Relations between journalists, U.S. troops in Iraq sour

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.adn.com/24hour/iraq/story/1049999p-7383783c.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (November 12, 11:16 a.m. AST) - With casualties mounting in Iraq, jumpy U.S. soldiers are becoming more aggressive in their treatment of journalists covering the conflict.
Media people have been detained, news equipment has been confiscated and some journalists have suffered verbal and physical abuse while trying to report on events.

Although the number of incidents involving soldiers and journalists is difficult to gauge, anecdotal evidence suggests it has risen sharply the past two months.

In October, the Belgium-based International Federation of Journalists, which includes unions representing 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries, complained of increased harassment of reporters, including beatings of some, since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"Guidance has been passed to units throughout the coalition explicitly stating that reporters are not to be interfered with or cameras and films seized," said Maj. William Thurmond at the Coalition Press and Information Center.

"Does that take place all the time? No." Thurmond said. "We are aware that individual soldiers have not followed those instructions."
<snip>

Hmmm. Thi isn't what I would call good PR for the American forces.

[kayell]

1. "they hate us for our freedoms"

*Sigh*

One of my favorite freedoms was the freedom of the press. I miss it.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

2. bushco* loves...ahem... that 1st ammendment

:puke:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

3. opps dupe

[Spazito]

4. This amazes me, it really does....

why aren't the media shouting this from the "rooftops"? What do they think they have to lose by letting this continue with only the occasional article about it?

[MrPrax]

5. Hmm...the article doesn't mention

if there is more hostility to 'foreign' journalists...I would be curious as an American reporter beat up and had his stuff seized might be more liable to make a squawk Stateside.
Given the track record (the bombing of the hotel, killing Abu Mazen, kicking Al-Jeezera out, etc) I am surprised Robert Fisk is still alive...

[baby_bear]

6. Mostly Iraqis and Arabs -- that's pretty interesting

<snip from the same article>

A number of journalists, particularly Iraqis and other Arabs working for foreign media organizations, say they are now routinely threatened at gunpoint if they try to film the aftermath of guerrilla attacks. Some have been arrested and held for short periods.

Sami Awad, a Lebanese cameraman working as a freelancer for a German TV network, said that when his crew tried to check out a report Friday about hand grenades being thrown at a U.S. patrol in Baghdad, they encountered a roadblock at which soldiers told him to go ahead and film.

But as the crew proceeded down the street, more soldiers appeared, threw them to the ground and pointed their weapons at their heads, Awad said.

"They checked our identity badges and then let us go, saying they thought we were with Al-Jazeera," he said.

</snip>

Excuse me, but Al-Jazeera is a news organization...

Good Grief.

s_m

[Wwagsthedog]

9. Clearly, racism is showing its ugly head.

n/t

[0007]

7. Democracy, 'eh?

Is this just a tip off of what we can expect when we folks protest in the U.S.?

[librechik]

8. not "in bed" together anymore, eh?

well, they never really were, the embed program was a propoganda ploy that has failed as more and more of the real truth emerges.

Ha, this won't help them!

[Media_Lies_Daily]

10. I would have thought that they started to sour when the first...

...journalist was killed in Iraq.

As so-called "embedded reporters", they weren't exactly in danger from the Iraqis.

[cliss]

11. Bottom line:

you show up in Iraq with a camera or a camcorder, you are in mortal danger. It doesn't matter if you are a western reporter or any other kind. If I showed up on a Baghdad street with a paper and pencil, I could expect to be looking down the barrel of a gun.

A journalist's presence is seen as a threat to US forces in Iraq. Why? Because his clicking camera will reveal things that the media, the US government doesn't want anyone to see. I've already seen some photos here at the DU; and you really need to be prepared.

[onager]

12. One (French) Reporter's Experience

The respected French war correspondent Yves Debay has been doing some interesting reporting from Iraq. He has been arrested repeatedly, whacked in the head with rifle butts, and in one case got into a fist-fight with an American MP who was trying to cuff him.

The preface of one recent book on Iraq thanked exactly 2 military press reps: both sergeants, one British and one U.S. Marine, who knew Debay personally from his coverage of the war(s) in the former Yugoslavia. Debay wrote, "I have absolutely no reason to thank anyone else."

DeBay is fiercely independent and refuses to be "embedded." Unfortunately for the American brass, whom he repeatedly red-asses with his candid reporting, Debay tends to live with (and live like) the common soldiers, which gets him a lot of respect.

During one day's work in Baghdad, Debay was captured by both the U.S. military and the Saddam Fedayeen.

He turned in some scathing coverage of a battle he witnessed in a small town, where Iraqi tanks were attacked while sitting in Main Street. Debay wrote that the attack killed quite a few civilians, including children, and wondered why the US simply didn't "shadow" the tanks with a couple of Apache helicopters.

He concluded that the US military wanted to give the Iraqis a message that the U.S. can go where it pleases and do what it wants. And he said that when the U.S. columns drove thru that town, the hate and resentment of the residents was palpable.

Oh, and Debay was a witness to the famous toppling of the Saddam statue. His photos clearly show it was a photo-op, and he noted that the Iraqis present were almost outnumbered by reporters from CNN and Fox News.

Unfortunately, you probably won't find Debay's books unless you're interested in military subjects or share my Weird Hobby (I build scale models and dioramas, including military stuff.)

He writes for the Hong Kong-based Concord Publications, which specializes in books for military buffs and scale modelers. If you Google on "Concord Publications," you'll see preview pages from his 2 (so far) books on Iraq. Click on the "Special Ops" series.

Sorry for the length...

[opihimoimoi]

13. Is he a Freedom Reporter??

jus asking