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.