Media-Military-Industrial Complex Straw Man: US Military Targets Journalists in Iraq

Infowars.com | February 22, 2005 from the Merriam-Webster dictionary: straw man Function: noun 1 : a weak or imaginary opposition (as an argument or adversary) set up only to be easily confuted 2 : a person set up to serve as a cover for a usually questionable transaction Once again, the military-industrial complex's propaganda machine has succeeded in creating a straw man to subvert real attention from the truth about the horrors going on in Iraq, this time with regards to the US military targeting journalists. CNS News reports that recent furor over CNN News executive Eason Jordan's comments the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, "that the US military had targeted journalists in Iraq" set off a firestorm of controversy that eventually led to his resignation. Across the internet we have seen mainstream journalists and neo-cons ranting and raving about the journalistic travesty Jordon committed in making these comments and proclaiming loudly how untrue his statements were. Their arm waving and distractions (the destruction of the straw man they've created, thus deflecting attention from the truth) have been largely effective on the mass of sheeple that follow the mainstream media demagoguery. What they're failing to remind the aforementioned general public (besides the numerous accounts of journalists killed by the US military in Iraq) is that, in April of 2003, just after killing three journalists in Baghdad, the Pentagon was unrepentant and even instigative, warning journalists that they "were not safe in war zones." If this isn't a warning, then we don't know what is. Read below for a cursory accounting of journalists targeted and killed in Iraq as well as those coming forward to expose the truth about the military targeting and killing journalists in Iraq. For a complete archive of the Intentional Targeting of Independent Journalists Please click here

'You're not safe,' Pentagon warns journalists

CBC | April 09, 2003

WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials were unrepentant Tuesday over the killing of three journalists in Baghdad, telling reporters that people in war zones are "not safe."

In a separate incident, a journalist with Arab satellite news channel Al-Jazeera was killed when the broadcaster's downtown office was hit in a U.S. bombing.

U.S. forces said in both cases they were returning fire, although journalists at the Palestine Hotel said there was nobody shooting from the hotel.

"I can tell you that we've never seen anybody with a gun inside our hotel," freelance reporter May Ling Welsh told CBC News.

Maj.-Gen. Stanley McChrystal of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff told a Pentagon briefing that the U.S. forces have been showing "extraordinary restraint" as they fought their way across Iraq and into Baghdad.

He said they try to minimize civilian deaths, but troops on the ground have the right to defend themselves.

Pentagon spokeswoman Victoria Clarke said she has had many conversations with journalists in which she warned them about the risks of covering a war.

"War is a dangerous, dangerous, dangerous business, and you are not safe when you're in a war zone," Clarke said.

Severine Cazes, a spokesperson for the group Reporters Without Borders says the military knows where reporters are, even using the global positioning system to identify news organizations.

"The Al-Jazeera channel made a point since the beginning of the war to inform regularly the U.S. military of the places where its teams are operating in Iraq in order to ensure their safety," said Cazes.

Press watchdog accuses US army over Baghdad deaths

London Guardian | April 9, 2003

The international press watchdog Reporters Sans Frontieres has accused the US military of deliberately firing on journalists after attacks on Baghdad killed three cameramen.

The RSF secretary general, Robert Menard, called on the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, to provide proof that the offices of Arabic TV station al-Jazeera and the Palestine Hotel, which was well-known as the base for most of the foreign media in the Iraqi capital, were not targeted on purpose.

Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and Jose Couso, a cameraman for the Spanish television network Tele 5 were killed yesterday by an explosion at the hotel, thought to have been caused by US tank fire.

Al-Jazeera cameraman Tarek Ayyoub was also killed yesterday when two bombs dropped during a US air raid hit the TV station's Baghdad offices.

Ayyoub was broadcasting live to the satellite station's 7am bulletin when American aircraft fired two missiles at the bureau building, killing him and injuring a colleague.

The attack on the building, which is in a residential area, has fuelled suspicions that al-Jazeera was attacked deliberately despite repeated reassurances that its journalists were not a target.

Al-Jazeera had earlier sent its location co-ordinates to the Pentagon.

"We are appalled at what happened because it was known that both places contained journalists," said Menard.

"Film shot by the French TV station France 3 and descriptions by journalists show the neighbourhood was very quiet at that hour and that the US tank crew took their time, waiting for a couple of minutes and adjusting its gun before opening fire," he added referring to the attack on the Palestine Hotel.

"This evidence does not match the US version of an attack in self-defence and we can only conclude that the US army deliberately and without warning targeted journalists.

"US forces must prove that the incident was not a deliberate attack to dissuade or prevent journalists from continuing to report on what is happening in Baghdad."

The RSF chief also accused the US of adopting an "increasingly hostile" attitude to journalists who are not embedded with troops.

"We are concerned at the US army's increasingly hostile attitude towards journalists, especially those non-embedded in its military units," Menard said.

"Army officials have also remained deplorably silent and refused to give any details about what happened when a British ITN TV crew was fired on near Basra on March 22, killing one journalist and leaving two others missing.

"Very many non-embedded journalists have complained about being refused entry to Iraq from Kuwait, threatened with withdrawal of accreditation and being held and interrogated for several hours. One group of non-embedded journalists was held in secret for two days and roughed up by US military police."

Menard's comments echoed those of other bodies that campaign on behalf of press freedom, including the International Federation of Journalists, which has also accused the US military of targeting non-embedded journalists and called for an inquiry into the death of the three cameramen who died yesterday.

The press watchdog Journalists has also written to Mr Rumsfeld demanding an investigation into the Baghdad attacks.

U.S. Faulted For Media Deaths

CBS | April 9, 2003

The U.S. military came under criticism for U.S.-led military strikes in the Iraqi capital that hit the hotel housing hundreds of journalists and an Arab television network, killing three journalists and injuring three others.

Two Arabic-language television networks — Al-Jazeera and Abu Dhabi — said their offices were intentionally targeted by American-led forces — claims military officials denied on Tuesday.

"This coalition does not target journalists," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said in Qatar.

Early Wednesday, Abu Dhabi satellite television announced that it had been unable to broadcast live video from Baghdad overnight because American tanks were posted outside its offices, which are alongside those of Al-Jazeera. Al-Jazeera also did not broadcast live scenes of Baghdad overnight.

Earlier, the Abu Dhabi channel appealed to the International Committees of the Red Cross for help in evacuating its offices.

An American tank on Tuesday fired on the Palestine Hotel, where foreign journalists have been covering the war from balconies and the roof.

Less than half a mile away, a reporter for Al-Jazeera television was killed when U.S.-led forces bombed his office. Nearby, coalition artillery battered Abu Dhabi's Baghdad office, trapping more than 25 reporters who phoned for help from the basement.

"I'm astonished and shocked," Nart Bouran, news director of Abu Dhabi, speaking from the network's headquarters in the United Arab Emirates, said Tuesday. "We've been in this office for more than 2½ years. Anyone going into military operations would have known our location."

Al-Jazeera chief editor Ibrahim Hilal said the U.S. military has long known the map coordinates and street number of his network's office. Witnesses "saw the plane fly over twice before dropping the bombs. Our office is in a residential area, and even the Pentagon knows its location," Hilal said in Qatar.

Military officials offered different explanations for the attacks.

Brooks initially said the hotel was targeted after soldiers were fired on from the lobby. Later, he told reporters, "I may have misspoken."

U.S. Army Col. David Perkins, commander of the 3rd Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade, which deployed the tank, said Iraqis in front of the hotel fired rocket-propelled grenades across the Tigris River. Soldiers fired back with a tank round aimed at the Palestine Hotel after seeing enemy "binoculars," Perkins said.

More than 50 news cameras were set up on hotel balconies when the tank fired, according to Associated Press photographer Jerome Delay. "How can they spot someone with binoculars and not (see) cameras?" he asked.

Journalists said they heard no gunfire coming from the hotel or its immediate environs. They had been watching two U.S. tanks shooting across the al-Jumhuriya bridge when one of the tanks rotated its turret toward the hotel and fired.

The round pierced the 14th and 15th floors of the 17-story hotel, spraying glass and shrapnel across a corner suite serving as Reuters' Baghdad bureau.

Killed were Taras Protsyuk of Ukraine, a television cameraman for the Reuters news agency, and Jose Couso, a cameraman for Spain's Telecinco television. Spain asked its journalists to leave Baghdad following Couso's death.

Tareq Ayyoub of Jordan died at al-Jazeera's office, located in a residential neighborhood fronting the Tigris. In all, 10 journalists have been killed in combat situations since war began March 20.

Ayyoub's widow, Dima Tahboub, speaking with Al-Jazeera by telephone from Amman, appealed to God "to accept him as a martyr."

The wounded, all Reuters employees, were identified by the company as TV technician Paul Pasquale of Britain, Gulf Bureau Chief Samia Nakhoul of Lebanon and photographer Faleh Kheiber of Iraq.

Pasquale underwent surgery Tuesday at a Baghdad hospital for serious leg injuries, according to colleagues. Nakhoul suffered shrapnel wounds and may require surgery.

Further details weren't immediately available.

"Clearly the war, and all its confusion, has come to the heart of Baghdad," said Reuters Editor in Chief Geert Linnebank. "But the incident nonetheless raises questions about the judgment of the advancing U.S. troops who have known all along that this hotel is the main base for almost all foreign journalists in Baghdad."

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it believed the attacks violated the Geneva Conventions concerning likely harm to civilians.

In Belgium, the International Federation of Journalists said it appeared Tuesday's attacks may have deliberately targeted journalists. "If so, they are grave and serious violations of international law," said Secretary-General Aidan White. He also said Iraq, accused of using civilians as human shields during U.S.-led bombing attacks, may also be guilty of war crimes.

Human rights groups have also suggested U.S. attacks on Iraqi state television violated the rules of war. But Central Command says the station was a legitimate target because it was allegedly broadcasting instructions to troops.

Film Transcript from media critic and filmaker Danny Schechter about "Fishy deaths of unembedded reporter"

Narrator: Journalists and media workers were targeted in Iraq. Was it deliberate? To keep the story on message by intimidating un-embedded journalists. How did the media in the street challenge these killings? Some were killed by so-called friendly fire. Others victims of calculated attacks, missiles, tank shells, and bombs dropped on or near journalists. Some media critics concluded it was intentional, although the Pentagon denied it. Before the war, the BBC's Kate Adey reported she was told by the Pentagon that independent journalists could be targeted.

Reporter: : The 15th floor of the Palestine Hotel was the target. A U.S. tank shelled the Palestine Hotel, which was crowded with journalists, killing two cameramen. One works for a Spanish network, and the other one works for Reuters.

Narrator: Now another incident. Look at this. An American tank on the bridge across from the Palestine hotel in Baghdad. A soldier claimed his tank was fired on. Listen carefully. There are no sounds.

Samia Nakhoul: We moved to the Palestine Hotel because the Pentagon asked our organizations to let us leave because it was a target and when we moved to the Palestine Hotel our organization told the Pentagon we were at the Palestine Hotel. So did every news organization.

Narrator: Again, minutes later no sounds were heard, no one firing at U.S. soldiers. Suddenly without provocation  –

Samia Nakhoul: We saw an orange glow, and this was the tank shell that hit our office. And you can imagine the panic, the wounded – it was me and another photographer. I can't imagine that they would target journalists. You know, I couldn't believe why would they target us? What have we done to them?

Narrator: After the war press freedom groups were still demanding a real investigation. The Pentagon's Victoria Clark told me there was a report that showed that the soldiers were acting in self-defense.

Narrator: Was there any attempt to find out the facts independently or a thorough investigation?

Samia Nakhoul: No  –  the Pentagon never interviewed me personally on it. I don't think any of my colleagues were interviewed by the Pentagon.

Narrator: Samia's organization, Reuters, demanded an independent investigation, but most media companies didn't even press on this issue. No one was held accountable. It was all passed off as an accident, the fog of war and all that.