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36 Journalists killed in 2003, 13 in Iraq
By George Turner | January 2, 2004
Hello, I’m George and I’ll be sitting in for Matt all week. The style may be a bit different, but it should still make for good reading while he’s off soaking up the sun.
The AP reports that the watchdog group Committee to Protect Journalists listed 36 journalists killed in 2003. 13 were killed in Iraq, the rest elsewhere. Iraq had the highest journalist deaths since Algeria in 1995, where 24 jounalists were killed, almost twice as many as in Iraq.
CPJ said it was particularly troubled by the deaths of four journalists in Iraq killed as a result of U.S. military action. It has called on the Pentagon for a public accounting. Three of the four were killed in April, when the buildings they were in came under fire from U.S. forces; the fourth died in August after being shot by U.S. soldiers.
I think we should instead demand an accounting of which side the journalists are on. Obviously, the CPJ is particulary troubled because, well, they were killed by the evil American BushRove fascist hegemonic oligarchy’s vast war machine, gosh darn it!!! Maybe the journalists will learn that putting a big camera on your shoulder and aiming at US troops who face ATGM and RPG attacks is a really stupid move. However, since this is obviously going to be an ongoing problem, it would perhaps be wise to find a way to make journalists clearly distinguishible from combatants. I suggest having them wear a bright yellow conical hat, at least three feet tall, and clearly labeled with the word “DUNCE”.
Of course, we also face the problem of identifying journalists from guerillas, now that guerillas are posing as journalists, or journalists are acting like guerillas, whichever the case may be. As has been reported today in several places, after one of our helicopters was shot down a group of either guerillas or journalists fire on the US troops guarding the crash site.
Soon after, five men “wearing black press jackets with ‘press’ clearly written in English” fired on U.S. paratroopers guarding the crash site, Kimmitt said. He said it was the first time he had heard of assailants in Iraq posing as journalists
I’m not sure whether the guerillas are working harder than the journalists at attacking our forces, with the respective tools, but both need to start believing in the goal of creating a functioning Iraq where people aren’t summarily executed.
Topics: War Journal |
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January 3rd, 2004 at 2:02 pm
Nice, George. I hadn’t read about the Pseudo-Jouralist Terrorist Squad yet.
You know, when these folks pack their stenopads and Sharpie pens present their tickets to fly into a war zone, they willingly take responsibility for their own safety or loss of said safety. They assume responsibility for their actions, and you would think they also decide to act in such a way as to increase their chances of survival.
You know, I really don’t feel sorry for them. If you’re such a glory-hound that you place yourself in harm’s way for a photo or a quote and do so with what can only be seen as a stupid, boneheaded act, you get what you deserve. And no posthumous Pulitzer Prize will do you any good.