Monday, August 29, 2005
Reuters News Teams: Targets on Their Backs?
Reuters is demanding the release of one of their cameramen, who was taken into US custody yesterday after he was apparently shot by US troops. The cameraman, 24-year-old Haider Kadhem, is an Iraqi; his crew was in the Hay al-Adil district of Baghdad, "after a police source called Reuters to report an incident involving police and gunmen in that area."
As with many stories coming out of Baghdad of military operations, this one has numerous versions:
So, you might wonder, why is a cameraman being held by the US? Here's the official story:
A disturbing aspect of this story is that it's just the latest in a series of, well, "depredations" wouldn't be too strong a word, visited upon Reuters teams by US forces. According to the Reuters report:
Even given all those caveats, surely some explanation might be justifiable and -- dare I say it? -- honorable. Noble, even. Nobility is a luxury in short supply in wartime, true. Maybe in a global war on terrorism (or, okay, on extremism) it's a luxury we can't afford at all. But high-handed treatment of foreign nationals, especially those in a neutral profession like journalism, seems like an awfully shoddy way of hanging onto what few international friends we've still got. The roster of US journalists who've been kidnapped (in some cases killed) by Islamic combatants in the GWOT rightly draws official US condemnation whenever it's added to. When the shoe is on the other foot, though, the official US line of "Oh, trust us, we have our reasons!" thuds against one's sensibility -- a fraud, a limp excuse (and barely that) rather than an explanation.
For Christ's sake, if there are legitimate beefs with these citizens of our Western allies, why not just deport them? All the smug hugger-mugger makes us look like idiots.
(Full story here.)
As with many stories coming out of Baghdad of military operations, this one has numerous versions:
The official Iraqi police report said U.S. troops opened fire on the Reuters journalists.(Kadhem's sound man, by the way, was killed in the gunfire.)
Kadhem told colleagues who were briefly detained with him at the scene: "I heard shooting, looked up and saw an American sniper on the roof of the shopping center."
A U.S. statement said: "Task Force Baghdad units responded to a terrorist attack on an Iraqi Police convoy ... which killed and wounded several Iraqi Police. One civilian was killed and another was wounded by small-arms fire during the attack."
So, you might wonder, why is a cameraman being held by the US? Here's the official story:
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Whetstone, a military spokesman, said: "He is being questioned by our investigating officer."Naturally, no other "inconsistencies," including those offered by US authorities and other witnesses, are grounds for holding someone for questioning.
He said there were "inconsistencies" in Kadhem's statements and officers were looking into "events that led up to the incident." No military investigator, however, had contacted Reuters, whose senior staff offered a full account of the assignment on which they dispatched the journalists shortly before they were shot.
A disturbing aspect of this story is that it's just the latest in a series of, well, "depredations" wouldn't be too strong a word, visited upon Reuters teams by US forces. According to the Reuters report:
Two Reuters cameramen have been killed by U.S. troops in Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. A third was shot dead by a sniper in Ramadi last November in circumstances for which Reuters is still seeking an explanation from U.S. forces.I don't know about you, but I find this whole story breathtakingly appalling. Of course, there's no First Amendment or equivalent set of rules operative in Iraq; of course, there's a war going on; of course, none of these Reuters journalists -- dead or in custody -- are, apparently, US citizens; and finally, of course, our military may have out-and-out valid reasons not only for their treatment of these men, but also for not revealing those reasons.
Reuters' cameraman in the city of Ramadi, Ali al-Mashhadani, was arrested by U.S. forces three weeks ago and is being held without charge in Abu Ghraib prison. U.S. military officials have said he will face a judicial hearing shortly but have still given no access to the journalist or said what he is accused of.
A military spokesman said the hearing was "probably" taking place on Monday at a secret location in Baghdad. No access was available for an attorney or any other interested party.
Even given all those caveats, surely some explanation might be justifiable and -- dare I say it? -- honorable. Noble, even. Nobility is a luxury in short supply in wartime, true. Maybe in a global war on terrorism (or, okay, on extremism) it's a luxury we can't afford at all. But high-handed treatment of foreign nationals, especially those in a neutral profession like journalism, seems like an awfully shoddy way of hanging onto what few international friends we've still got. The roster of US journalists who've been kidnapped (in some cases killed) by Islamic combatants in the GWOT rightly draws official US condemnation whenever it's added to. When the shoe is on the other foot, though, the official US line of "Oh, trust us, we have our reasons!" thuds against one's sensibility -- a fraud, a limp excuse (and barely that) rather than an explanation.
For Christ's sake, if there are legitimate beefs with these citizens of our Western allies, why not just deport them? All the smug hugger-mugger makes us look like idiots.
(Full story here.)
