, but no one took notice.

[BunnySlippers]

It's a shame that Fox seems to be joined at the hip with Geraldo. Geraldo is flamboyant ... but he still loves Clinton.

[dep]

Still under review = while we beg them to let him back in

dep