Free Republic

In a week in which it was burnt by at least one high-profile source, CBS News is being accused by another of having used and abandoned him. The Observer has learned that CBS News and Dan Rather made use of Jonathan (Jack) Idema, a former Green Beret, mercenary and rogue soldier, who was tried and sentenced on Sept. 15 to 10 years in an Afghan prison for operating a private jail and torturing civilians he claimed were Al Qaeda operatives. Mr. Idema is now accusing CBS News of abandoning him after having what appears to have been an ad hoc...

Sunday, November 21, 2004 Open Letter to Devil Dogs of the 3.1 To Devil Dogs of the 3.1: Since the shooting in the Mosque, I've been haunted that I have not been able to tell you directly what I saw or explain the process by which the world came to see it as well. As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a 'gotcha' reporter -- hoping for...

The US military says marines in Fallujah have shot and killed an insurgent who engaged them as he was faking being dead, a week after footage of a marine killing an apparently unarmed and wounded Iraqi caused a stir in the region. "Marines from the 1st Marine Division shot and killed an insurgent who while faking dead opened fire on the marines who were conducting a security and clearing patrol through the streets," a military statement said. Military sources had said that the rules of engagement were looser during the operation launched in Fallujah, for fear that rebels would be...

Calgary Sun, November 21, 2004 I don't blame that Marine in Fallujah at all By Ian Robinson -- Calgary Sun You're a kid, probably a year or two, or even three, shy of your 25th birthday. Not a rich kid. Probably not even an upper-middle-class kid ... after all, you don't find a lot of those outside the officer corps in combat naval infantry units. You're probably not that bright; certainly not as bright as the highly educated college types lining up to condemn you. Maybe you finished high school. Maybe you didn't. The average IQ of an enlisted man...

<p>Since the shooting in the Mosque, I've been haunted that I have not been able to tell you directly what I saw or explain the process by which the world came to see it as well. As you know, I'm not some war zone tourist with a camera who doesn't understand that ugly things happen in combat. I've spent most of the last five years covering global conflict. But I have never in my career been a 'gotcha' reporter -- hoping for people to commit wrongdoings so I can catch them at it.</p>

When I first read Monday that embedded reporter Kevin Sites had filmed a Marine killing an unarmed Iraqi man on the floor of a Fallujah mosque, I turned to photographer Hayne Palmour and said: "Kevin's the loneliest man in the world right now." Palmour, a veteran staff photographer for the North County Times, and I had worked with Sites near Fallujah during the Marines' previous push on that city in April. We, too, were embedded, and embedded deep like Sites was these last weeks ---- with a Marine infantry company in the heat of house-to-house fighting. We could empathize with...

BAGHDAD, November 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The US pool reporter, who broke to the world the killing of a wounded, unarmed Iraqi prisoner by a marine, further revealed that more prisoners were shot dead though they did not appear threatening in any way. NBC correspondent Kevin Sites was quoted by the Associated Press Wednesday, November 17, as saying that US Marines killed three more unarmed and wounded Iraqi prisoners in a Fallujah mosque Saturday, November 12. He added the wounded had been left in the mosque for others to pick up and move to the rear for treatment....

This is a site dedicated to pacifism and related to the work of Kevin Sites. For a good laugh look at what they think constitutes art. You might also wish to leave your Thanksgiving wishes to the MSM's man of the hour.

You're Either With Us... Dispatch from Tikrit -- 11-18-03 Plastic Cuffs It is nearly 2am and there are six men, bound and blindfolded on their knees forming a crescent around an armor-plated Humvee. It is their hands that fascinate me the most -- perhaps because I can still see them, little white anemones wriggling in the darkness. Their faces have already disappeared behind dirty strips cloth or snuffed like candles with nylon sandbags. It takes only moments from when they are captured and face down in the dirt, to the click, click, click of the white plastic cuffs noosed around...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- By now, almost everyone in the world with a television has seen the videotape that appears to show a U.S. Marine shooting a wounded Iraqi terrorist inside a mosque in Fallujah. For the record, here are the facts, because facts -- not rumors or emotions -- really are important. Here is what those who were there told me:  On Friday, Nov. 12, U.S. Marines were fired upon by terrorists armed with AK-47s, RPD machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades from a mosque and an adjacent building. The Marines returned fire, first with M-16s and 240G machine guns, and...

I am proud to say that I am a Vietnam veteran and finally have some degree of closure. It occurred on November 2nd, 2004. Like my fellow warriors, earlier this year, I was unexpectedly yanked from that deep dry well of dank dark collective shame, and thrust into the bright sunlight of political overview. Called to fight the great fight once again, we fought and indeed won, and we are now healed and strong. And so, we issue a warning to our old antagonists: Biased media outlets and liberal political strategists looking ahead already, please understand this: We Viet Nam...

Newsman Who Taped Marine Shooting Captive Keeps Silent By ROBERT F. WORTH EAR FALLUJA, Iraq, Nov. 18 - The American photographer whose videotape of what appears to be a marine shooting a wounded Iraqi is generating a storm of outrage in the Arab world maintained his steadfast silence on Wednesday, saying he wanted to continue reporting on the incident before commenting. "As sensitive as this is, we want to make sure the world has an accurate picture of the events," the photographer, Kevin Sites, a freelance cameraman working for NBC News, told a reporter at the military base near Falluja...

No sooner than I had heard the story on the six o'clock news it was on the Internet. The story boils down to something like this. Fifteen insurgents had been using a Mosque as a fortress from which to kill marines. The marines killed ten of their enemy and apparently wounded another five. The following day another group of marines came upon the five wounded insurgents and one of the marines thought that one of the insurgents was faking being dead and shot him dead to make sure. Unfortunately, there was an embedded camera crew from NBC which filmed the...

...Have we lost all sense of moral proportion? The al-Zarqawi TV network, also known as Al-Jazeera, has broadcast the tape to the Arab world, and U.S. media have also played it up. The point seems to be to conjure up images again of Abu Ghraib, further maligning the American purpose in Iraq. Never mind that the pictures don't come close to telling us about the context of the incident, much less what was on the mind of the soldier after days of combat. Put yourself in that Marine's boots. He and his mates have had to endure some of the...

Freep!

I discussed here how the MSM is making Kevin Sites its personal hero of Fallujah. WorldNetDaily.com has even more information on Sites--and it isn't pretty: Kevin Sites, the NBC cameraman who shot video of the controversial shooting of a Fallujah insurgent by a U.S. Marine, is an anti-war activist whose photographs of Iraqi prisoners are featured on at least one anti-war website.

Kevin Sites, the NBC cameraman who shot video of the controversial shooting of a Fallujah insurgent by a U.S. Marine, is an anti-war activist whose photographs of Iraqi prisoners are featured on at least one anti-war website. Sites was embedded with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment in Fallujah when he shot the video of the Marine shooting an injured enemy fighter in a mosque. From the dialogue on the footage, it appeared the Marines were unsure if the insurgent was dead or faking death. Some fighters in Iraq have feigned death only to pull out a weapon or blow...

Last night I was sickened listening to the glee in the NBC radio report of this so-called crime. In one swoop there are demoralizing our troops in a combat zone, producing propaganda for our enemies around the world, and getting revenge on the President for his victory. In my mind, this is also about making emends in the MSM for the perception that the (half-hearted) NBC response to the false AL-Qaqaa story represented a stand for decency and honor (and the memory of David Bloom). I think with the help of local talk radio and the Freepers in NYC, we...

I'm so damn mad about the cruxifiction that the brave Marine in the NBC video is taking. It make me want to put a boot up someone's behind, but since that would get me in trouble I've decided to try and take some action. If this goes to court martial I think we should take up a defense account for this guy and his family. Before that we can Freep the hell out of the media and the NIS for that matter. Any suggestions about how to support this guy would be appreciated and make my feel better.

I'm wondering if a FReeper with some experience in the arena would like to set up a fund for the Marine who shot that wounded terrorist in the mosque. I get the feeling he is going to be railroaded and will need some help. Whether it be for lawyer's fees, support for his family, or simply just to show him that there are real Americans who support him, I'd like to contribute to such a fund. Suggestions?