Posted on 03/12/2003 2:37:53 PM PST by dead
The Pentagon has threatened to fire on the satellite uplink positions of independent journalists in Iraq, according to veteran BBC war correspondent, Kate Adie. In an interview with Irish radio, Ms. Adie said that questioned about the consequences of such potentially fatal actions, a senior Pentagon officer had said: "Who cares.. ..They've been warned."
According to Ms. Adie, who twelve years ago covered the last Gulf War, the Pentagon attitude is: "entirely hostile to the the free spread of information."
"I am enormously pessimistic of the chance of decent on-the-spot reporting, as the war occurs," she told Irish national broadcaster, Tom McGurk on the RTE1 Radio "Sunday Show."
Ms. Adie made the startling revelations during a discussion of media freedom issues in the likely upcoming war in Iraq. She also warned that the Pentagon is vetting journalists according to their stance on the war, and intends to take control of US journalists' satellite equipment --in order to control access to the airwaves.
Another guest on the show, war author Phillip Knightley, reported that the Pentagon has also threatened they: "may find it necessary to bomb areas in which war correspondents are attempting to report from the Iraqi side."
Transcript follows below:
Guests: Kate Adie, BBC; Phillip Knightley, author of The First Casualty, a history of war correspondents and propaganda; Chris Hedges, award winning human rights journalist, and former Irish Times Editor Connor Brady on the Sunday Show, RTE Radio1 9th March, 2003.
Tom McGurk: " Now, Kate Adie, you join us from the BBC in London. Thank you very much for going to all this trouble on a Sunday morning to come and join us. I suppose you are watching with a mixture of emotions this war beginning to happen, because you are not going to be covering it."
Kate Adie: " Oh I will be. And what actually appalls me is the difference between twelve years ago and now. I've seen a complete erosion of any kind of acknowledgment that reporters should be able to report as they witness."
"The Americans... and I've been talking to the Pentagon ...take the attitude which is entirely hostile to the free spread of information."
"I was told by a senior officer in the Pentagon, that if uplinks --that is the television signals out of... Bhagdad, for example-- were detected by any planes ...electronic media... mediums, of the military above Bhagdad... they'd be fired down on. Even if they were journalists ..' Who cares! ' said.. [inaudible] .."
Tom McGurk: "...Kate ...sorry Kate ..just to underline that. Sorry to interrupt you. Just to explain for our listeners. Uplinks is where you have your own satellite telephone method of distributing information."
Kate Adie: " The telephones and the television signals."
Tom McGurk: " And they would be fired on? "
Kate Adie: " Yes. They would be 'targeted down,' said the officer."
Tom McGurk: " Extraordinary ! "
Kate Adie: " Shameless! "
" He said.. ' Well... they know this ...they've been warned.' "
" This is threatening freedom of information, before you even get to a war."
"The second thing is there was a massive news blackout imposed."
"In the last Gulf war, where I was one of the pool correspondents with the British Army. We effectively had very, very light touch when it came to any kind of censorship."
" We were told that anything which was going to endanger troops lives which we understood we shouldn't broadcast. But other than that, we were relatively free."
" Unlike our American colleagues, who immediately left their pool, after about 48 hours, having just had enough of it."
" And this time the Americans are: a) Asking journalists who go with them, whether they are... have feelings against the war. And therefore if you have views that are skeptical, then you are not to be acceptable."
" Secondly, they are intending to take control of the Americans technical equipment ...those uplinks and satellite phones I was talking about. And control access to the airwaves."
" And then on top of everything else, there is now a blackout (which was imposed, during the last war, at the beginning of the war), ...ordered by one Mr. Dick Cheney, who is in charge of this."
" I am enormously pessimistic of the chance of decent on-the-spot reporting, as the war occurs. You will get it later."
It certainly is. But hey, the Pentagon was so upfront about it that I'm sure they corroborated this lady's story right away when they were called for confirmation...uhh...they were called for confirmation, weren't they?
During war the miltary will go after anything that could be used as Iraq command and control communication links, and obviously that includes any satellite links.
I'm sure what the "Pentagon official" *actually* said was that using a satphone that hasn't been previously registered with the US military could be hazardous because it might be mistaken for an Iraqi unit communicating with headquarters, and we'd understandably take out the transmitter. We can't allow a field commander in charge of WMD to remain in contact with Baghdad -- he might get orders to launch the WMDs over that channel. So don't use equipment that may make you appear that way, or if you do, you do it at your own (high) risk. Thus the "they've been warned" comment.
The brain-dead notion that we would target reporter uplinks *BECAUSE* they were reporters "getting the word out" is this bubble-head's own misunderstanding.
However, the satellite uplinks are much more of a threat because they provide the enemy (CNN & Saddam), access to instant live video (intel) from the battlefield.
1) The US has repeatedly & publicly warned it will be bombing the Iraqi Ministry of Information (propaganda) building and the Al Rashid hotel as soon as hostilities commence
2) The Iraqis will only allow reporters to report from the top of the Iraqi Ministry of Information building and they're only allowed to stay in the Al Rashid hotel.
3)Reporters are own their own ROFLMAO
They think they're gonna be the star of the show in Iraq? No way. Our military is the star of the show and the Iraqi people will also shine as they reject Saddam and his barbarian clique. Let's roll!
Get that BBC burqa babe outta here. We owe her and the BBC NOTHING! They are vile propagandists when it comes to Israel and the lefty slant they take in all their reporting. We owe them bupkas!
Good. We need no war whores...
But making it public like this isn't going to bode well for us in the press.
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