Deep Kimchi
21-09-2006, 19:05
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060917/ap_on_re_mi_ea/photographer_detained
The military said Hussein was captured with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. “He has close relationships with persons known to be responsible for kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other attacks on coalition forces,” according to a May 7 e-mail from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack Gardner, who oversees all coalition detainees in Iraq.
“The information available establishes that he has relationships with insurgents and is afforded access to insurgent activities outside the normal scope afforded to journalists conducting legitimate activities,” Gardner wrote to AP International Editor John Daniszewski.
Hussein proclaims his innocence, according to his Iraqi lawyer, Badie Arief Izzat, and believes he has been unfairly targeted because his photos from Ramadi and Fallujah were deemed unwelcome by the coalition forces.
That Hussein was captured at the same time as insurgents doesn’t make him one of them, said Kathleen Carroll, AP’s executive editor. “Journalists have always had relationships with people that others might find unsavory,” she said. “We’re not in this to choose sides, we’re to report what’s going on from all sides.”
And this bit:
The military said bomb-making materials were found in the apartment where Hussein was captured but it never detailed what those materials were. The military said he tested positive for traces of explosives. Horton said that was virtually guaranteed for anyone on the streets of Ramadi at that time.
That last assertion is by his lawyer, Horton.
Be that as it may, the question is, if you're a reporter, is it possible to be too close to the story? Can you be truly independent?
If you see an American soldier or Iraqi insurgent you're with about to kill someone, do you just sit there and watch dispassionately? Afterwards, if they are high fiving each other for surviving a battle, do you join in? Do you actually befriend these people? Keep their secrets (whether American or otherwise)?
Can a journalist in war truly be completely and utterly neutral?
The military said Hussein was captured with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. “He has close relationships with persons known to be responsible for kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other attacks on coalition forces,” according to a May 7 e-mail from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack Gardner, who oversees all coalition detainees in Iraq.
“The information available establishes that he has relationships with insurgents and is afforded access to insurgent activities outside the normal scope afforded to journalists conducting legitimate activities,” Gardner wrote to AP International Editor John Daniszewski.
Hussein proclaims his innocence, according to his Iraqi lawyer, Badie Arief Izzat, and believes he has been unfairly targeted because his photos from Ramadi and Fallujah were deemed unwelcome by the coalition forces.
That Hussein was captured at the same time as insurgents doesn’t make him one of them, said Kathleen Carroll, AP’s executive editor. “Journalists have always had relationships with people that others might find unsavory,” she said. “We’re not in this to choose sides, we’re to report what’s going on from all sides.”
And this bit:
The military said bomb-making materials were found in the apartment where Hussein was captured but it never detailed what those materials were. The military said he tested positive for traces of explosives. Horton said that was virtually guaranteed for anyone on the streets of Ramadi at that time.
That last assertion is by his lawyer, Horton.
Be that as it may, the question is, if you're a reporter, is it possible to be too close to the story? Can you be truly independent?
If you see an American soldier or Iraqi insurgent you're with about to kill someone, do you just sit there and watch dispassionately? Afterwards, if they are high fiving each other for surviving a battle, do you join in? Do you actually befriend these people? Keep their secrets (whether American or otherwise)?
Can a journalist in war truly be completely and utterly neutral?